And I was thinking to myself last week, why Sony would pass up an opportunity to put out a Super Bowl Spot for The Amazing Spider-Man.

The new trailer gives a better idea of what the story will be, touching on Dr. Curt Connors’ character and his transformation into the Lizard, who we still only get a few brief glimpses of (if the toy photos released are any indication however, he’s gonna remind a few people of the goombas from the Bob Hoskins Super Mario Bros. movie).

Action-wise, it looks pretty good, I must admit. But dammit if that suit still doesn’t look like crap!! Well, I’m sure some fans will overlook that, after they see Spidey cracking-wise with a carjacker.

This loose sequel is being directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor and is rumored to have a cameo appearance by Danny Ketch who also puts some time in as Ghost Rider. With the flaming skull back into theaters on February 17, 2012, the film also stars, Fergus Riordan, Ciaran Hinds, Violante Placido, Idris Elba and Johnny Whitworth.

LaTwan Holland was a writer for a local under ground newspaper, The Spinner Rack that covered comics, video games, anime and related movies and is currently the Producer of the DIRECT EDITION. To find out the latest that’s happening with LaTwan and the Direct Edition check them out at the DIRECT EDITION podcast, blog and you tube site.

It looks like Marvel is now on the hunt for a replacement director for Thor 2, as director Patty Jenkins has left the project. Most notably, Jenkins directed Monster, for which Charlize Theron won an Oscar for her performance.

Seems rather abrupt, as cast members including Tom Hiddlston had been talking to the press about preparing for Thor 2, and working with Jenkins. Any reason particular reason Kenneth Branagh couldn’t come back?

The movie trailer for The Avengers has debuted. We don’t know why you wouldn’t have seen it yet (you know who you are), so we’ll do you a favor and make sure you see it now!

Say what you will about Marvel, but I still think the Ultimate line they created a decade ago was, and still is, one of the best ideas they’ve had in a good long while. For a time, it was interesting to see alternate versions of classic characters like Spider-Man, X-Men, and the Avengers. Creators like Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagley, Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch, and others, took these characters and put them in an entirely different light. . . . . and the whole Ultimate Universe would eventually become a clusterfuck of monumental proportions. There were wholesale character assassinations in the streets (that is to say, a whole lotta people got killed just for the sake of getting killed!), books got restarted, Joe Mad returned to comics only to realize no one gave a rat’s ass about him after he bailed on Battle Chasers, the list goes on and on. But in spite of all that, Ultimate Spider-Man remained the standout; even at it’s most ridiculous and contrived, the book still managed to keep my attention. But will that continue to be the case now that Peter Parker isn’t Spider-Man?

The introduction of Miles Morales as the new Ultimate Spider-Man, following the death of Peter Parker, certainly sparked controversy. Reactions across the board were very telling as to how some people view minorities in comics and popular culture, and the mentalities of those people that are clearly still very dated and narrow-minded. I certainly saw it as a bold opportunity to do something different with Spider-Man in general, especially given the “everyman” mantle the fans have bestowed upon him from day one. The appeal of the character was that he COULD be anyone, and anyone could relate to him. And to that extent, I like Miles Morales. He’s not the nerdy pushover Peter Parker was before becoming Spider-Man, and I did enjoy that his introduction had a “pre-teen’s day out with the folks” vibe to it. He’s impatient, moody, easily embarrassed by his mother’s smothering him, etc. Miles has been entered into a charter school lottery, and it’s actually one of my favorite moments in the book, as there’s a sharp balance between the joy Miles’ parents are feeling when he’s picked, and his own reaction as he looks at all the other kids who didn’t get picked. He doesn’t know whether or not to be happy for himself, or feel bad for them. There’s an interesting theme of luck and fate, and the idea that for every fortunate person, there’s someone who has to suffer. Laying this groundwork is important, and Bendis understands this.

What holds the issue back, however, (besides Bendis’ misguided emphasis on the main character’s “blackness”; Miles being first in the family to go to a “good school”, his hoodlum uncle that his father insists he stay away from, his “uniform of da ‘hood”, circe 1996: over-sized jeans, Jordans, and a basketball jersey over a white tee) is that Miles essentially gets his spider-powers the exact same way Peter Parker did, as it’s revealed that a year prior to Peter Parker’s death, Norman Osborn had another batch of super-spiders engineered for the purpose of replicating Spider-Man’s powers. And once again, one of these spiders gets loose. You’d think they were splicing Harry Houdini’s DNA into these things, as many times as they escape containment! It’s just disappointing that with everything Bendis established in regards to Peter and his many spider-enhanced “offspring”, as it were, that he decided to rehash this.

Ultimate Spider-Man’s saving grace comes in the artwork of Sara Pichelli, who definitely captures the youthful essence of Miles, and gives him just a touch of sadness in the eyes for you to feel for the character, and inquire as to what his life must be like. It’s nice to see Bendis work with such an expressive artist, as his dialogue here doesn’t seem as abundant as most fans have probably grown accustomed to. He’s letting the artist tell as much of the story as possible, and with a book like this, it’s immensely important. Not that very much else happens in the issue, (as I’ve now resigned myself to the fact that #1′s no longer feel obligated to have much of anything go on) but I’m interested enough to see where the next few issues go.

Verdict: B-

Reactions to the revealing of a young biracial teen as the new Ultimate Universe Spider-Man have, quite frankly, not surprised me. Not even a little bit.

Pre-announcement, speculation as to who the new Ultimate Spider-Man ranged from, “Ummm… I stopped reading that book years ago,” to “Maybe, it’s Ultimate Kitty Pryde taping her boobs down and becoming Spider-Man.” Seriously, the range of possibility folks were willing or able to wrap their heads around was somewhere around “apathy” to “gender transformation.”

Marvel did exactly what they do and made people look. Two days before the release of Ultimate Fallout #4, the series a lot of folks probably weren’t reading anyway’s release, Marvel made an announcement that gave people who need something to bitch and moan about something to bitch and moan about. Boy, did they ever…

Reaction ranged from, (Keep in mind, I’m trying to type this as a person on an online forum) “oh my god thats it!!!!! No more marvel u hav gon to far! marvel has givin in to race cuoatahs and bowed doen to obama and made spiderman black. cant we have anything for areselves.” to “About time! Personally, I welcome this change! I have black friends!”

Just. Fucking. Spare. Me.

Look, here’s what it come down to… I applaud Marvel for doing this. One, it got people talking again about Ultimate Spider-Man again, the title that in 2000, single-handedly signaled Marvel’s return to top-notch storytelling and showed they were a company willing to take risks again.

Two, somewhere along the line, this book got comfortable and predictable and just needed to do… something. They did something and again, I applaud it. What I don’t care for is how they went about doing so.

The events of the last week have now, more than ever, proven to me that the term, “post racial” is just bullshit. Nevermind the reaction this thing got, the execution was the thing I found worrisome. In this world where race should not matter, a company owned by The Disney Corporation, went to the mass media and announced that a character was not white.

Spider-Man isn’t white. In our “post racial world,” a corporate entity went out of their way to announce this. In this “post racial world” of ours, something like this had to be said.

I applaud Marvel’s wanting to add diversity to their second tier of titles but man, have some dignity about it.

Next time, Marvel, instead of shouting “diversity” from the rooftops, please, shock me through the use of dignity.

I cannot tell you how much more this would have meant to me if you’d simply allowed the world to read Ultimate Fallout #4 first and quietly find the new Ultimate Spider-Man, Miles Morales, without help.

I wish I’d have had the opportunity to read this title, turn the page and see that the new Ultimate Spider-Man was different but looked somewhat like me. I wish Marvel would have been truly brave, shocked me and just let this thing happen.

I wish I could have been surprised. I wish I could have been proud of Marvel. I wish Marvel wouldn’t have tried to manage people’s emotions and just said, “Fuck it, this is the story we want to tell. And yes, he isn’t white. Moving on…”

I wish this all truly didn’t fucking matter anymore.

Much like The Dark Knight Rises, yesterday saw the interwebs all abuzz when a bootlegged version of the Amazing Spider-Man trailer leaked online. Now there’s been a slightly more official (or less unofficial) release, giving us a clear view of the trailer for the film, which stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Martin Sheen, Sally Fields, and Dennis Leary. A full-on reboot of the Spider-Man franchise, the Mark Webb-directed film once again shows us Peter Parker’s journey from nerdy high shcooler to web-slinging superhero.

I’m still on the fence with this film. I can understand reboots like Batman Begins or X-Men: First Class, where we’re seeing origins that were never covered in previous films, but that isn’t the case here. It just feels a bit too repetitive right now.

Maybe when the show reaches us yanks (no US release date has been announced), they’ll decide to get RZA to lay down some hotness, like he did for Afro Samurai!

While I appreciate Marvel wanting to revisit The Punisher for the umpteenth time, I think it’s high time we got ourselves a good old fashioned action-horror romp. We need us a nice supernatural underworld tale, where some of the more popular urban legends of New York City take on the forces of darkness; a spirit of vengeance, a vampire hunter, and a master of the mystic arts, for example.

CASTING

Jensen Ackles as Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider – Six years of Supernatural have more than groomed him for a film and character like this. The cockiness, determination, and overall nomadic quality he brings to Dean Winchester would certainly serve Johnny Blaze well. You could definitely believe in him as a man tortured by demons; both psychologically and physically.

Idris Elba as Blade – In addition wanting to see Elba play a comic character that’s actually black in the comics, I’d also like Blade as a character to be British, accent and all. Still more street-smart than anything, but also disciplined, showcasing him more as a master swordsman with a black-ops edge, than an anime-style martial artist. Deep-voiced and physically imposing, Elba could also scare you to death just by staring at you. Blade would still be one not to work well with others, but he wouldn’t be the extreme self-loathing loner of the Snipes films.

Timothy Olyphant as Dr. Strange – From the first time I saw him in Scream 2, to other films like Go, Girl Next Door, A Perfect Getaway, and even Hitman, all the way to his television work in Deadwood and Justified, I’ve always enjoyed how varied Olyphant’s performances could be. He can play serious, crazy, villainous, stoic, etc. I think I’ve seen enough of him that I could see him pulling off the Sorcerer Supreme, and give him the right balance of zen-like calm and haunting authority.

Alice Braga as Lilith – There should be a certain degree of mystery to Lilith. She should be beautiful, but not a supermodel. You should get lost in her eyes, and before it’s too, she’s already got you by the balls . . . as it were. There needs to be a warmth to her to make her inviting, but a sense of underlying darkness that you just barely pick up on. A lot of roles I’ve seen Alice Braga in, I’ve never quite known what to make of her characters, plus I’d love to see her as an out and out villain.

DIRECTOR

Timur Bekmambetov – If Nightwatch and Daywatch are any indication, this man lives in a realm where horror and absurd action go hand-in-hand. He certainly has an eye for visuals, and he’s more than capable of creating an atmosphere, mixing the gothic with the industrial, that would be perfect for our characters. I could see him and whatever effects team he’d put together having a field day with the likes of Dr. Strange and Ghost Rider.

MUSIC

This movie has Marco Beltrami all over it. He’s provided chilling, operatic scores to more than a few thrillers like Scream (1 -4), Mimic, Blade II, Hellboy, and Underworld Evolution, giving them that extra layer of dark, shadowy allure.

Now, there’s been plenty of talk about a Luke Cage film for years, and the character has certainly risen to prominence within the greater Marvel Universe, but I honestly feel like Marvel Studios needs to mix things up. I think there’s more potential in teaming him up with his old buddy, Iron Fist. It would harken back to the film that proved Marvel adaptations could be viable in theaters in the first place, Blade. Blade was essentially a blaxploitation film with a new jack edge, mixing street action with martial arts, sci-fi and horror. It felt fresh and familiar in just the right way to reach as many movie and comic fans as it did. Cage and Danny Rand would balance each other and provide the opportunity for such an adaptation to go in more directions than if either character had a solo film.

CASTING

Michael Jai White as Luke Cage - One of many fan choices, along with just about every other in-shape, deep-voiced black actor. To be fair though, White’s one of the more frighteningly diesel of most of those other actors, and has well-over 25 years of martial arts training. And while Iron Fist would be taking on that particular portion of the film, White’s experience and use of martial arts in film makes him that much more adept to fight choreography and action in general. And besides, how far off is Black Dynamite from Luke Cage’s earliest incarnation in the comics?!

Scott Adkins as Iron Fist - Most fans have pegged Ray Park as the obvious choice over the years. Recently, Jason Statham’s name has been knocking in a few of their heads. But if there was a horse worth backing, I’d say Adkins would be it. Already a Marvel movie alum, albeit as a bastardized version of Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, he’s also starred opposite White in Undisputed II (Check out his fight scenes from the film here). Yeah, he’d need a dye-job, but beyond that, I could definitely see him owning that character.

DIRECTOR

Justin Lin – Laugh if you want, but Lin is slowly becoming one of the most sought-after action directors in Hollywood at the moment. He’s learning with every film, and ultimately getting better. He gets action, and he doesn’t neglect character development. He understands the importance in making every character engaging beyond their gimmicks, and that’s just what you need for a Powerman and Iron Fist film.

MUSIC

The Roots + RJD2 – I’ve long-since believed RJD2 has been way overdue on providing original music for films, but I could see a combination of him and the Roots being the icing on the cake. This would be a total “street movie”, and needs music from the streets to accentuate it. Not just a collection of songs, but an honest to God soundtrack to the film, mirroring the story from beginning to end.

THOR
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Screenplay: Askley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz, Don Payne
Story: J. Michael Straczynski and Mark Protosevich
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgard
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: May 6, 2011

It’s the biggest summer for super hero films and Thor will test the mainstream waters to see how much of the Marvel Universe they’re able to take and accept. Thor opens the Marvel Universe beyond the major cities of America. Radioactive spider, gamma rays? Plausible. People can buy the story of nerds to heroes and Iron Man remains the high bar, a B-grade character that captured the imagination of audiences with slick special effects and even slicker actor beneath the armor. The box office proved Iron Man was a hit, but was rooted in this world.

Thor however, is a challenge. He is larger than what a mortal can comprehend; he is the god of thunder, and Stan Lee, Larry Leiber and Jack Kirby based him from Norse mythology. He talks like he’s been to one too many Shakespeare festivals and he lives in a floating paradise in a galaxy far, far away. There’s magic, science fiction, and fantastic worlds beyond our own. Still, despite all of these leaps of faith, Thor is entertaining enough to overcome these obstacles with incredible action pieces and a tragic story of a bond broken between a father and his two sons.

In a welcomed change, Thor is not an origin story of the title character but instead an introduction of his character to the Marvel Film Universe. After being banished to Earth the story starts by flashing back to how the god of thunder came to land in New Mexico, directly in the path of Jane Foster’s truck.

A brief history lesson told by the god of gods, Odin (Anthony Hopkins, Silence of the Lambs) and his rule over the Nine Realms acquaints audiences with the Frost Giants of Jotunheim, led by Laufey (Colm Feore, The Borgias). A war between Asgard and Jotunheim has been waged for thousands of years and many of the battles took place on Earth where Odin and his army eventually seized control of their frost powers by obtaining a magical artifact called the Casket of Ancient Winters.

Back in the present day, a coronation begins in Asgard where a cocky and reckless Thor (Chris Hemsworth, Star Trek) saunters up to the throne, playing to the Asgardians who cheer him on. Suddenly Asgard is infiltrated by the Frost Giants, attempting to steal back the Casket. Thor marks this as an act of war and against Odin’s request to stand down, he assembles an assault team with his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleton, Archipelago), Sif (Jamie Alexander, Nurse Jackie), and the Warriors Three: Hogun (Todanabu Asano, Mongol), Fandral (Joshua Dallas) and Volstagg (Ray Stevenson, Kill the Irishman). They beg Heimdall (Idris Elba, Luther) the all-seeing and all-hearing soldier of Odin to provide them a transport to Jotunheim where an incredible battle ensues, mostly by Thor. Odin intervenes and rescues Thor and his team before any more blood is shed.

Thor and Odin have vicious words for each other back in Asgard, like Thor says, “You so old, you knew Jesus.” Then Odin says, “You so stupid, you stole free bread.” No, not really. In fact it was an emotionally charged moment–the best dare I say in any Marvel movie–where Hemsworth stood eyes to eye with Hopkins. In a lesson of humility, Odin casts Thor to Earth, stripping him of his powers amongst mortals. He is separated from his trusted weapon, the magical hammer Mjolnir who Odin blesses by saying that the only one who can pick it up be worthy of its power and the story picks up from the opening scene.

Now on Earth he must find a way to reunite with Mjolnir and get back to Asgard. With the help of Jane Foster (Natalie Portman, Black Swan), an astrophysicist and her research partner Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard, Mamma Mia) and helper Darcy (Kat Dennings, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist) Thor begins to acclimate to Earth while Jane and her friends believe him to be a homeless lunatic. Meanwhile Loki finds out a secret and does his best to ruin the reputation of Thor and Odin, and take the crown for himself.

Thor is the first Marvel film to integrate S.H.I.E.L.D. naturally into the story as opposed to IM 2 where much of it felt shoehorned to (excuse the pun) hammer home the progression towards The Avengers. S.H.I.E.L.D. discovers Mjolnir after an Excalibur-like moment, where everyone tries to yank the hammer out of the ground with no success. Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg, Iron Man 2) arrives and put an end to all the fun and builds a lab around the hammer. Jane helps Thor get to the fall site after all of her research and equipment is taken away by S.H.I.E.L.D. and she is left with no purpose but to help and fall hopelessly for Thor. He makes short work of the security only to find he cannot pick up Mjolnir, setting up the third act.

As a comics reader, my biggest fear of Thor was alleviated by how well the balance was maintained between the three realms. Thor does a fine job explaining Asgard and how Earth fits into the Nine Realms to Jane, and it should even clear up questions by the most casual comic book reader.

Director Kenneth Branagh does an exceptional job making the archaic and clumsy aspects of Thor more palatable and seductive than repelling. Most of all he was loyal to the characters. Thor’s arrogance is plainly seen as his weakness, while Loki’s elaborate ways to destroy Thor always seem to turn on him and assist his brother in the end. Portman works although it’s not so easy to believe she’s a scientific shut-in and Dennings delivers most of Thor’s moments of levity.

But Thor isn’t Iron Man perfect. It has its flaws, well, nitpicks really. They don’t take away from the enjoyment of the film, but they do hang above it like a storm cloud.

At one point in the movie, everything comes to a halt. Loki sets an elaborate albeit slightly confusing plan of deception and instructs Laufey on how to kill Odin. Thor has accepted his punishment and tries his best to integrate amongst the mortals. It’s not until the Warriors Three and Sif decide to be proactive and rescue Thor that the film begins to pick up the momentum it dropped, prompting Loki to summon the Destroyer to Earth. Branagh managed to tell a story with no real villains, which was both an accomplishment and a contributing factor as to why the story was left floated before the third act began. If felt as if either Thor or someone with pure evil intent needed to drive it home. Loki could be seen as more misunderstood than anything.

There also wasn’t enough of the other Asgardians. Early they seemed to be placed in the film to satisfy the diehards so that they could say, ‘See, Marvel included everyone.’ I wanted more of the Warriors Three in action and in conversation, especially Volstagg. Also severely underused was Frigga (Rene Russo, Ransom)–let’s just say that this is the easiest paycheck she’ll ever make. She may have had fewer lines than Halle Berry in the first X-Men. Seriously. Not surprisingly either is the legion of Asgardians–who we are introduced to in the beginning of the film and see in Thor’s coronation–vanish when Asgard needs them the most.

There were a few fantastic elements that took me out of the moment like when Thor would swing Mjolnir in a circular motion and creatively come up with different ways to use it, but the speed at which he twirled the hammer as compared to what happens as a result don’t match up and no it wasn’t my 3D glasses playing tricks on me. Speaking of which, I do not recommend watching this film in 3D. It was converted, and poorly at that. Scenes were not composed as such and it fails in providing a better experience. This is and always should be, a 2D film.

Thor still manages to work on the big screen well, and he even looks good on camera. Rather than fill the screen with garish color, the costumes sold Asgard as much as the performances under the armor. For example Odin and Loki’s armor looked like gold or silver pieces and then a turn of the body would reveal a green or blue-ish tint. Heimdall especially is one character where the golden armor did the heavy lifting.

Other things that exceeded expectations was the way the rainbow bridge looked and became an integral part of the story, Heimdall’s gateway transportation to the other realms, Hiddleston’s performance as Loki, and Hemsworth is more than worthy to wield Mjolnir. The tug-of-war between gods, mortals and monsters, the lesson of humility, and the genuine mind-blowing visuals are reminiscent of the stories told by Lee, Lieber and Kirby, yet subsequent eras of the mythos work their way into the film, as do cameos and Easter eggs for the eagle eyes in the audience.

Of all of the super hero films slated for release in 2011, Thor was one I had looked forward to the least but I’ve since come away feeling very good about Thor and its potential for a sequel. I am especially looking forward to seeing what happens next (and after the credits) and how that rolls into The Avengers. Word is that Captain America: The First Avenger might even better than Thor–this will be a Marvelous summer indeed.

B+

I am not getting too excited. Siege started quite promising, as did Secret Invasion, and even the horrible Shadowlands trainwreck had an alright first issue. Then they platter out into nothing more than a ridiculously powered-up punch-fest, devoid of plot, character development, and just about everything else crucial to a good narrative. So. I am not going to get excited just to GET BURNT AGAIN, MARVEL!

That disclaimer aside, isn’t Fear Itself looking kind of good?

Mini-boss Sin, Red Skull’s daughter, awoke the Asgardian God of Fear* and now, they plan on wrecking havoc the World/World-Tree and becoming Queen/All-Father. We haven’t learned yet how powerful he might be, and I think that in part is the appeal. How powerful is Fear? The opening scene had Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter failing to contain a riot over 9/11 Mosque. Steve suspects supervillian foul play, and I did too—seriously, the event is called Fear Itself, and there you go, fear manifested. Turns out, that’s just how things are in the world. Tony Stark sharply reminds Steve—“Captain America doesn’t come with the same cache as it once did. And you’re not even that anymore.”

Which is to say: It isn’t the Golden Age, it isn’t the Silver Ages, it’s not even the Dark Ages where heroes can just get a bit tougher and meaner—and the hero, and how he is perceived as changed. People have not felt secure for a while now and they do not trust authority figures to serve and protect. So here lies the challenge, how will the superheroes protect the people from Fear, when they are already afraid? Fraction has proven himself quite clever in his ability to tie in politics, culture, technology and other dressings of the modern life. I think he could write a smart series that address how superheroes might confront the changes in the world in a way that’s true to their character, and remain superheroes.

And. I think Fraction can do this while writing an entertaining book. Fraction leans towards a thinky-talky book and is not always that great with boom-pow, but given a roster of heavy hitters (this is an Avengers book, folks) and a dangerous situation, the book should automate generate a nice amount conflict and action. Between the good guys alone, we should be able to see different view points emerge and clash. The first issue already gave us a great confrontation between Thor and Odin.

The bad guys aren’t too shabby either. We don’t know that much about the God of Fear yet, but I have enjoyed the mini-boss. Reviewers have criticized Sin as a drag to read, and admittedly, she really isn’t that deep a character—but I find her really funny. She is constantly talking to her dead father, and shooting Nazis librarians, and she literally stated that she wants to be “Queen of the World”—does no one else find this funny?

Did I mention the art is wonderful? Stuart Immonen has this clean, legible art style—with just that tad bit of fantasy and exaggeration to make characters look spectacular. He does a great job with the characters, and with creatures and weapons and castles ruins. And his layouts manage to be dynamic without being complicated—the book moves fast and reads easily. And there’s a certain cleverness in his drawing, I love the panel where Odin shouts at the Watcher for overlooking the All-Father. The positioning, the gestures, the proportions all support the idea of a little-big king shouting at inevitability.

This is not to say that I am sold on the book. For one, I am not loving is the neon-green and black bar that proclaim FEAR ITSELF on all the covers. Marvel has continuously churned out ugly headers—remember the gaudy Heroic Age—and this one is really raising the bar. It’s kind 1999, guys. Let’s try for subtle gradients, maybe some cleaner fonts? And let us not forget Marvel events’ ability to go horrible awry. But for now, I remain optimistic. Perhaps we can read ourselves another Civil War.

* Not Alex Aaron, aka Phobos, Ares’s son, & deceased Secret Warrior. Different pantheon altogether. In case anyone else was confused.

San Francisco, April 2, 2011 - Marvel’s Head of Television Jeph Loeb announced casting for two of the company’s much anticipated anime series, IRON MAN and WOLVERINE, at its WonderCon panel today in San Francisco to the delight of fans in attendance. Both series will premiere on G4 in July 2011.

As the exclusive US TV home for the series, G4 will air IRON MAN and WOLVERINE along with the BLADE and X-MEN anime series later this year. The network will premiere an exclusive clip from WOLVERINE on Wednesday’s Attack of the Show at 7 pm ET/PT.

Players will become Captain America as he faces the Red Skull and his army in an epic third- person action adventure set in the darkest days of World War II. Wielding Captain America’s legendary shield, gamers will engage in free-flowing combat and acrobatic platforming to infiltrate Hydra’s mysterious castle and battle the infamous Iron Cross, the forces of Hydra, and a host of nefarious enemies serving the Red Skull. As the First Avenger himself, players must defeat the evil scientist Arnim Zola and his wartime experiments, combining powerful melee combos and shield attacks to devastating effect.

Captain America: Super Soldier combines a highly athletic combat system with fluid platforming and a highly tuned suite of shield attacks, as Cap explores a massive castle turned military installation. His shield can be employed in numerous ways: taking out multiple enemies at once, deflecting incoming fire back at enemies, solving puzzles, and scaling walls. Players will be able to launch shield-first into the fray with the superior force of the world’s first Super-Soldier at their fingertips—and they’ll need every bit of that strength to overcome a castle that’s both an acrobatic playground for the Captain’s physical prowess and a house of mystery with enemies and danger at every turn.

The new app connects all your social media feeds, lets you share your status updates across multiple places and stay on top of your friends’ updates as well. Best of all its free and you can get it before Iron Man 2 hits Blu-ray and DVD tomorrow.

Get it here: http://j.mp/jarvisiphone

Neil Patrick Harris voiced the wall-crawler in “Spider-Man: The New Animated Series” in 2003; Josh Keaton was the voice of Spider-Man in “The Spectacular Spider-Man” from 2008-2009; Dan Gilvezan starred in “Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends” from 1981-1983; and Christopher Daniel Barnes voiced the iconic Super Hero in “Spider-Man,” the 1994 series.

Stan Lee will guide players through the storyline of Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions as the game’s narrator, and Emmy Award-winning composer Jim Dooley has created an original orchestral score for the game.

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, which will be available September 7th, allows players to engage in nonstop heroic action as they traverse four unique worlds from Spider-Man’s lore – Amazing, Noir, 2099 and Ultimate – within one unique storyline. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions transports players to a variety of locations, from lush jungles and dusty deserts to a futuristic NYC, and allows them to use unique gameplay styles for each Spider-Man, including stealth moves in Noir, gliding maneuvers in 2099, black-suited tendril attacks in Ultimate, and innovative web combat in Amazing.

Capcom’s Chun-Li (Street Fighter) and Trish (Devil May Cry) and Marvel’s Doctor Doom and Super-Skrull will all make an appearance. Gamers or comics fans alike that are planning on being at Comic Con can drop by the Capcom booth (#4844) to test drive a build of the game themselves.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds hits PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in Spring 2011.

This morning I bound from my slumber like a kid at Christmas. “Nemesis comes out today,” I whispered geekily to myself. When I heard that this week’s comic shipment got here this morning, you could see a trail of papers flying around in my wake.

After I got my hands on my copy, I quickly consumed it. After I was done, I started over from the first page to savor McNiven’s amazing artwork. Dude is seriously talented (obvious statement of the day out of the way). For reals though folks, McNiven knocks it out of the park.

From Nemesis’ smirk on page four to blood spatter that’s peppered throughout the book to the terror on peoples’ faces when they’re about to die, it’s clear McNiven is in love with his craft. He conveys the speed of bullets, planes and trains beautifully. When other artists forget to pay attention to the backgrounds and cityscapes, McNiven shines. The locations are just as much a character as Nemesis or the hero cop he’s targeting. I’m a fan.

I don’t want to give too much away for those who have already ordered their copy, but you can highlight the space below to see my spoilery review.

HIGHLIGHT BELOW FOR SPOILERS:
The premise is pretty simple. Imagine the most badass villain that you can and nobody in the world has been able to stop him. There it is.

Nemesis is grounded in reality–he’s got no super-human abilities to speak of (none that we know of, anyway), just a man with a plan and the means to make things happen. This issue sees our antagonist taunt and murder Tokyo’s Police Chief with such little effort that it’s almost laughable.

Nemesis is almost too good at what he does. I think that’s actually the point though. He’s the world’s only super-criminal—a ravenous Rottweiler who’s been unleashed. Millar does a really good job at writing Nemesis’s flippant attitude toward law, order, and human life. At one point, as people are fleeing for their lives, he says “That’s right, you little peasants! Run!” That single panel told me all I needed to know about his character.

We’re then introduced to Blake Morrow, the Police Chief of Washington D.C.. I really like what Millar’s doing here. Morrow is the best of the best. He’s intelligent, calculating, mindful, and successful. Crime has decreased 60% because of his initiatives and the word on the street is that he’s getting gig Homeland Security. In short, he’s the best there is. We care about his character and empathize for the situation he’s about to face. Too bad he’s gonna die.

I don’t know what the hell happened, but Nemesis has been waiting to take on Morrow. There’s some sort of history there dating back decades and he’s out for revenge. Did you feel that? You got chills just then, didn’t you? Did I mention that Nemesis single-handedly takes down Air Force One? I warned you things would get be spoilery.
Wicked, huh?

The only thing I’m left wondering is why you’re still reading this review. Get this book now. If you dig any of Millar’s previous work: Wanted, Kick-Ass, Old Man Logan, Marvel’s Civil War, you need to get this book. If you’ve got a darker side, that side should be buying this book now. Do it while you can, it will definitely sell out.

  Order Nemesis #1 Now

  Preorder other Nemesis issues

  See who won our Nemesis contest

This morning I bound from my slumber like a kid at Christmas. “Nemesis comes out today,” I whispered geekily to myself. When I heard that this week’s comic shipment got here this morning, you could see a trail of papers flying around in my wake.

After I got my hands on my copy, I quickly consumed it. After I was done, I started over from the first page to savor McNiven’s amazing artwork. Dude is seriously talented (obvious statement of the day out of the way). For reals though folks, McNiven knocks it out of the park.

From Nemesis’ smirk on page four to blood spatter that’s peppered throughout the book to the terror on peoples’ faces when they’re about to die, it’s clear McNiven is in love with his craft. He conveys the speed of bullets, planes and trains beautifully. When other artists forget to pay attention to the backgrounds and cityscapes, McNiven shines. The locations are just as much a character as Nemesis or the hero cop he’s targeting. I’m a fan.

I don’t want to give too much away for those who have already ordered their copy, but you can highlight the space below to see my spoilery review.

HIGHLIGHT BELOW FOR SPOILERS:
The premise is pretty simple. Imagine the most badass villain that you can and nobody in the world has been able to stop him. There it is.

Nemesis is grounded in reality–he’s got no super-human abilities to speak of (none that we know of, anyway), just a man with a plan and the means to make things happen. This issue sees our antagonist taunt and murder Tokyo’s Police Chief with such little effort that it’s almost laughable.

Nemesis is almost too good at what he does. I think that’s actually the point though. He’s the world’s only super-criminal—a ravenous Rottweiler who’s been unleashed. Millar does a really good job at writing Nemesis’s flippant attitude toward law, order, and human life. At one point, as people are fleeing for their lives, he says “That’s right, you little peasants! Run!” That single panel told me all I needed to know about his character.

We’re then introduced to Blake Morrow, the Police Chief of Washington D.C.. I really like what Millar’s doing here. Morrow is the best of the best. He’s intelligent, calculating, mindful, and successful. Crime has decreased 60% because of his initiatives and the word on the street is that he’s getting gig Homeland Security. In short, he’s the best there is. We care about his character and empathize for the situation he’s about to face. Too bad he’s gonna die.

I don’t know what the hell happened, but Nemesis has been waiting to take on Morrow. There’s some sort of history there dating back decades and he’s out for revenge. Did you feel that? You got chills just then, didn’t you? Did I mention that Nemesis single-handedly takes down Air Force One? I warned you things would get be spoilery.
Wicked, huh?

The only thing I’m left wondering is why you’re still reading this review. Get this book now. If you dig any of Millar’s previous work: Wanted, Kick-Ass, Old Man Logan, Marvel’s Civil War, you need to get this book. If you’ve got a darker side, that side should be buying this book now. Do it while you can, it will definitely sell out.

  Order Nemesis #1 Now

  Preorder other Nemesis issues

  See who won our Nemesis contest