For slain comics writer, a promising career, a downward spiral
Stephen Perry, who had spun surreal stories at the height of his career, was at the end of a long, downward spiral when he arrived at the green and white house on Eighth Avenue in Zephyrhills. Once renowned for writing episodes of the “Thundercats” animated TV series and the cult classic comic book “Timespirits,” Perry had been fired from his job running an apartment complex in Dade City. He was broke. His girlfriend – the mother of his 5-year-old boy Leo – had left him. To help with expenses, he had taken in as housemates a couple with criminal backgrounds. And he was dying.

X-Men: First Class Scouting Locations in Michigan
A location scout is seeking out areas with a 1960′s, South-American or Central American island feel for the next X-Men movie, ‘X-Men: First Class.’ In particular, he needs to find cafe and bar locations, evoking the Argentinean feel of Bariloche, and an Art Deco Cafe or restaurant overlooking a body of water. Additionally, the movie calls for a Miami styled harbor for yachts. If you know of any locations that seem to match a description, please contact our office.

Looking Back With LARRY HAMA – Beyond G.I. Joe
Although best known for his work on G.I. Joe, Larry Hama’s career in comics spreads outside the confines of “Real American Heroes”. He broke into the comics industry as a writer an artist, later becoming an editor at both DC & Marvel. Besides writing G.I. Joe, he had an extensive run on Wolverine and also created Bucky O’Hare for comics, toys and an animated series. Newsarama sat down with Hama to talk about his work – skipping over G.I. Joe to discuss things like Bucky O’Hare, studying under Bernard Krigstein, and the camaraderie of the NYC comics scene.

Official Green Lantern Movie Logo Revealed
Official Press Release: Warner Bros. Consumer Products, DC Comics and Mattel “Ring” in Intergalactic Offerings for Green Lantern Batman: The Brave and the Bold, DC Super Friends and Young Justice Round Out DC Super Hero Line-Up. BURBANK, Calif., Jun 04, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Warner Bros. Consumer Products (WBCP) announced today a landmark year ahead for DC Comics and master toy licensee Mattel, led by programs in support of summer 2011’s Green Lantern from Warner Bros. Pictures. Under the terms of their ongoing strategic alliance, Mattel is granted unprecedented access to the complete breadth and scope of the DC Comics vault of characters, including Green Lantern and thousands of world-famous heroes and villains, such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Joker and The Riddler. Mattel will also continue its successful lines based on Batman: The Brave and the Bold and DC Super Friends, and is in the process of developing an all-new line to support Young Justice.

Joe Carnahan on Taskmaster… and Preacher?
“For Alex (Young, producer of “The A-Team”) I was going to do Taskmaster. Originally I wanted to do Juggernaut ’cause I had a really good take on that, and then Taskmaster was something we talked about, and I haven’t discussed it with him for ages, but I would love to get back in. I love the idea of a guy with photographic reflexes, he can see something and repeat it, I thought that was such a cool idea. I think there’s a Moon Knight series where he just beats the sh*t out of Taskmaster and kind of ruined him, and it’s a cool character. I think it might be one of those Marvel characters you really need to reimagine because he’s got the whole skull and cape—it’s a bit grandiose I think—but it would certainly be a cool thing.”

Andrea Romano Finds the Voice of “Batman: Under the Red Hood”
One of the coolest finds of this past year for me was Bruce [Greenwood]. I’ve seen so much of his work over the years, and he can do so many things so convincingly. I knew I’d have to offer him a big role. Something with meat. And I knew he would really sink his teeth into the material and make it his own. I don’t need to tell you what a wonderful actor he is – but for this film, he gives a terrific, sensitive performance. This is the most tortured we’ve ever seen of Batman and, without overplaying it, Bruce really showed us a lot of the guilt and issues Batman has in his luggage. It’s an exhaustive, emotional piece, and he carried it perfectly.

Costumed Superheroes Swept Off Of Hollywood Boulevard
The LAPD has begun a crackdown on Hollywood’s unlicensed superheroes, arresting the costumed characters on suspicion of loitering and obstructing traffic. The arrests began Friday evening when the police took at least eight characters to jail. The police began the crackdown after complaints by business owners and tourists which indicated that the struggling actors were openly asking for money, according to televised reports. While street performers are allowed to walk down the street and accept tips, actively soliciting money is a crime. By Wednesday afternoon, Batman was the only costumed character left on the streets. A LAPD squad car pulled up and put the superhero in jail within minutes.

Stanley Tucci joins ‘Captain America’
In its latest casting news, the studio confirmed Monday that Stanley Tucci will play Dr. Abraham Erskine in “Captain America: The First Avenger,” which Paramount will release in July 2011. The “Julie & Julia” star joins title hero Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Hugo Weaving and Hayley Atwell in the superhero movie.

Comic-Con journeys further into Hollywood
Comic-Con is still a month and a half away, but some information has come out about several of this year’s panels. Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune posted a preliminary list of TV shows that will have a presence at the five-day (yes, preview night is counted) San Diego event. As many people have noticed in recent years, the Con is becoming less about comic books and more about the latest films, television shows and its stars. Glancing at the list, there isn’t much connection to what the Con stands for — or used to, at least.

Neal McDonough Confirms ‘Captain America’ Role (And Bowler Hat), Talks Howling Commandos
“I’m so excited — I’m playing Dum Dum Dugan,” the actor revealed at the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday. “It’s going to be a blast with Chris [Evans], Sam Jackson, Tommy Lee Jones and everyone else. It’s going to be fantastic. We’re going to tear it up!” McDonough is already growing Dugan’s trademark mustache and plans to wear the character’s signature bowler hat. He also said that the Howling Commandos are a part of “Captain America,” though the squad’s name could change between now and shooting.

‘A-Team’ Director Joe Carnahan Was In Talks For ‘The Avengers,’ Favored Hulk As Villain
“You always wind up in conversations, and there was an ‘Avengers’ conversation,” Carnahan admitted during an interview. “But it wasn’t really a thorough one. I was sent the material [and] I loved it… I think the ‘Avengers’ movie you make is Hulk tearing up Manhattan and the Avengers have got to go in there and shut him down,” he said. “I think it’s very cool… I think that you’re going to have to very quickly get to this situation where you start to make your heroes into villains,” Carnahan observed. “I think that somebody like the Hulk, it’s such a great place to take him.”

Christopher Nolan Discusses ‘Superman’ Plans, No Joker In ‘Batman 3′
Although he’s found a way to strike an original interpretation of the Man of Steel, Nolan said that Superman and Batman won’t cross over in his films. He explained that while it’s a practice that works with Marvel Studios, the DC characters are quite different in Nolan’s point of view. “Marvel characters are very different to DC characters, and the key DC characters are very different to the minor DC characters,” he said. “You’ve got to go back to that element of, ‘What do I see when I close my eyes and think of Batman? What do I see when I close my eyes and think of Superman?’ And for me a big part of that is their individuality. They are extraordinary beings in an ordinary world. And the reason I think the two are fascinating is because Superman is very specifically superpowered and obviously otherworldly; Batman is very human and flawed. They’re two very different characters, but there’s an elemental feeling of power in the iconography of those characters. To me that’s originally because they stood alone. I need to hang on to that in my imagining of them.”

Jeremy Renner near deal to join Marvel’s ‘Avengers’
Jeremy Renner is in final negotiations to join “The Avengers,” Marvel Studios’ big-screen take on its superhero team that’s being directed by Joss Whedon. Renner will play the bow-and-arrow-carrying hero Hawkeye, who, while not one of the initial members of the team when it was created in the 1960s, became an integral member soon after when the misguided villain switched sides. Renner will join Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man/Tony Stark, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America, Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Don Cheadle as War Machine.

‘Lobo’ Should Be A 3-D Movie, Says Producer
“Guy [Ritchie]‘s off it because Guy’s working on ‘Sherlock 2,’ but I want to do ‘Lobo,’ too,” Joel Silver said. “That should also be a 3-D movie… Hopefully we’ll put [that] together one day. That’s something I’m also excited about doing. We’re working on the script now a little bit more. We learned a lot as we did a test — a very effective test that a guy did with us, but we’re moving forward and I hope we can get that together.”

Meanwhile, Back at The Hall of Justice…

• The Shadow Movie Interview – David Slade Reacts to Shadow Directing Rumors
• Scott Pilgrim Set Visit Part 2: Meet Sex Bomb-omb
• Scarlett Johansson Talks ‘Green Lantern’ And Getting Ryan Reynolds Out Of His Costume

The Fine Print

This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive roundup of the entire weeks’ news. All stories are chosen by me for no other reason than that they got my attention and might capture yours. If something you think is more important chime in on the feedback; we’d love to hear comments and have a conversation about it.

Dynamite Acquires “Total Recall” License
Dynamite Entertainment announced that later this year, they will begin to publish Total Recall comic books, based on the original Sci-Fi Carolco Pictures thriller, released in 1990. The film is based on the Philip K. Dick short story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale.” Directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Ronald Shusett, Dan O’Bannon, Jon Povill, and Gary Goldman. The rights to publish a TOTAL RECALL comic book series were obtained from StudioCanal S.A. under a licensing agreement negotiated by The Licensing Group Ltd.

I’ve seen Captain America’s costume and this is what it looks like!
The suit’s fabric is more akin to the leather of the X-Men costumes than the scaled look of Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man costume. As a whole, the suit is described as having “a practical WWII military look to it with some of the obvious Captain America flourishes that we would expect.”

Adam Beach Joins Cowboys And Aliens
He’s playing a half-Apache enforcer
Beach joins a cast that already includes Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Clancy Brown, Keith Carradine and Paul Dano. The plot finds a mysterious, amnesiac stranger (Craig) stumbling into a tightly controlled Arizona desert town known as Absolution. It’s not the friendliest place for outsiders and the situation is made worse by the cruel grip of Colonel Woodrow Dollarhyde. But then aliens screeching down from the sky in flying saucers to abduct and kill humans. Residents and a group of other cowboys are teaming up with the resident Apache tribe to fight off this brand new menace. Beach is playing Nat Colorado, a half-Apache who works for Dollarhyde, in a script co-written by Robert Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof.

Josh Holloway FOUND by Marvel Studios?
Interesting tidbit about “LOST” star Josh Holloway over the weekend. Apparently there’s been talk between Marvel and his group to play a “lead” role in an upcoming Marvel film. We mention a “lead” role because these bigger actors often won’t sign “retainers”, meaning everything should be 100% locked (character, film, etc) for Josh once he’s signed the dotted line. We have no idea who he could be playing or how soon he could sign, but here are some of our thoughts we’ve compiled with the subtle hints we’ve received.

‘The Crow’ Reboot Set In Southwest & Urban Locations, Offer Out To ‘Major Actor’
“The setting is the southwest — the Mexico/Arizona area — and an urban [setting], Detroit or Pittsburgh or something like that,” producer Edward Pressman described. “There are two locations that the film is set. Its initial platform is in the southwest and then it moves to the big city in the north, middle or eastern America, and then back.” That sandwich of settings is part of what distinguishes this “Crow” from previous visions, as is Norrington’s treatment of the “Crow” mythology. “The Crow itself is a creature in this movie — it’s not just a bird,” said the producer. “It’s got a personality and a character. Not like Godzilla exactly, but it’s very different [and has] a more active role in the story.”

‘Milk’ scribe to write and direct ’3 Story’ adaptation
Warner Bros. has picked up movie rights to “3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man,” a Dark Horse Comics graphic novel by Matt Kindt. Dustin Lance Black, the Oscar-winning writer of “Milk,” will pen and direct the adaptation, which will be produced by Mike Richardson via Dark Horse Entertainment. The graphic novel is a modern fable, exploring the life of a giant man, Craig Pressgang, whose strange medical condition causes continuous growth. The tale is told from the point of view of three women — his mother, wife and daughter — and follows Craig’s journey from birth to his eventual three-story height. It also serves as an exploration of loneliness and love’s changing nature.

Cartoon Net planning ‘Green Lantern’ series
Show based on DC Comics character, WB film
Cartoon Network is planning a Green Lantern animated series. Phil Kent, chairman and CEO of Time Warner’s Turner networks unit, showed a slide with some of Cartoon Network’s original programming here Thursday at TW’s investor day. It included the title “Green Lantern: The Animated Series.” Warner Bros. chairman and CEO Barry Meyer later in the day mentioned this as an example of increasing collaboration and coordination between his unit and Turner. He said the Cartoon Network show is based on the DC Comics character and will follow some time after Warner’s “Green Lantern” movie, scheduled for a June 17, 2011 release.

Iron Man Will Not Return Until ‘The Avengers,’ Says Jon Favreau
“I’m not sure where ‘The Avengers goes,’ said Jon Favreau. “There is no shooting draft written yet. It’s gonna be a big undertaking for Marvel to actually incorporate what happened in ‘Iron Man,’ ‘Iron Man 2,’ ‘Thor,’ ‘Captain America’ [and] ‘The Hulk.’ All that has to inform one unified vision in ‘The Avengers.’ It’s a very exciting prospect. And certainly, Tony Stark is not going to be involved in any of the movies until that one.”

Grant Morrison Says His Mysterious TV Project Is ‘A Bit Of Everything’
“They called me up and said they wanted to do a seven-part event, a TV drama, and BBC Scotland was really interested in doing something big,” he explained. “They asked for something that wasn’t ‘Trainspotting’ and wasn’t ‘Brigadoon,’” he laughed. “They said, ‘We don’t want to see junkies and we don’t want to see chocolate-box Scotland.’ So obviously I instantly thought, ‘What about ‘Trainspotting’ meets ‘Brigadoon’?” Out of it came this really epic, science-fiction idea, but it doesn’t involve any special effects at all,” he said. “It’s a little bit based in local folklore.”

James McAvoy playing Professor X in ‘X-Men: First Class’
James McAvoy has signed on to play a young Charles Xavier, aka Professor X, in “X-Men: First Class,” which Matthew Vaughn is directing for Fox. According to Fox, “First Class” will “chart the epic beginning of the X-Men saga. Before Charles Xavier and Eric Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were the closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men.”

Marvel Taps ‘No Heroics’ Creator For ‘Runaways’ Duty
Drew Pearce has signed on to write the script for “Runaways.” Pearce is a British screenwriter best known for creating “No Heroics,” a sitcom that follows a group of off-duty superheroes who hang out at a bar where they aren’t allowed to use their powers. “Runaways” was created by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona back in 2003 for Marvel Comics. The series depicts a group of teenagers who discover that their parents are secretly supervillains.

‘Flash’ Sprints Towards A Green Light, ‘Wonder Woman’ & ‘Aquaman’ Movies Planned
According to Warner Bros. chairman and CEO Barry Meyer, Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment are also hard at work on bringing “Aquaman” and “Wonder Woman” to the big screen. “Entourage” fans will be disappointed to hear that James Cameron probably won’t help bring Arthur Curry to the big screen, just as Joss Whedon is almost certainly uninvolved in “Wonder Woman” considering his attachment to “The Avengers” for Marvel Studios.

Tommy Lee Jones confirmed for Captain America! (But as what?)
As for whom Jones will be playing, most of the speculation has centered around Gen. Chester Phillips, the military man who, in the Marvel mythology, selects the skinny but patriotic Steve Rogers for the super-soldier experiment that turns the army reject into the legendary superhero and future leader of the Avengers. The hard-nosed Phillips acts as sort of a mentor and commander for Rogers, a role that seems perfectly suited for Jones’ overall tough-guy demeanor.

Meet the men who could play Spider-Man
Even as Alvin Sargent rewrites the script for Columbia’s rebooted “Spider-Man,” director Marc Webb has been ensnaring actors in his web(b) in his search for the new Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man. Webb has been meeting and reading actors quietly for several months, but the list has narrowed in the past week or two. No screen tests have been conducted at this early stage (though it will be a requirement), and insiders point out that the director and studio are still on the lookout. The candidates for the web-slinger include: Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot, Nicholas Nickleby, Jane Eyre, King Kong, Defiance, The Adventures of Tintin), Alden Ehrenreich (Tetro), Frank Dillane (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), Andrew Garfield (The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The Social Network), Josh_Hutcherson (Zathura, Bridge to Terabithia, Red Dawn)

Meanwhile, Back at The Hall of Justice…

• HTMLComics Proprietor Used “Library” Defense
• Warner Bros. fights back in ‘Smallville’ profits lawsuit
• Platinum Dunes Steers ‘Turtles’ Relaunch
• SET VISIT INTERVIEW: JOHNNY SIMMONS (SCOTT PILGRIM)
• Warner Bros. sets ‘Sherlock’ sequel date; ‘Flash’ close to greenlight
• Joss Whedon Has ‘Tentatively Agreed’ To Direct ‘The Avengers,’ Says Zack Whedon
• SET VISIT INTERVIEW: MARY ELIZABETH WINSTEAD (SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD)
• Has Jeremy Renner Joined The Avengers?

The Fine Print

This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive roundup of the entire weeks’ news. All stories are chosen by me for no other reason than that they got my attention and might capture yours. If something you think is more important chime in on the feedback; we’d love to hear comments and have a conversation about it.

Sam Worthington Confirms ‘Dan Dare’ Involvement, Updates ‘Last Days Of American Crime’ Status
“We’re putting ['Last Days of American Crime'] together as we speak,” Worthington said. “The writer of the comic is actually doing his take on a draft. I thought that was a smart thing for me and my mates to get him to do, and we’re looking for directors — a director who would be able to handle it.”

‘Smallville’ exclusive: Someone is going to [major spoiler alert]!
Smallville’s ninth season finale will feature a cameo by one of TV’s most feared guest stars: The Grim Reaper. Sources confirm to me exclusively that producers of the everlasting superhero saga are planning to kill off a major castmember in the May 14 capper.

Kenneth Branagh is hammering away on ‘Thor’ — and those nasty rumors
“Growing up, my single comic book passion was Thor,” says the 49-year-old actor and filmmaker who surprised many industry observers by taking on the director’s job on the big-budget adaptation of the Marvel Comics thunder god. “From my time in Belfast as a kid, that’s the first time I came across that comic, really, exclusively, I don’t know why, but it struck a chord. I was drawn to it. I liked all the dynastic drama.”

Leading Contender in Line to Direct THE AVENGERS…
Leading contender on that short list to direct THE AVENGERS  film is none other than Joss Whedon. Whedon, who was previously writing and directing WB’s long gestating Wonder Woman film, has a history with the Marvel brand as a comic book writer. His run of the Astonishing X-Men was one of Marvel’s best selling lines and was nominated for several Eisner Awards. He was also the second writer on the Runaways line for Marvel and wrote short stories for Stan Lee Meets Spider-Man.

Judge dismisses $750-million lawsuit against Marvel, Stan Lee
The lawsuit, filed in January 2009 by Stan Lee Media shareholders Jose Abadin and Christopher Belland, accused Lee of improperly transferring rights to characters like Spider-Man, Iron Man and the X-Men from the now-defunct company to Marvel in 1998. According to the claim, the defendants denied shareholders of the failed dot-com their rights to 50-percent ownership of Lee’s co-creations at Marvel. Abadin and Belland argued they, as shareholders, were owed $750 million in profits from movies based on Lee’s characters.

‘Resident Evil’ Filmmaker Discusses Making ‘Buck Rogers’ In 3-D
‘I have a lot of specific ideas,’ Paul W.S. Anderson said of bringing the astronaut hero of yesteryear to the big screen.
“Buck Rogers is the longest-running comic strip in the world,” Anderson said of why the character deserves a comeback. “There are whole scenes from ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ and the original ‘Star Wars’ that were taken from Buck Rogers comic strips, because Lucas and Spielberg were growing up heavily influenced by these TV shows and comic strips.

Ryan Reynolds to Star in R.I.P.D. (REST IN PEACE DEPARTMENT) Plus an Update on THE CHANGE-UP
R.I.P.D.  Rest in peace department.  A terrific script by Manfredi & Hay at Universal that we hopefully going to make at the beginning of next year… It’s terrific based on the graphic novel. It’s about two cops, one recently dead and a gunslinger who’s been dead for hundreds of years who work on the Rest in Peace department – which is the police department of the dead. And they basically…it takes place on a normal day and it’s about trying to keep the dead quiet.

Captain America sidekick: Sebastian Stan
Sebastian Stan, one of the actors who tested for the title role of Marvel’s “Captain America,” has nabbed the key role of Captain America’s sidekick Bucky Barnes. In comic book lore, Barnes, a teenaged orphan, was too young to join the army but became one camp’s mascot. When he discovered Captain America’s identity, he joined Captain America as a partner in his Nazi-fighting escapades. The character died in Captain America’s final World War II adventure. Insiders also say Stan has signed on for five or six pictures.

Losers director confirms he may do Robotech
“Well, it’s not a project that’s greenlit, so you know, … It’s a great cult series. When it came out, I actually saw it in France, growing up. I saw it in French. It’s a pretty amazing cartoon. And I’m hoping it’s going to come to fruition. I read a draft that’s really good. … I’m interested in doing it, but the project is not fast tracked or anything like that, so there’s no official thing. There’s no deal. … They sent me a draft. I liked it. It’s a work in progress.”

DC Comics CCO Geoff Johns on the Possibility of a Justice League Movie: “We’ll Talk in San Diego”
Asked if DC and Warner Bros were planning to do something like Marvel is doing with The Avengers, with the goal being a Justice League of America live-action feature film, Johns responded nervously: “Can’t talk about it yet, but we’ll talk in San Diego.” When asked if he is still working on the big screen adaptation of The Flash, Johns responded “We’re developing it right now — The Flash movie. Can’t say anything about it right now, I’m sorry.” Most of Johns answers reguarding the future of the DC movie universe resulted in the same type of response. LAter someone asked if there would be a Wonder Woman movie. Geoff responded “Look — Obviously, everyone at DC wants to see it, I would like to see it, but can’t talk about it right now.”

Red Sonja Update: Rose McGowan Out. Megan Fox In?
The broader truth, it seems, is that the previous incarnation of the Red Sonja remake has been scrapped, as some have already speculated. Rose McGowan is off. In fact, it seems that director, Douglas Aarniokoski, is also off the project, and Millennium Films is searching for another writer, someone to take another pass at David N. White’s script. But the project is far from dead. The potentially bigger news here is that there’s an offer out to another actress to take the role. That actress? Megan Fox.

San Diego to Build $753 Million Expansion to Convention Center in a Bid to Keep Comic-Con
The Port of San Diego has agreed to a $753 million expansion to the San Diego Convention Center keep Comic-Con and other festivals in the city.  There has been rising doubts about whether Comic-Con would stay in San Diego when the contract between the city and organizers Comic-Con International (CCI, a non-profit organization) expired after 2012.  The problem is in accommodating the 126,000+ attendees. The center began operating at capacity in 2001, shortly after completion of its first expansion, which cost $216 million.  In that time, the convention center has had to turn away almost 400 events in recent years, 80% of which could have been accommodated had the venue been larger.

Joss Whedon, Paul Sollett in Running to Direct Marvel Comics’ RUNAWAYS
Director Paul Sollett (Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist) is in negotiations with Marvel Comics to helm an adaptation of Brian K. Vaughn’s Runaways, but Joss Whedon may be in the running as well. Whedon just so happened to write the second volume of the comics. The series, created by Brian K. Vaughn (Y: The Last Man), starts out with a group of kids who runaway together because they discover their parents are supervillains, and an eclectic bunch at that: mob bosses, alien invaders, dark wizards, mad scientists, telepathic mutants, and evil time-travelers.  The kids steal their parents’ gadgets and discover their own special powers as they try to avoid being caught by their illegal guardians.

David Wain Circling Too Cool to Be Forgotten
Wain is circling a fantasy comedy based on Alex Robinson’s Top Shelf graphic novel, Too Cool to Be Forgotten. It’s about a middle-aged man who, after trying hypnosis to quit smoking, is transported back to 1985, where he must relieve his awkward and gangly formative years and get the girl of his dreams.

Meanwhile, Back at The Hall of Justice…

• Red Hot Chili Peppers & Oasis Sign Up For ‘Beck’ Manga Adaptation
• M. Night Shyamalan says ‘Airbender’ rises above race issues: ‘That’s what’s so beautiful about anime’
• What Does Felicia Day Want To See In The ‘Dr. Horrible’ Sequel?
• Mark Valley Talks ‘Human Target’ Fight Sequences, Considers Ways To Kill Me
• Louis Leterrier Spoke To Marvel During ‘Clash Of The Titans’ Filming, Praises Chris Evans As Captain America
• ‘Green Lantern’ Character Designer Promises ‘Lots Of Aliens’ In Hal Jordan’s Debut
• Alan Ball Talks TRUE BLOOD Comic Book + New Promo Poster!
• Sylvain White Back To Work On ‘Ronin’ Adaptation, Wants 3-D Treatment For ‘Cult Classic’ Comic
• Marvel makes Emily Blunt an offer for ‘Captain America,’ but British actress probably will say no
• Marvel introduces iPad app for comics (video)
• Chris Evans doesn’t know jack about Captain America
• Chris Evans and Columbus Short WonderCon Video Interview THE LOSERS
• Rob Zombie Wonders “Whatever Happened To Baron Von Shock?”
• Are The Hughes Brothers Looking To Divide And Conquer On Pic Projects, incl. ‘Akira’?
• Nicolas Cage Talks Ghost Rider 2, Drive Angry And More National Treasure.
• Chris Evans Doesn’t Think Captain America Will Be ‘The Boss’ In ‘Avengers’
• Brad Meltzer To Explore ‘The Final Taboo’ In Joss Whedon’s ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ Universe
• ‘Interview With A Vampire’ Author Anne Rice Next Up For ‘Female Force’ Biography Comic Line

The Fine Print

This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive roundup of the entire weeks’ news. All stories are chosen by me for no other reason than that they got my attention and might capture yours. If something you think is more important chime in on the feedback; we’d love to hear comments and have a conversation about it.

Rose McGowan Joins ‘Conan’ Cast
On Monday, director Marcus Nispel’s “Conan” reboot finally began filming at at Nu Boyana Studios in Sofia, Bulgaria — with actress Rose McGowan as the last member of the primary cast. According to Variety, McGowan will appear as “an evil half-human/half-witch” opposite Jason Momoa’s Conan. Rounding out the cast are Rachel Nichols, Stephen Lang, Bob Sapp, Leo Howard, Ron Perlman and Said Taghmaoui.

Bryan Singer on ‘X-Men: First Class’: It’s got to be about Magneto and Professor X
“Just doing younger mutants is not enough. The story needs to be more than that. I love the relationship between Magneto and Xavier, these two men who have diametrically opposite points of view but still manage to be friends — to a point. They are the ultimate frenemies.”

All of Warner Brothers’ Tentpole Movies Will Be Shown in 3D
Warner Bros President Alan Horn announced that all of their tentpole movies, including upcoming DC Comics movies and big special effects films, will be released in 3D. This means we can probably expect the new Superman and Batman to be in 3D as well, as long as Chris Nolan approves of it. However, he also said that they’ll look at each project individually and determine whether it’s best to shoot in 3D or convert into 3D on a movie-by-movie basis. Horn did say that this is the new standard for the company. Later on, Horn also announced that they’ll be focusing more on DC Comics properties to fill in for Harry Potter once that series ends in 2011 (with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II).

“Batman Beyond” Brings The Story Of A Future Batman To Comics
The full range of Terry’s world will be on display in the mini series, but center stage will be occupied by Bruce and Terry. Terry and Dana are not married during this series, which takes place closer to the end of the animated series than to the character’s appearance at the end of “Justice League Unlimited.” [T]his miniseries does tie the animated series closer to the DCU proper, but whether or not it becomes considered the canonical version of Batman’s future remains to be seen. And decided.

Chris Evans accepts ‘Captain America’ mantle
Evans was offered the role in Marvel Studios’ production last week, but there was some question of whether he would accept. Factoring in to the choice was the fact that Evans played Johnny Storm, the flame-covered superhero known as the Human Torch in Fox’s “Fantastic Four” movies. Was he ready to play another superhero and take on the trappings that come with such a high-profile part? Evans took a few days to think it over, and once he decided he was willing to wield the shield, negotiations moved quickly over the weekend.

Warner Bros. prepping film adaptation of ‘Bleach’ manga
Warner Bros., already developing an adaptation of the manga “Akira,” is in the process of securing the movie rights to “Bleach.” The story centers on a 15-year-old boy who has the ability to see ghosts and meets a female Soul Reaper, a member of an order that escorts the souls of the dead. A fight with an evil spirit causes the Reaper to transfer all her power to the boy, leaving her stranded in the human world and the boy taking over her job as a fighter of evil.

GREEN LANTERN ANIMATED MOVIE?
According to sources, it will be part of a direct-to-video project that will be timed for release of the live-action Green Lantern movie in the summer of 2011. A representative of Warner Home Video said the studio will not comment on any film that hasn’t been announced as in production. According to sources, the new Green Lantern animated project takes a look at the origins of the Green Lantern Corps, including the first ring wielders.

Michel Gondry Talks ‘Green Hornet’ Legacy, No Cameo For Van Williams
“There is the legacy of Bruce Lee that is very heavy to carry,” said Gondry. “Seth has the right tone. Evan, his partner, really included a lot of elements from the TV show and from the stories that existed, so we’re not so far off. The main difference is the character in the TV show was dead serious and had no humor, but of course with Seth Rogen you expect something a little different,” he added.

What other film could keep Bryan Singer from directing ‘X-Men: First Class’?
“Before Singer can dive into casting, he has a rather large problem –“  That “rather large problem” is an important one for Singer, and a pivotal one for Fox, who has a definite timetable for this “X-Men” reboot in mind.  Singer is already scouting locations for “Jack The Giant Killer.”  He’s deep into pre-production on the picture now, and it would seem almost actionable if he were to drop out at this point.  Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures are counting on Singer to deliver this big-budget fairy-tale, and the earliest he’s going to be free to start work on another large-scale picture will be 2012.

‘Kick-Ass’ Star Nicolas Cage Admits Early ‘Concerns’ About Chloe Moretz’s Hit Girl
“My belief is that any art form — pop art or other — is by nature freedom of speech,” he said. “It depends how you come into the movie and what your agenda is. Hopefully you won’t have any agenda and you’ll just go and see an rated-R movie and receive whatever it is the director wanted you to receive. But if you have an agenda going in and say, ‘It’s inappropriate,’ you can pick that argument. Conversely, you can come out and say, ‘Chloe Moretz’s character is a pop icon of feminism strength,’” Cage continued. “Because women go to see this movie and they’re really wowed by it. They love her character and how powerful she is. It’s ‘I am woman, hear me roar.’”

‘Hack/Slash’ Creator Turns To Werewolves With ‘Wild Game’
“Hack/Slash” creator Tim Seeley is hard at work on a new comic franchise, moving him from slashers into the world of uber-violent werewolves. While the comic has yet to be released, Underground Films and Daniel Alter are teaming up to produce a live-action big screen version of Wild Game with Kevin Seamus Fahey (“The Forgotten”, “Battlestar Galactica”) penning the adaptation. Described as 30 Days of Night with werewolves, the plot sounds simply incredible. You can get more info and dig on some early art by reading on.

JMS meets T-H-O-R
J. Michael Straczynsk posted the following on his Facebook page: “One other piece of fun: I did a cameo on the new Thor movie. It was supposed to be just a ten second deal, but director Kenneth Branagh decided (against the evidence) that I can act, so he kept putting me in more bits. We’ll see what ends up on the cutting room floor, but it was a lot of fun.”

Kick Ass Artist John Romita Jr. Talks Kick-Ass The Movie
Right after Kick-Ass began, we were privy to a couple of sites and emails that people were dressing in costume. The longer the series went along and the closer the film came to coming out, we found out that there were neighborhood patrols in which people would pick up outfits and dress up. The timeline, we’re not sure about, some of them were claiming they were dressing up long before the series came out.

Warner Bros. Stealing Hype From Kick-Ass For Clash of the Titans With Google Adwords Trickery
Here’s a piece of marketing for Clash of the Titans  that is at least commendably sneaky. Go to the UK version of Google. Search Kick-Ass. What do you get? In the main results, just what you’d expect to: IMDB, the official site and so on… but over in the sidebar of sponsored advertising? First of all, you get an ad for Clash of the Titans, Warner Bros. big would-be blockbuster, which is opening in direct competition with Kick-Ass. They’ve clearly stumped up a lump and purchased some Google AdWords action. Bleeding Cool spotted this first, and made a screen cap. But since then, there’s been some even sneakier action. A new ad has appeared, clearly purchased by Universal, the UK distributors of Kick-Ass. It reads “Don’t Be Conned. Heroes Don’t Clash, Real Heroes Kick-Ass. Join Up Now youtube.com/kickass”

Meanwhile, Back at The Hall of Justice…

• ‘Dead@17′ Movie Gets ‘Last House On The Left’ Director, New ‘Witch Queen’ Series Debuts
• Robert Rodriguez Explains ‘Red Sonja’ Delays, Won’t Happen Until After ‘Conan’
• ‘Fame: Kristen Stewart’ Comic Book Preview
• ‘Charmed’ TV Series To Continue In Comic Book Form
• Hans Zimmer Wants The Riddler For ‘Batman 3′
• Michel Gondry Describes ‘The Green Hornet’ Fight Scenes
• ‘Iron Man 2′ Composer Says Score Will Be ‘Quite Different,’ Describes Tom Morello Collaboration
• Christopher Nolan Talks ‘Superman,’ Won’t Talk ‘Justice League’
• Louis Leterrier On ‘Shortlist’ To Direct ‘The Avengers’
• The ‘S’ stands for spin; new Supergirl  “lifestyle brand”
• Greg Berlanti Explains Why Ryan Reynolds Is Perfect For ‘Green Lantern,’ Won’t Discuss Costume
• Louis Leterrier Explains How He’d Approach ‘The Avengers’
• With New ‘Sin City 2′ Script On The Way, Robert Rodriguez Says ‘Sooner Is Better’ For Sequel
• Mark Millar And Matthew Vaughn To Adapt Secret Comics Project With Leinil Francis Yu
• Mark Valley is a HUMAN TARGET
• Edward Norton puts Hulk’s fate in the hands of the fans
• Warner Bros. is Going to Use DC Comics Superheroes to Replace the HARRY POTTER Franchise as Their Tent Pole Releases!
• Director Greg Berlanti talks LIFE AS WE KNOW IT, THE FLASH and GREEN LANTERN (He Wrote and is a Producer on Green Lantern)

The Fine Print

This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive roundup of the entire weeks’ news. All stories are chosen by me for no other reason than that they got my attention and might capture yours. If something you think is more important chime in on the feedback; we’d love to hear comments and have a conversation about it.

• Bye Michael Aktinson
• The Sony Move
• Josh Vs Alien Vs Predator
• Nintendo 3Ds
• Transformers 3 not in 3D?
• Avatar Blu-ray Price
• Cop Out
• Red State
• American: the Bill Hick Story
• John Robertson at the Edinburgh Fringe
• Chris Evans As Captain America
• Spy Hunter

Its a cartoon based on the Marvel super team, the Avengers! It’s got Thor, it’s got Iron Man, It’s got Captain America, and even The Hulk! this looks like it could be taking a page out of the Justice League Unlimited playbook by going with simpler designs, and hopefully cool stories! Thus far the animated battle between Marvel and DC has been a see/saw of strengths and weakness. For every Wonder Woman or Ultimate Avengers, there has been a Superman Doomsday or Superhero Squad to balance it out. But one area where DC has been really kicking ass was in their long format TV series’ such as Justice League and Batman T.A.S. etc. Marvel has come close, but hasn’t quite hit the same lofty heights (not since the old X Men cartoon anyway). With the Avengers, maybe things are a changing….

Trailer

[See post to watch Flash video]

What do you think? is it a Primer for the upcoming live action movie? Or is this going to be the new JLU with engrossing stories, cool villains and awesome plots? Oh and what does this herald for future Marvel/Disney collaborations? (please note the video is slightly cut off, it will be replaced ASAP)

Daredevil: Latest Marvel Hero To Reboot
Regency is mounting the remake with former News Corp No. 2 Peter Chernin producing. Writing the redo is screenwriter David Scarpa, who scripted The Day The Earth Stood Still for Fox, which will distribute Daredevil 2.0 or whatever it’s going to be called. The reason this is happening is simple: Hollywood studios with Marvel superheroes need to keep reinventing these Marvel movie franchises or the rights revert back to Disney-based Marvel.

Tim Robbins cast in ‘Green Lantern’
Tim Robbins is joining the cast of “Green Lantern,” the Martin Campbell-directed tentpole at Warner Bros. that’s based on the DC Comics superhero. Robbins will play Senator Hammond, the disapproving father of the movie’s villain, Dr. Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard), who becomes infused with psychic powers.

Massive THE FIRST AVENGER: CAPTAIN AMERICA Movie Update from Director Joe Johnston
We’re definitely going to shoot it in a different way than any of the other Marvel pictures have been shot.  What I’m trying to do is look at the comics – most of the new ones like the Brubaker series – and to interpret that sort of visual style into a film in a way that I think has been tried before…it always looks a little too on the nose it looks like oh they’re shooting a comic book movie.  I want to try something a little bit different.

Geoff Johns On ‘Smallville: Absolute Justice’ Easter Eggs, Character Decisions And Costume Changes
There’s about four dozen [easter eggs]. Honestly, it’s that extensive. I went to great lengths in the script to enrich the universe and the concept of the Justice Society. It’s a society, so it’s got to mean something big. It can’t just be a couple guys who used to hang out. And the production people up there went crazy on this thing. They created more props and they research more comic book lore than they ever had before by quite a big margin. So, it’s a lot of fun.

Kurtzman & Orci To Produce Locke & Key
“One of the best comic books out there is called LOCKE AND KEY.  It is written by Joe Hill and drawn by fellow Latino Gabriel Rodriguez, un hermano.  It is set it a cool Massachusetts village called Lovecraft.  The padre of this familia is murdered and the three kids and mom relocate to their estate, Keyhouse.  Turns out the house has many rooms that cannot be opened except by special keys. And scary ass forces in the house start speaking to the padre’s killer and sending him to Lovecraft to finish the job…writers and producers extraordinaire, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Latino!) have been granted the rights and will produce the project through their DreamWorks deal.  They will make LOCKE and KEY into the next big franchise…”

Director Jeffrey Blitz and Producer Sean Welch are Making a Documentary About the History of DC Comics and it Will Premiere at Comic-Con!
“DC Comics contacted us and asked if we would do this.  Jeff and the director are comic book enthusiasts since they were kids and remain comic book enthusiasts.  So yes, we have access to their archives, their material, their covers, their panels, the creatives and the executives in the DC world.”

Rockne O’Bannon Talks “Farscape: Scorpius”
The idea of making this new series accessible to non-”Farscape” fans was part of the discussion from the very first day. The new “Scorpius” series doesn’t go back to square one, and it is not an origin story. It does take place in present time, concurrent with the ongoing “Farscape” comic book – but we’re hoping that readers new to the Farscape-verse can and will quickly get caught up in who Scorpius is and all that he’s capable of.

Anthony Hopkins talks about playing God in Thor
“That’s a really big one, a really big movie,” Oscar winner Hopkins said. “I’m a big Ken Branagh [fan]. I think he’s an extraordinary guy, a wonderful actor and a terrific director. He’s one of the easiest guys to be with. He doesn’t shout or scream. He just is very gentle with everyone. He believes in his actors. He needs them to act, and he’ll direct in a strong way, but he leaves it to you. Whatever you want, he gives it to you.”

Five Not-So-Mysterious Connections Between ‘Lost’ And Comic Books
From comic book cameos and superhero references all the way to the writers room, there’s no shortage of links between “Lost” and the paneled page. After the jump, we’ve listed five ways that the show’s mythical island and the graphic novel world have united.

SNL Stars Unite To Support Graphic Novel Stage Adaptation
Seth Meyers and a gaggle of SNL stars and writers turned out in force last night to support “The Diary of a Teenage Girl,” an ambitious multimedia theatre adaptation of the prose/graphic novel hybrid of the same name by writer-artist Phoebe Gloeckner.

Watch Michael Shanks go all Watchmen as Smallville’s Hawkman
“I’m getting to that age where I didn’t think too many offers were going to come my way to be playing any superhero characters anytime in the near future. My eldest daughter is getting where she appreciates that kind of stuff, and I thought it would be a hoot to give that to them. It turns out my younger ones seemed to appreciate it more than my older one does. It is one of those rare opportunities that you get, so I thought I’d jump at it,” said Shanks.

Millar Talks Wanted 2
We get the skinny on the celluloid sequel from the series’ co-creator.
In the video below, Mark discusses the journey from book-to-screen, the changes forced upon the story, and his relationship with director Timur Bekmambetov. He also talks about the direction the series will take in part two, with news of further fraternities.

M. Night Shyamalan had a sense about ‘Airbender’: ‘This would make a killer movie’
For M. Night Shyamalan, it was his then 7-year old daughter who hooked him on the Nickelodeon series “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” “She made us watch as a family and all four of us were hooked, “ Shyamalan said. “I was like, ‘This would make a killer movie.  And my wife who really has been kind of in neutral about my career was insane about it. Insane about it: ‘You have to do it. This is it. This is the one.’

Director Joe Johnston confirms the Red Skull will be the main villain in ‘Captain America’
We will see the Captain America villain, the main villain, the Red Skull.  But it’s the origin story.  It’s how he became Captain America in World War II.  There are present-day bookends, but it’s really… it’s his origin story.  And we decided you only get one shot at telling an origin story, so you might as well tell it first.

Meanwhile, Back at The Hall of Justice…

• ‘Deadpool’ Writers On Working With Ryan Reynolds: ‘If It Doesn’t Feel Like Deadpool, He Catches It’
• CAPTAIN AMERICA’S INTERNATIONAL CO-STARS: THE INVADERS
• Ben Affleck Says ‘We Missed A Lot’ With ‘Daredevil,’ Reflects On New Era Of Superhero Movies
• Jon Favreau’s COWBOYS & ALIENS to be released on July 29, 2011
• Captain America will be a USO performer in the movie, director says
• Captain Awesome from ‘Chuck’ reads for Captain America
• James Franco’s Advice For Next ‘Spider-Man’ Cast
• Vampire movie ‘Priest’ gets 3D treatment and a new release date
• ‘Daredevil’ reboot has writer
• Geoff Johns On “Absolute Justice”
• Logan Lerman as Spider-Man? Not so fast!
• Logan Lerman Addresses ‘Spider-Man’ Casting Talk
• ‘Iron Man 2′ Occurs Before ‘Incredible Hulk’ In Marvel Movie Timeline, Says Jon Favreau
• ‘Thor’ Star Chris Hemsworth Is Becoming ‘A Beast’ For Marvel Movie Role
• Zack Whedon Outlines Plan For New ‘Dr. Horrible’ Comics, Offers Sequel Status Report
• Chi McBride Talks “Human Target”
• Captain America casting coming soon!! Who’ll be Cap??
• No ‘War Machine’ Solo Movie, Says ‘Iron Man 2′ Actor Don Cheadle
• Shaping the Story of “Planet Hulk”
• Is Warner Bros. working on a Young Justice cartoon?
• Producing “Planet Hulk”
• Patrick Stewart Doesn’t Expect To Return For ‘X-Men: First Class’
• ‘Lost’ Actor Jorge Garcia Reflects On Comic Book Writer Brian K. Vaughan’s Time With TV Series
• BEHIND BUFFY SEASON 8: “Turbulence” & “Twilight” Pt. 1

The Fine Print

This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive roundup of the entire weeks’ news. All stories are chosen by me for no other reason than that they got my attention and might capture yours. If something you think is more important chime in on the feedback; we’d love to hear comments and have a conversation about it.

‘Kick-Ass’ Director Matthew Vaughn Wants To Do ‘Sandman’ Movie
“I think it’s weird that hardly any Neil Gaiman stuff has been made. The idea that no one has made ‘Sandman’ yet is weird,” said Vaughn. “You know what, I would love to do “Sandman,” but I think it’s stuck in development hell,” Vaughn said, “But that could be like a ‘Lord of the Rings’ – just a huge movie.”

Archaia and Jim Henson Company Announce First Fraggle Rock Comics
“All of us at Archaia are so proud of how Fraggle Rock is turning out,” said Stephen Christy, Director of Development for Archaia. “We’re taking a lot of unique approaches with this series, from launching it in our popular 8” x 8” Mouse Guard format to bringing in incredibly talented indie creators such as Jeffrey Brown, creator of Incredible Change-Bots, and Jeremy Love, creator of Bayou, to share their visions of this classic Jim Henson Company creation. We’re working very hard to make sure this book is a fresh take for fans of the show and will also appeal to new audiences, and I’m excited that readers will be able to fully dive into the world of Fraggle Rock with issue #1 in April and our Free Comic Book Day special in May!”

Olivia Wilde to star opposite Daniel Craig in ‘Cowboys and Aliens’
Olivia Wilde is in negotiations to star opposite Daniel Craig in the sci-fi Western “Cowboys & Aliens,” which Jon Favreau is directing for DreamWorks Studios. Wilde will play a character named Ella who joins up with mysterious gunslinger in an unlikely uprising against an alien invasion.

‘I, Frankenstein’: a monster mash from ‘Underworld’ creators
Lakeshore, the production-financing outfit behind the “Underworld” movie series, is readying what it hopes will be its next action-horror franchise, “I, Frankenstein.” The company has preemptively picked up the script for the comic book adaptation. The project has “Underworld” roots. It’s based on a comic from “Underworld” co-creator Kevin Grevioux, who wrote the script for “Frankenstein,” and “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” helmer Patrick Tatopoulos is attached to direct. The project brings together classic monster characters — including the Frankenstein monster, the Invisible Man, Dracula and the Hunchback of Notre Dame — in a contemporary film noir setting.

Aaron Johnson is “Kick-Ass”
“Jane [Goldman], the writer on this, and Mark Millar and Matthew really kind of created the end of the comic. I think Mark Millar had a different ending for the comic, but they’ve pulled together to make it work for the comic and the movie. So it’s kind of cool that we’re going to be sticking to the comic. I know with “Wanted,” when I read it, it was miles away – completely different from the movie. It would be really great, if we stick to the comic book.”

Kevin Feige on Upcoming Marvel Studios Films
“It’s fun now, and we’re introducing some new characters in ['Iron Man 2'],” he said. “But it’s not about just cramming in lots of new people; that’s sort of the cardinal sin of the sequel – adding in too many characters. This is totally Tony Stark’s story. And that’s gonna weave into Thor’s story, and Steve Rogers’ story, and it’s already ingrained with Nick Fury’s story and an organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Andrea Romano Discusses Directing All-Star Voices on “Justice League: Crisis on Earth Two”
Romano has been one of the driving forces in animation voiceovers for more than a quarter century, amassing a list of credits that range from dramatic (Batman: The Animated Series) to silly (Animaniacs) to hip (The Boondocks) and timeless (Smurfs). The six-time Emmy Award winner (and 20-time nominee) has not only set the standard by which industry veterans measure the art, but she has become a household name to animation fans across the globe, regularly drawing standing ovations and endless applause during her annual Con appearances.

‘White Collar’ Actor Recalls Brief Time As Brett Ratner’s Superman
“I actually screen-tested for Superman, and there was a time when Brett Ratner and I were going to work together on it,” Matthew Bomer recounted. “That particular incarnation of that franchise sort of fell apart, and then it became a whole different beast. I was in full tights,” he laughed when asked how much of the costume he had donned for his screen test. “I was rocking the tights, the speedo, all of it. It was really surreal,” he added. “As a kid, you grow up idolizing superheroes, and to be in that garb was really fun and surreal and humbling. … It was a really great experience, and one that I’m really thankful for. I got to live out a childhood fantasy, if only for the period of the screen test.”

Zac Efron to star in spy thriller from Marvel scribe Brian Michael Bendis
The studio has picked up the rights to the graphic novel “Fire” by Brian Michael Bendis. Zac Efron is attached to star and will exec produce. Written and drawn by Bendis, the story centers on a college student who is inducted into a special CIA project that tests whether training ordinary citizens to be agents can be successful. Bendis is also on board to write the adaptation.

‘Thor’ To Be More Science Than Fantasy, Says Marvel Studios President
“We’re not doing the blow-the-dust-off-of-the-old-Norse-book-in-your-library ‘Thor,’” said Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige. “And in the ‘Thor’ of the Marvel Universe, there’s a race called the Asgardians. And we’re linked through this Tree of Life that we’re unaware of. It’s real science, but we don’t know about it yet. The ‘Thor’ movie is about teaching people that.”

Robert Downey Jr. On ‘Avengers’ Quality Vs. Scheduling And Tony Stark’s ‘Iron Man 2′ Mindset
“[Avengers is] the pinnacle, but only if it’s done in the smartest and best and most creatively sound way possible,” he said. “And I’m not saying we can’t get there. I’m just saying it would be better to get there and not stay on schedule than to get everyone what they were hoping for in terms of a release date but not do it correctly. And by correctly, I mean my way,” he laughed.

Did Avatar Completely Rip Off An Obscure British Comic Called Firekind?
Only someone who came into existence three seconds ago could deny the twin influences of Halo: Combat Evolved and Ferngully: The Last Rainforest on James Cameron’s xenobestial masterpiece Avatar. But could Cameron’s inspirations lie deeper? It’s a classic tale – boy goes to a lush planet with toxic atmosphere, floating rocks and dragons, going native with the blue skinned natives, resisting marauding colonialists and rallying the nature god of the planet to go forth and destroy. Unfortunately, it was the plot to Firekind, a comic book series published in British sci-fi anthology 2000ad (home to Judge Dredd) in 1993.

Sgt. Rock’ reloads as movie project — but not as a WWII story
“I’m really close on that now,” Silver said of the “Sgt. Rock” film. “What we’ve done is gone back to it and we’ve done a new draft that actually came in this week. We have a shot at that one now. I feel good about it. That one might happen. It’s a little bit in the future,” Joel Silver said of the setting. “As a war movie, it’s not going to be ‘where it’s been,’ it’s going to be ‘where it’s going.’ We didn’t want to do Iraq, we didn’t want to do a contemporary war. We wanted to do a sort of futuristic war. It’s pretty strong. Chad St. John wrote the script and we’ve got Francis Lawrence involved in developing it with us. It’s not a ‘go’ movie yet but I’m feeling good about it.”

Brandon Routh is Hanging with CHUCK and SCOTT PILGRIM
I play Todd Ingram in [Scott Pilgrim]. The film stars Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim, and he has to defeat seven evil exes of Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s character, in order to continue dating her. The seven exes basically challenge Michael, and I play one of them. I’m a vegan rock star with a blonde wig. Because I’m vegan, I have these special powers, the power of telekinesis. So, I end up having this huge bass battle with Michael Cera, as we’re playing dueling bass guitars, and I throw him around telekinetically threw walls and such. And my blonde wig becomes a faux-hawk whenever I use my powers, and then flattens back down when I’m not using them.

Meanwhile, Back at The Hall of Justice…

• Zack Whedon Talks ‘Terminator’ Comics, Reveals Issue #3 Cover
• Former ‘Green Lantern’ Rumor Target Ryan Gosling Explains Why Superhero Movies Aren’t For Him
• Cliff Chiang teams with actress Helen Slater for a Supergirl story
• Matthew Vaughn Makes a “Kick-Ass” Movie
• ‘Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World’ Gets Official Release Date
• ‘Priest’ Director Reveals His Vampires’ Origins And Creator Min-Woo Hyung’s Role In The Film
• Guy Ritchie sets aside ‘Lobo’ to make ‘Sherlock Holmes’ sequel
• Ryan Reynolds And ‘Deadpool’ Screenwriters Collaborate ‘Every Single Day’
• Brian Pulido Makes Directorial Debut with The Graves
• Jackie Earle Haley Talks “Human Target”
• Stan Lee Talks About Spider-Man Reboot & Iron Man 2
• Jonathan Ross starts new career as comic book author
• ‘Kick-Ass’ Star Aaron Johnson Says Sequel ‘Would Be Great,’ Confesses To Being Comics Newbie
• ‘Incredible Hulk’ Director Explains What It Would Take For Edward Norton To Return As Bruce Banner
• Anna Kendrick Says ‘Scott Pilgrim’ Is A Combination Of ‘Ferris Bueller’ And ‘Kill Bill’
• Robert Pattinson Comic Book Gets A New Cover And Preview Page!
• David Beckham Biographical Comic Kicks Off
• Smallville: Green Arrow’s Future
• Smallville Casting Exclusive: Odessa Rae Joins as DC Villain

The Fine Print

This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive roundup of the entire weeks’ news. All stories are chosen by me for no other reason than that they got my attention and might capture yours. If something you think is more important chime in on the feedback; we’d love to hear comments and have a conversation about it.

‘Green Lantern’ Director Says Mark Strong In Talks to Play Sinestro, Confirms Kilowog, More!
“No, that’s completely wrong,” said director Martin Campbell of the persistent rumor, which popped up again recently despite Haley denying any involvement with the “Green Lantern” movie. “In fact, we’re in negotiations with Mark Strong to play Sinestro. He’s not only a wonderful actor, but he looks like Sinestro,” he added. “If you look up old pictures of Sinestro, he’s very like him. The Jackie Earle Haley thing, somebody told me about it this morning; I had never heard it before in my life.”

Black Panther Animated Begins
The Black Panther animated series debuts in Australia this weekend. It features some of the most amazing talent in show biz, especially considering the leader of the pack is none other than Djimon Hounsou! He’s in outstanding vocal company with Kerry Washington, Alfre Woodard and R&B singer, Jill Scott. The Black Panther is a joint effort between Marvel and BET Networks.

Bryan Fuller has started writing Pushing Daisies comic
Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller reportedly has begun writing the long-discussed comic-book continuation of the canceled television series. Fuller, who created Dead Like Me and co-created Wonderfalls — both short-lived cult favorites — revealed in May that the comic will tie up loose ends left by Pushing Daisies’ untimely demise as the characters deal with a flash flood that empties bodies from a nearby cemetery.

‘Twilight’ Actor Kellan Lutz Confirms He’s A ‘Conan’ Contender
“I’ve been auditioning,” Lutz said. “They’re finalizing so they’re trying to figure out what happens next. I’ve been waiting for a while, doing screen tests. There are just so many cooks in the kitchen. If it happens, it happens.”

Bryan Cranston heading to ‘Mars’ for Pixar
“Breaking Bad” star Bryan Cranston has joined the cast of Walt Disney’s “John Carter of Mars.” The adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs book series centers on a Civil War veteran (Taylor Kitsch) who finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars, where he becomes involved with the planet’s warring people. Cranston plays a Civil War colonel who comes into conflict with Carter.

Interview: Denzel Washington On The Book Of Eli
Jeff Imada, who is a disciple of Danny Inosanto, who was a contemporary of Bruce Lee trained me and I worked with Danny a bit. I don’t know, four, five, six months out we started stretching and moving and doing stuff with our eyes closed and just getting into the whole vibe. Stretching is, you don’t know, you’re too young, but when you get older, stretching is good. Stretching is real – - I don’t do it enough but it helps a lot. Yeah, it’s good stuff.

Felicia Day’s “Guild” Comes to Comics
“The reason I did a comic was the opportunity to expand the world where I couldn’t afford to go in the web series: many real world locations, and lots of in-game exploration (we don’t use actual game footage in the web show due to copyright issues),” Day said.

‘Captain America’ News
It’s not going to be a Captain America that you expect. It’s something different. It is influenced by the comic book, but it goes off in a completely different direction. It’s the origin story of Captain America. It’s mostly period—there are modern, present-day bookends on it—but it’s basically the story of how Steve Rogers becomes Captain America.

‘Human Target’ Star Explains Differences Between Comic Book And TV Series
“They had to go to great lengths even in the comic book to make this exposition and explain [if] this is the real Chance or not,” he said. “Even going as far as doing that on television — they tried doing that with the Rick Springfield show — and I think it’s something that would be really hard to maintain. It would be hard to show it and hard to explain it.”

Top Shelf strikes deal with Likely Story, media entrepreneur
Top Shelf Prods. is the latest comic and graphic novel publisher to set up ties to Hollywood, creating a capital investment deal with new media entrepreneur John S. Johnson and indie producer Anthony Bregman’s shingle Likely Story. Johnson and Likely Story have acquired a 33% stake in Top Shelf. Johnson will now join the board of Top Shelf with Likely Story, getting a first-look deal for all new Top Shelf publications.

Peter Sarsgaard in ‘Green Lantern’ talks
Peter Sarsgaard is in negotiations to play the villain in “Green Lantern,” Warner Bros.’ big-budget, Martin Campbell-directed tentpole based on the DC Comics super hero. Sarsgaard will play Dr. Hector Hammond, the pathologist son of a senator who is seen as a disappointment in his father’s eyes. He becomes infused with psychic powers when he discovers a meteor.

Dicaprio Versus Day-Lewis For Nemesis Movie
Do You Agree With Director?
Mark Millar recently posted on his forum: “Okay, am pretty drunk. I downed many Guinnesses …But have spoken to three directors about the Nemesis movie in the past seven days, none of whom have read the scripts and all of whom are basing our chats entirely on the visuals and high concepts you guys have seen. Anyway, as you know I don’t want anyone to see this until the whole series is written and that’s at least into next month. THAT SAID, the director I got hooked up with early this evening is literally one of the best in the biz. He’s someone I totally trust in terms of movie-making and he knows his comics too. We chatted about the property for an hour and his ideas were insane, the stuff that had me buzzing being his notion of DiCaprio as Nemesis versus Daniel Day-freakin-Lewis as America’s best cop.”

What Really Killed Spider-Man 4? Avatar!
production insiders tell Vulture that after seeing James Cameron’s fully immersive film, Raimi wanted all sorts of envelope-pushing CGI (though not 3-D, which the studio was considering). Such effects would take more money and, just as crucially, more time. But the studio, whose corporate parent Sony must answer to Wall Street, had set a strict May 6, 2011 release date, and missing that date would mean depriving Sony of a billion dollars in revenue. “Every movie is a power struggle,” explains one producer on the Sony lot familiar with the fracas. “But the tipping point was that Sam wanted to do certain things that would push the envelope in terms of [special effects] ‘toys’ and other visual stimulation, and Sony didn’t feel that was essential to the franchise.”

Bruce Timm Talks Animated Spectre
“We can play with these oddball characters who wouldn’t commercially support making a full length feature with them. I wish the business model was such that we could do that, but now we get to mess around with these more off-trail characters and have fun. In a weird kind of way, the Spectre is perfect for a series like this, because those original Fleischer/Aparo comics this version is based on, were really simple, straight-forward little standalone stories.”

Meanwhile, Back at The Hall of Justice…

• Green Lantern Director Says Expect An Emerald Dawn
• James Cameron Not Interested In ‘Spider-Man’ Reboot, Considers It ‘Sloppy Seconds’
• Jackie Earle Haley On ‘Human Target’ And Why He’s Excited About TV
• John Carter of Mars fires up in London! New details
• Mark Valley is the “Human Target”
• Chi McBride Gets Serious About Playing ‘The BMF’ On ‘Human Target’
• ‘Book Of Eli’ Directors Recall ‘From Hell’ Experience With Alan Moore, Weigh In On ‘Watchmen’
• Will ‘Ronon’ become Conan? Atlantis star rumored
• ‘Iron Man 2′ Imax release date set
• Daniel Craig eyeing ‘Cowboys and Aliens’
• Actor Joseph Gatt Confirmed As ‘Thor’ Villain
• Will Sony Spin Spidey Reboot With Director Marc Webb?
• ‘Weeds’ Actor Hunter Parrish Campaigns For ‘Spider-Man’ Role
• J.J. Abrams On The ‘Spider-Man’ Reboot: ‘Didn’t They Just Do It?’
• ‘Thor’ Roundup: Fat Suits And Praise As The Cast Reports From The Set
• Tyrese Gibson Talks Mayhem!
• Refunds available for Broadway’s ‘Spider-Man’
• Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson On ‘Shazam!’ Status And Black Adam
• Why Green Lantern won’t be a cheesefest; plus, the villain!
• Red Starts Shooting – Spies Assemble On Toronto
• ‘Green Lantern’ director says cosmic film will have ‘a Flash Gordon element’
• The Iron man 2 movie easter egg – Fin Fang Foom!
• Gregg pulls double duty, ‘Iron Man’s’ Agent Coulson to reprise role in ‘Thor’

The Fine Print

This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive roundup of the entire weeks’ news. All stories are chosen by me for no other reason than that they got my attention and might capture yours. If something you think is more important chime in on the feedback; we’d love to hear comments and have a conversation about it.

Fathom Movie Update
Jordan Mechner turned the script in about two weeks ago to 20th Century Fox. They said that Megan Fox will be playing Aspen, but that they’re still looking for a director to head up the project. The movie will be based on the first story arch of volume 1. The other big news that came out of the panel was announced by Gale Anne Hurd from Valhalla Motion Pictures. She announced that they’ll be putting Michael Turner’s Soulfire comic on the big screen!

Everything You Need to Know From the Smallville Events at Comic-Con
Much news broke today, including news of the return of several iconic characters, the introduction of Major (not General yet) Zod (Callum Blue) and a preview that showed a very sexy love scene between Clark (Tom Welling) and Lois (Erica Durance).

Marvel Delivers ‘Captain America’ Movie Update
“Also, setting it in World War II — the Marvel version of World War II — I think is gonna open it up in another big way … What’s funny is it will actually end up being, I think, our most diverse and our most international film, in terms of the content of the movies itself. It takes place overseas much more than any of our other films do. In terms of the cast, there’s a group that Steve works with that will have an opportunity for many more international actors than any of our other films.”

Callum Blue reveals lots of Zod spoilers for Smallville
“First of all, he’s Major Zod at the moment, so he hasn’t grown into General Zod,” Blue revealed. “I want to make him a bit more manic. The Terence Stamp version is very cool, calm and collected. There is a level there. I have a certain amount of that, but I think he hasn’t grown into it yet, so my take is that he has to calm down a bit, because he wants it right now. It’s a bit of a spoiled-brat version of the character. He’s very aristocratic, but he hasn’t calmed into it yet, so that’s a journey I can take with that character.”

Director closes in on ‘Red’
Robert Schwentke circling Summit thriller
The director of “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” who has been flirting with a number of projects, is in negotiations to take the reins of the Summit Entertainment thriller, starring Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman. Erich and Jon Hoeber wrote the screenplay, which is based on the WildStorm/DC Comic. The spy film follows a former black-ops agent forced out of retirement when a high-tech assassin threatens him and his girlfriend. Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian are producing.

Korean actor Kwon Sang-woo in talks for ‘Green Hornet’s Kato?
Kwon Sang-woo has received a lovecall from the Hollywood film “Green Hornet” for the character Kato that was supposed to be Stephen Chow’s role. Stephen Chow was to direct the film. Michel Gondry will replace Stephen Chow as the director. Asia’s star Kwon Sang-woo has been able to break through the language barrier and take part in this film! It is known that Kwon’s English hasn’t been perfect throughout the audition with the main actor Seth Rogen, however, it was successful.

NTF Exclusive ‘Iron Man 2’ Cameo Scoop!
Our Marvel Movie mole has informed Nuke The Fridge of yet another cameo in the upcoming “Iron Man 2” film due out next summer. Our confidential source first reported that Stan Lee will make a brief appearance in the second Iron Man film as Larry King. Now rumor has it that Edward Norton will have a possible cameo as both Bruce Banner and the Hulk. If true, this will surely make some fans green with envy.

IESB Exclusive: Superman Rumblings Begin Now!
Word out of WB is that Singer’s film willl simply be seen as a “book-end” to the Richard Donner legacy, to complete the saga. The next films will be a completely new take on the character and the story. And from the recent lawsuit we all know that the new Superman film must be in production by 2011 and IESB has learned that it has indeed been put on the proverbial “fast track”. There is one thing we know for sure, there is currently a very short list of potential directors to bring Supes back to the big screen. First are the Wachowski Brothers, yep, Andy and Larry. The other name I am hearing is James McTeigue. Here’s where things get fuzzy, because I am also hearing the Wachowski’s may come in to produce with James McTeigue as the actual director.

SDCC: Wanted 2 Director Confirms McAvoy Back in Movie and Shoots Down Next Sequel in Watch Series
Director Timur Bekmambetov had confirmed that the sequel to Wanted film is in pre-production stages and will begin filming. “We want to be ready to shoot in a few months,” he said. “James McAvoy will be in the movie.” As for Angelina Jolie’s return to the sequel, Bekmambetov said, “We will try to wake up our fox. She is in a bath of wax.”

‘Torchwood’ Star John Barrowman Wants ‘Captain America’ Role
“You know what I want to play? Captain America,” Barrowman proclaimed to the wildly receptive crowd, before adding that it “so won’t happen.”

Neil Gaiman Comic-Con Interview – CORALINE, DEATH: High Cost of Living, Reviews, What Might Be Next
“I don’t know that [Death: The High Cost of Living] is dead right now, but it’s definitely lying in a coffin with a lilly on its chest. However anything in comics can come back to life and things in coffins can spring out at you at any moment. I was quite sure in 2002 that Beowulf was not just dead but absolutely gone and dead forever in then in 2004, Bob Zemeckis suddenly resurrected it. Death was meant to have been with New Line and New Line is now basically a filing cabinet in Warner Brothers. If it comes back, or if we can figure out a place within Warner Brothers to make it, then it’ll get made. The problem that Death has is that those characters belong to Sandman which belongs to DC Comics which belongs to Warner Brothers which means I can’t take anything out.”

Jennifer Love Hewitt: ‘I Want To Play Wonder Woman’
“I’d really love to do an action movie. I’d really love to do like a ‘Tomb Raider’ or something like that,” said Hewitt, “I think that’d be fun. I would love to play like a super hero or something like that. That would be awesome. I want to play Wonder Woman, I want them to make the movie of Wonder Woman and I want to play Wonder Woman so bad, I think it’d be really fun,” said Hewitt. [Video]

Bruckheimer gears up for ‘War’
Producer nabs feature rights to ‘Robot’
The producer has snapped up feature rights to the graphic novel “World War Robot” from IDW Publishing. Story, penned by Ashley Wood and recounted in war-diary form by participants on both sides, centers on a small band of humans and robots facing off in a battle on Earth, the moon and Mars.

Mandeville’s got an ‘Alibi’
Hoberman, Lieberman to produce film
Mandeville Films and Top Cow Prods. are developing a feature version of Top Cow’s comicbook “Alibi”. The Comicbook, published last year, centers on a well-known socialite whose public presence establishes a perfect alibi for the covert activity of his secret twin brother, a government assassin. “Alibi” was created by Top Cow president Matt Hawkins and Michael Renegar, written by Joshua Hale Fialkov and illustrated by Jeremy Haun. Top Cow CEO and founder Marc Silvestri will exec produce the feature.

The Fine Print

This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive roundup of the entire weeks’ news. All stories are chosen by me for no other reason than that they got my attention and might capture yours. If something you think is more important chime in on the feedback; we’d love to hear comments and have a conversation about it.

‘Dead Of Night’ Update! Direct To DVD?
The movie will not hit theaters and will be a direct-to-DVD release.

Y The Last Man Draft Screenplay – The Script That Got Brian K Vaughan The Gig On Lost
So this movie is not so much an adaption of the comic book, it’s certainly not anywhere near as faithful as Watchmen tried to be and failed. Instead it’s Ultimate Y The Last Man, taking all the things Brian had learned while writing the comic and applying them to its very beginning. It’s more focused. Characters who grow and develop, who we first met as the comic progressed are there right at the beginning, following their own parallel lives that we only get to understand in the comic in flashback or exposition.

NINJA TURTLES to be Real Says Producer
Scott Mednick talks about the new movie
“We are intent on re-telling the origin, as it was in Batman, as it was in Superman, frankly as it was in Spider-Man. We have an entire new generation of fans who really don’t know the full back story,” said Mednick. “As great as the [2007 animated film 'TMNT'] was, my son said, ‘how come a rat is their father?’ You know? Because he wasn’t around for the 1990 version.”

The Geek Beat: A Chat With Justin Gray, Co-Writer of ‘Jonah Hex’
The difficult thing for me in enjoying a superhero movie is that I know what to expect going in, years of reading the material the films have been based on turns the experience into a question of execution rather than wide eyed excitement. Iron Man as an example, because I’ve always liked John Favreau and Robert Downey Jr., was successful in its execution and worked. Ghost Rider not so much. Say what you will, but I think Unbreakable is a great superhero movie because it respects the genre and offers a very different perspective.

Exclusive: Jessica Biel In Talks To Join ‘Thor’
Considering that all rumors say that the first “Thor” movie, directed by Kenneth Branagh, is dealing with the title character’s time in Asgard and will not feature Donald Blake at all, or not until the very climax of the film, it is more likely that Biel would be either “Sif” or “The Enchantress.”

ËœCaptain America: Reborn’ Writer Ed Brubaker Likely To Consult On ËœCaptain America’ Movie
I’ve seen the preliminary stuff for the movie, a year or so ago before [Marvel Studios] hired the new screenwriter and director, Brubaker said. I know Kevin Feige was talking about bringing me in when they put together the ËœCaptain America’ brain trust for the movie ” like they did for Iron Man’ with Matt Fraction and [Brian] Bendis.

Routh’s Superman Contract Has Expired
Superman Returns star Brandon Routh recently stated that his contract to star in a sequel has expired, but that if they were to call again, he would go back to the character without thinking twice. Other than that, Routh said he does not know anything about the status of the possible project.

Ryan Reynolds Talks Deadpool
Exclusive: Wade will break fourth wall
Reynolds says Deadpool will breach the fourth wall: Break the fourth wall? Oh yeah, he’s got to. I want to see him break the Great Wall.” So does Reynolds feel under pressure from fanboys? I’m one of them. I’ve always been a fan, at least for the last eight or nine years. I feel a bit of validation because I knew going into Wolverine that there’s a huge fanbase for this and I don’t think anyone else did.”

BLADE Spin-Off Prequel Trilogy has been Confirmed
Now Norrington told Comics2Film at Mania.com exclusively that he is planning a return to the ‘Blade’ franchise following his work on the new reinvention of ‘The Crow’. His leading man of choice is Stephen Dorff, who co-starred as the megalomaniacal Deacon Frost in the film. Dorff told UK’s The Sunday Mail that the new movie would be “a prequel to the Blade movies, Deacon’s story. It’s a new trilogy the director has created. It will [be] cool.” Norrington confirmed the news although said the movie is “not exactly how the article describes but close.” The director credits Dorff with coming up with the idea for the new project, which “has evolved into a very interesting story.”

David Tennant To Star in New Comic Book Movie
David Tennant is playing the villainous Pomfrey in the new St Trinians 2 movie, which started filming today. St Trinians was a series of cartoons created by Gerard Searle who also illustrated the Molesworth cartoons. They portrayed a British girls private school who practiced torture on each other, teachers and any other unfortunate passers-by. They were adapted into a series of films in the fifties and sixties and spawned a recent Russell Brand-starring remake, of which this is the sequel.

WB’s Gregory Noveck Talks “Jonah Hex” and “Green Lantern” Live Action Film
Marvel may be grabbing all the headlines with “Iron Man 2″ and talk of “Thor,” “Captain America” and “The Avengers,” but DC via Warner Bros. has been quietly ramping things up as well. In this exclusive interview conducted by Media Geek’s Edward Gross, WB’s Gregory Noveck shares some thoughts on both “Jonah Hex” and the live action “Green Lantern” film. [Audio]

The Fine Print

This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive roundup of the entire weeks’ news. All stories are chosen by me for no other reason than that they got my attention and might capture yours. If something you think is more important chime in on the feedback; we’d love to hear comments and have a conversation about it.

AmEx Pre-Sale Begins June 24 for Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark
Beginning June 24 American Express cardholders will be able to purchase tickets to the new musical Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark. (A previous ticket initiative allowed fans of Marvel Comics and the band U2, among others, to purchase tickets to the new musical via special websites and codes.) Tickets will go on sale to the general public Sept. 12. Directed by The Lion King’s Julie Taymor, Spider-Man will begin previews at Broadway’s Hilton Theatre Jan. 16, 2010, with an official opening scheduled for Feb. 18, 2010. Casting will be announced shortly.

How will the Avengers movie succeed in bringing Iron Man, Cap and Thor together?
Earlier in the week, Avengers screenwriter Zak Penn told an audience at the L.A. Film Festival that he is running around between Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America production offices to make sure his script coordinates with the introduction of key superheroes, and, of course, his script has to be done before the other films are. Marvel Studios head of marketing Doug Finberg was confident that all teams could unite for a solid Avengers film. The long-term plan is to introduce Thor and Captain America, then combine them with Iron Man to form the Avengers.

Why comic-book filmmakers trash Watchmen and Elektra (even the guy who wrote it) but praise Bryan Singer
“We blew Elektra,” admitted Zak Penn, who wrote the Jennifer Garner film. “We blew chunks. It should have been R-rated, like Sin City. … It should have been La Femme Nikita: She is an assassin, and you can’t do that unless it is R-rated. I should have known that Fox would not make an R-rated movie, so it’s probably my fault. They denuded it.”

X-Men writer Zak Penn breaks his silence about adapting The Avengers
“They’re doing Captain American and Thor first, and then Avengers is coming out,” Penn said. “They want to see that they’re all connected, not like the Fantastic Four can’t come into the X-Men world, like I was told. I’m taking a meeting next week with the Thor and Captain America people, and we are all going to get together, and I will see what is going to happen. I’ll see where they are leaving the characters; it’s pretty complicated. … There’s a board that is tracking what is happening. [We'll see] how this movie overlaps in that movie. … Marvel is autonomous now. It is night and day: Everyone has read every comic. They know how to make a cool movie.”

Smallville gets its General Zod, who will labor in the shadow of the great Terence Stamp
Looks like The CW’s Smallville will be edging ever farther into full-blown Superman territory in its upcoming ninth and final season: The show announced the hiring of actor Callum Blue to play the iconic villain General Zod.

Evan Rachel Wood joins ‘Spider-Man’
Alan Cumming also cast in Broadway rendition of comic
Evan Rachel Wood and Alan Cumming have joined the cast of “Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark,” the upcoming Broadway musical about the famous web-slinger. Wood will portray Peter Parker’s girlfriend Mary Jane Watson, while Alan Cumming takes on the role of Norman Osborn, also known as the villainous Green Goblin. The musical, directed by Julie Taymor, begins preview performances Feb. 25, 2010, at the Hilton Theatre. An opening date will be announced later — as will the actor who will play Spider-Man.

‘Watchmen’ director’s cut to theaters
Four cities to screen pic a week before Comic-Con
The cut, which will have an additional 25 minutes of footage including the death of a supporting character, will screen in Los Angeles, New York, Minneapolis and Dallas before the movie is released on Blu-ray and DVD on July 21.

ËœTransformers’ Star Tyrese Gibson Talks ËœMayhem’ Comic, ËœLuke Cage’ Movie And¦ ËœCaptain America’?
The energy from Comic-Con really did something to me, Gibson told MTV News of what prompted him to try his hand at comics. Instead of me sitting back and waiting on ËœLuke Cage’ to finally happen ” which I’m still looking forward to doing once they get the script together ” and instead of me waiting on ËœCaptain America,’ which they were talking about me for, I’m going to create my own. And that’s what I did.

Exclusive: ROBOTECH Movie Gets New Writer
The live-action film version of the popular anime/manga/game franchise ‘Robotech’ has a new writer, according to sources close to the project. Comics2Film at Mania.com can exclusively reveal that award-winning novelist and UK TV writer Tom Rob Smith has taken over writing duties on the project.

Exclusive: The Making of “Superman/Batman: Public Enemies”
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is the new direct-to-DVD animated film from Warner Premier, that has President of the United States Lex Luthor declaring that Superman and, by association, Batman, are enemies of the country and must be brought to justice by any means necessary. Voices From Krypton interviews Jeph Loeb, Tim Daly, Clancy Brown, Stan Berkowitz, Gregory Noveck and more.

EXCLUSIVE: ËœDead Of Night’ Star Brandon Routh Talks PG-13 Rating And Villains
The comic property would probably be rated ËœR,’ we’re going for a PG-13 so more people can enjoy the film, Routh told MTV News regarding the Dead of Night adaptation. It’s [not just] gore and horror, it’s a lot more straight action, with a bit of comedy. The original Dylan Dog comics by Tiziano Sclavi included mature subject matter in their stories of the horror detective’s surreal investigations into the macabre.

“Superman/Batman: Public Enemies” on Sale September 29
A co-production of Warner Premiere, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation, the full-length animated film will be distributed by Warner Home Video on September 29, 2009. Superman/Batman: Public Enemies will be available as a Special Edition 2-disc version on DVD and Blu-Ray„¢ Hi-Def for $24.98 (SRP) and $29.99 (SRP), respectively, as well as single disc DVD for $19.98 (SRP) and On Demand. Order due date for all versions is August 25, 2009.

The Fine Print

This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive roundup of the entire weeks’ news. All stories are chosen by me for no other reason than that they got my attention and might capture yours. If something you think is more important chime in on the feedback; we’d love to hear comments and have a conversation about it.

Profile on Marvel Studios with Big Updates from Kevin Feige
Iron Man 2 is up next, then Thor, then Captain America, then The Avengers in the summer of 2012. Marvel’s president of production Kevin Feige said that they’re “ordered this way for a reason.” And confirmed that Samuel Jackson and Scarlett Johansson as well as Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston are signed on for multiple movies or “multiple franchises,”

Todd McFarlane Pictures Leonardo DiCaprio In Lead Role For ËœSpawn’
The main character isn’t Spawn, per se, it’s the guy chasing Spawn, McFarlane said. And I’ve always had [Leonardo] DiCaprio in the back of my mind. It’s a big wish, but his dad was a big fan of underground comic books and he came from that, explained McFarlane of why he has the Revolutionary Road actor in mind. It’s not a big special-effects movie, it’s a character movie, so I could shoot it in 40-50 days and you don’t have to budget that much time.

U2 Talks Ever-So-Pretentiously About the Spider-Man Musical
Bono and the Edge have composed the music for the Spider-Man musical (“Turn Off the Dark!”), and in this interview, try to compare comic books and rock and roll and U2 and Spider-Man.

First look: Mickey Rourke suits up as Whiplash for ‘Iron Man 2′
Whiplash (Mickey Rourke) sports a power pack on his chest that looks similar to the one used by Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.). “The technologies are definitely related, and that’s part of the core theme of the film,” says director Jon Favreau.

ËœSynecdoche’ Producer Picks Up ËœToo Cool To Be Forgotten’ Adaptation Rights
Synecdoche, New York producer Anthony Bregman has picked up the option to adapt Too Cool To Be Forgotten, an original graphic novel by Alex Robinson, which tells the story of a 40-year-old man who undergoes hypnosis therapy to quit smoking, only to wake up in the body of his 15-year-old self. He’s forced to live through his awkward high school years with all the knowledge of his later life, but uncertain whether he can ” or should ” change anything that could affect the life he hopes to return to 25 years down the road.

Nate the Great v. Emily the Strange in Comic Book Battle
The author and illustrator of the “Nate the Great” books claim the creators and publishers of “Emily the Strange” comic books violated copyright. Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and Marc Simont, who have collaborated on the “Nate the Great” series since 1972, say that Cosmic Debris Etc., Chronicle Books, and Dark Horse Entertainment stole the look, mannerisms, and even written descriptions of the recurring character Rosamond to create Emily the Strange. An Emily the Strange feature film, produced by Dark Horse Entertainment’s Mike Richardson, is planned for release next year, which may explain the eagerness of Reger & Co. to clear any potential legal entanglements

No ËœHellboy’ Comics For Guillermo Del Toro, Doubts Ron Perlman Would Return For Different Director
Ron Perlman is a guy, I think, who only goes in makeup anymore when I torture him to do it. He hates it. [Video]

Megan Fox Talks ËœJonah Hex,’ Her Mysterious Character ” And Shooting People
They’ve changed her name a couple of times ” it’s Leila now, Fox explained. She is a prostitute. She’s a good ol’ working girl, and she’s a love-interest to Jonah¦ of sorts. I mean, it’s by no means a classic type of relationship.

Ryan Reynolds Confirms ËœDeadpool’ Details ” Scars, Costume And All!
I get to be the authentication police, in a weird way, grinned Reynolds, To their credit ” the studio’s credit ” they want to make an authentic ËœDeadpool’ movie; they want to make it as close to the source material as possible. He’s going to be the Merc with the Mouth, [we're going to give] all those answers that everyone wants. He’s going to have the scarred-up face, he’s going to be in the suit ” and, it’s going to be incredible.

ËœSpider-Man 2′ Star Alfred Molina Says He’d Love To Return As Doctor Octopus In Future Films
No one’s mentioned it, and I think it’s highly unlikely, seeing as he died, Molina told MTV News. [But] at the ËœSpider-Man 2² premiere in London, I turned around to one of the producers and said, ËœIt’s a real shame that I died, because I would’ve loved to do another one of these.’ And he said, ËœOh, characters don’t die in this universe, they just disappear.’

Bekmambetov to Start Preparation for Wanted-2
The film director and producer promised that in the sequel he would bring back to life Angelina Jolie’s character, who perished at the end of the first movie. In addition to that, new characters will be introduced in the sequel.

Zombie ‘Deadworld’ on the horizon
Dark Hero, Pandemonium team on feature franchise
Dark Hero Studios partners David Hayter (“Watchmen”) and Benedict Carver have joined with Pandemonium’s Bill Mechanic to turn the comicbook “Deadworld” into a zombie feature franchise. “Deadworld” veers from the popular zombie mythology of depicting an apocalypse in which humans are overrun by flesh-eating corpses. “Deadworld” picks up four months after that event, where the Dead overtake the Earth, with humans few and far between. Protag is King Zombie, a Harley-riding corpse who holds a grudge against the survivors who made him an outcast.

False rumor claims ‘G.I.’ director fired
Stephen Sommers was never let go from project
In this day and age we are constantly dealing with online rumors that take on a life of their own, says a Paramount spokeswoman. We love Steve and couldn’t be happier with the movie he made.

Amy Poehler sets ‘Lunch’ date
To star in adaptation of graphic novel series for Universal
Universal has picked up “Lunch Lady,” a children’s graphic novel series written and illustrated by Jarrett Krosoczka, with Amy Poehler attached to star. The “Lady” series, the first of which will be unveiled at the end of July by Knopf Books for Young Readers, centers on a mild-mannered school cafeteria server who secretly dishes out helpings of justice as she and her assistant investigate wrongdoings.

The Fine Print

This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive roundup of the entire weeks’ news. All stories are chosen by me for no other reason than that they got my attention and might capture yours. If something you think is more important chime in on the feedback; we’d love to hear comments and have a conversation about it.

Exclusive ‘Spider-Man 4′ News: Black on Dunst, Villain
Producer Todd Black stated, “We’re just coming up with who the villain’s going to be now. We’ll be shooting in New York again. Trust me, people will appreciate who we pick, because it’ll be a big part of New York.” Black also confirmed that the villain will be one of Spidey’s foes from the comic, not a character invented for the film. And we can assume it’ll be one of the hero’s classic rogues.

Cam Gigandet takes lead in ‘Priest’
Joins Paul Bettany in adaptation of TokyoPop comic book
Cam Gigandet will star opposite Paul Bettany in “Priest,” a horror Western that Scott Stewart is directing for Screen Gems. Adapted by Cory Goodman from a TokyoPop comic book, “Priest” is set in a world ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampires and follows a warrior priest (Bettany) who turns against the church to track down a murderous band of vampires who have kidnapped his niece. Gigandet plays a young wasteland sheriff who is part vampire.

Musical Spidey’s Mary Jane says the show’s still seeking Peter Parker
“We’re still looking for our Spider-Man, but it’s going to be incredible,” Evan Rachel Wood said. “I just spoke with [director] Julie [Taymor] today, actually. It’s going to be a crazy rock ‘n’ roll circus show. Julie’s doing what she did with The Lion King to this: She’s just taking it to a whole ‘nother level.”

THOR, AVENGERS, CAPTAIN AMERICA, IRON MAN 2 Get Logos
The Licensing International Expo is being held in Las Vegas this year and has revealed a few Marvel logos that may be of interest to you. AICN has a man on the ground that captured the following Marvel logos that include IRON MAN 2, THOR, CAPTAIN AMERICA and AVENGERS

Beechen Loves Danny McBride as Hench
‘Hench’ is the story of all the guys you see in the background in comic books. They are the guys in the old Jack Kirby books who wore fedoras and had the Tommy guns and you never quite knew where they came from. Well, in the book, Mike is African-American. And that’s how I always sort of pictured it. But when I heard Danny was interested in it I thought, ËœMy god. He’s perfect.’ And he really is.

On the move: Megan Fox
Transformers star disses Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a lame superhero, she says, clearly unfazed at the thought of ruling herself out of a potentially career-making franchise. She flies around in her invisible jet and her weaponry is a lasso that makes you tell the truth. I just don’t get it. Somebody has a big challenge on their hands whoever takes that role but I don’t want to do it.

Exclusive : Update on Phantom Legacy
Ëœ’The Phantom is still at scripting stage”, screenwriter Tim Boyle says. Ëœ’Although the comic studio and executive producers have given it two thumbs up, we’re constantly pushing the screenplay forward. I believe the film will go into pre-production by the end of the year.”

Rourke steady
Mickey Rourke talks about his role as Whiplash in Iron Man 2
“I decided to do half my role in Russian,” he beams, “and that’s hard because the Russian language doesn’t roll off the English-speaking tongue very easily. I spent three hours a day with a teacher, and after two weeks I know four sentences! Let me see, it’s sort of like… ‘Yezzamee menya… Yezzamee manya obott… Er, nemaboootty menya…’”

The Fine Print

This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive roundup of the entire weeks’ news. All stories are chosen by me for no other reason than that they got my attention and might capture yours. If something you think is more important chime in on the feedback; we’d love to hear comments and have a conversation about it.

‘Deadpool’ spinoff in works at Fox
Ryan Reynolds to reprise role in “Wolverine” spinoff
It is understood that Reynolds would regain the ability to mouth off, with the movie going back to the roots of the character known for his slapstick tone and propensity to break the fourth wall.

Sin City 2 Moving Forward
Robert Rodriguez looks ahead to the comic-based sequel.
As for the story in the film, Rodriguez said that it will include the Sin City story “A Dame to Kill For” as well as new additional material written by Miller himself.

Thor, Captain America and Avengers Updates
“Zak Penn is already on board The Avengers [as writer] and he’s spending a lot of his time looking into what we’re doing with Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, seeing how we’re tying it all together. And he’s beginning to outline the script now – he’ll be doing that over the summer.”

Exclusive: President of Production Kevin Feige On Marvel’s Plans
He talks Avengers, Thor and more…
“All of the Marvel movies leading up to The Avengers will be based in our new facility in Manhattan Beach, in LA. There will be location work that will take us out occasionally, but our home base will always be here. ”

Todd McFarlane Sees Venom in ‘Spider-Man 4,’ Offers Sam Raimi Some Advice
“When I first created him, I made him huge. That would’ve been the first thing for me; I would’ve wanted somebody who looked like he was three times the size of Spider-Man, so it was almost like Spider-Man going against the Hulk. [I want] someone who is really formidable; whenever you have a skinny character against a big one it’s like ‘Woah, I’m going to have to work today.’ But instead, the two of them were about the same size.”

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Wanted’ Screenwriter Chris Morgan Explains His Departure From ‘Wanted 2′
“We knew we wanted to do ‘Wanted 2,’ so we started developing a take and came up with a story that’s pretty good and develops the characters,” said Morgan. “But in the process of developing it, I also had commitments to ‘Gears of War’ and the samurai movie I’m doing at Universal.”

Exclusive First Look at Brandon Routh as Dylan Dog
An exclusive look at star Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) as “nightmare investigator” Dylan Dog from the live action feature film Dead of Night based on Tiziano Sclavi’s Italian comic books.

Helmer found for ‘Billy Smoke’
‘Traitor’s’ Nachmanoff set for WB comic book adaptation
Jeffrey Nachmanoff (“Traitor”) is signing up to direct the adaptation of the Oni Press comic book for Warner Bros. Matthew Fox is attached to star in the assassin thriller. The story centers on an elite hit man who is nearly killed during a botched job. He realizes that his only way to find redemption is to rid the world of all assassins.

BS Films acquires rights to ‘Station’
Comicbook miniseries is published by Boom!
In “Station,” five nations have sent their finest astronauts to operate Earth’s first multinational space station, but when one turns up dead, the remaining personnel race against time to discover if it was sabotage, an accident or murder. The comicbook was created and written by Johanna Stokes.

Nicktoons Renews “Wolverine and the X-Men”
New S1 Eps Resume May 22, 2009
Nicktoons Network has renewed Wolverine and the X-Men, acquiring the next 26 episodes of the series after it helped garner the network’s highest April ratings in its history. New episodes of the first season of the show will resume on May 22, 2009, at 8:00 PM (Eastern).

Steve Niles Says ‘Freaks Of The Heartland’ Script In, ‘Pineapple Express’ Director Perfect For Horror Tale
The story in “Freaks of the Heartland” follows a freakishly deformed boy and his brother who run away together and help a band of other mutant children from their community do the same.

Green Lantern Casting Rumors
“Who the hell is Bradley Cooper?!”
HitFix can exclusively report that Bradley Cooper (“Alias,” “The Hangover”) is now one of the guys most likely to don the suit and slip on the power ring as The Green Lantern.

Exclusive Green Lantern Update: Actually, who the hell is Shawn Roberts?!
Roberts (“Edge of Darkness”) has auditioned for [Green Lantern director] Martin Campbell various times and has even taken a couple of meetings with Campbell concerning the Hal Jordan role.

Sam Worthington talks Green Lantern
‘I’ve been talking to (director) Martin Campbell about it”, Worthington says. ”It’s one of those things where they’re still doing the script. I said, “Give me a script. Let me have a look at it.”

The Fine Print

This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive roundup of the entire weeks’ news. All stories are chosen by me for no other reason than that they got my attention and might capture yours. If something you think is more important chime in on the feedback; we’d love to hear comments and have a conversation about it.