Earth's Mightiest Heroes

So I've been really getting into the Avenging spirit lately, have you?

Last week I saw Captain America: The First Avenger and it was one of my favorite superhero films of all time. Director Joe Johnston just nailed the tone and look. Everyone keeps referencing his work on The Rocketeer, which was great, but Don't forget he also made a few clunkers so I'll say I was really pleased to see he brought his A-game to this one. Minor nitpicks like the way they killed off Bucky aside the film delivered on all fronts especially the cast. The film has pitch perfect casting and really great performances all around. For anyone who hasn't seen it yet I'd obviously, highly recommend it.

So as we all should know by now, Caps story is dovetailing into next summer's big Avengers film, being directed by none other than Jon Favreau. The movie will bring together every geek's wildest comic to film dreams, with Captain America joining Thor, Iron Man, the Hulk, Hawkeye, and Black Widow on Marvel's premiere super team The Avengers. There's already a short teaser trailer up for the film, and if you missed it the first time, the ending and credit sequence to The First Avenger, give us a bit more teaser goodies on the upcoming film.

I'm pretty stoked about The Avengers movie, since I've been a Marvel fanboy for a very long time. While I was never a huge Avengers follower, preferring to stick mostly with Spider-Man and some of the cosmic guys like Silver Surfer, I always enjoyed seeing my favorites interact with the Avengers, and whenever there was a big company wide event storyline I was always excited. The trick as with any ensemble cast is to make sure everyone gets enough screen time, and that it all serves the story. With this creative team involved though I am heartily optimistic.

I also just recently finished watching the first season of the latest Marvel cartoon on Netflix, and it couldn't have gotten me more in the mood for some Avengers action. The cartoon, which launches into its second season this October on DisneyXD, is of course The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

The first season consists of twenty six 22 minutes episodes and will set you up really well with everything you'd want to know about the Avengers and more. All of the major players are introduced and explored, as well as most of the major villains, and even a few of the bigger storylines are tackled in this first season. As anyone who's read The Avengers comic even a little bit like me knows, the team has had a few different makeups over the years and Earth's Mightiest Heroes is no different. After the obligatory origin episodes, which I'm actually very glad they didn't rush through, the team lineup features: their team leader Iron Man, along with Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Ant Man, Wasp, Hawkeye, and Black Panther. Additionally a few other 'Avengers-to-be' make regular appearances, like Black Widow, and Wonder Man. What's great about these characters and the writing, headed up by Christopher Yost, is that everyone is given time to develop organically, we get a great balance of character moments where the players actually grow throughout the season and amazing battle sequences where the viewer is treated to just minute after minute of perfectly choreographed battle scenes.

If you think you're even remotely interested and you have Netflix streaming, I'd really recommend checking it out. The season is available for instant streaming right now, and if you only want to give one or two episodes a try, jump ahead to the two parter The Breakout, which kicks the season into high gear and gives a good sample of the action to come.

While I was on a Netflix streaming kick I realized that there are a lot of other Marvel superhero shows online. The 90s cartoons of X-Men, Spider-Man, Spider-Man Unlimited, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Silver Surfer are all available in their entirety right now; although Fantastic Four, and perhaps to be expected the pretty awful Avengers: United They Stand cartoons are not there. Other great Marvel cartoons are though, including the Spider-Man 1967 series, the first of the excellent two season Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon, X-Men: Evolution, Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes, and the first season of the currently airing Iron Man: Armored Adventures (season 2 is in full swing now on Nicktoons). Unfortunately, none of the other more recent Marvel animated series (Wolverine and the X-Men or any of the Marvel anime projects) are available yet; nor are any of the other older Marvel animated series like the classic Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends. That said there is also one more cool new series that is available on instant Netflix streaming that should be checked out: Black Panther the animated series. While I understand why fans we're a bit disappointing to learn that this miniseries (its only 120-ish minutes long in its entirety) wasn't much more than a souped up motion comic, I'd still really urge you to have a look. If you like motion comics, then you're in luck, this is probably the best produced motion comic ever with voice talents that include the amazing Djimon Hounsou, Alfre Woodard, and Kerry Washington. Also it's got a pretty kick ass opening title sequence with a catchy song.

If from all my babbling you can't tell yet, I am a pretty huge fan of these Marvel superheros. I love seeing how they work solo, getting in depth on their backstory and rogues gallery; but I'm also a huge fan of when they meet, crossover, and have excellent adventures together. That's why I'm so looking forward to the Avengers movie. A great crossover crossover is in the making and I don't think anyone would have anticipated that it could be done on such a scale in a live action form. For us fanboys this is a dream come true, and for everyone else, we'll this is the best time ever to get into a hero or three. I'm sure we'll get into more Avengers goodness as the film approaches release next summer, but until then count me very excited!
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Iron Man and Wolverine anime trailers

Wow, check these awesome trailers out. These are for new tv series slated to air in Japan in 2010. But since the properties are so huge, the art looks amazing, and they've been written for tv by none other than the amazing Mr Warren Ellis I have zero doubt that they will make their way to our shores very quickly. In fact we'll probably see fan subs online within a few days of broadcast...

Check the trailers :)

I know. very different, but pretty damn cool too.
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Hulk vs. ...

One of the next films in Marvel's direct to DVD animated line-up is Hulk vs... Apparently it's really two short films comprised of fights between Hulk vs Wolverine and Hulk vs Thor. Check out these two preview trailers.





With the relative success of The Incredible Hulk, Marvel seems well placed to take advantage and ride the mean, green, marketing wave, with both this title, and Planet Hulk slated for release next year. This film specifically should find its way to shelves in January of '09. I know I'm looking forward to it.
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Wolverine Comic Con footage

Quick quick before it gets taken down... Have a look, care of AICN, at the X-Men Origins: Wolverine footage shown at comic con. It's in two parts and pretty damn cool.





The film will come out May 1st, 2009.
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A long list of quick hits

There is a lot of coverage on the San Diego Comic Con out there, but much of it is buried in panel reports and drawn out press events. Also the world has not stopped turning just because of the con. There is other cool entertainment news to be had as well. But I just don't have the time to write up posts about everything. So maybe a few quick hits are in order. I mean, theres a lot of cool stuff going on, I wouldn't want to miss it. And with that said here are a few quick stories or links for you.

According to THR, Leonardo DiCaprio and his Apian Way production company are looking to possibly make a series of movies out of old Twilight Zone stories. They've put the call out to writers for pitches.

Some descriptions of the 3 minutes of Tr2n footage that was screened at the con can be read here and here, with more follow up details at AICN. And just a note, the footage was NOT actually from the new movie.

Cartoon Network is developing 3 comic book titles into tv movies. The first is Firebreather, a story about a teenager growing up in a divorced family with a typical worrying mother, and a fire-breathing dragon for a father. The next is The Mice Templar, a book about templar mice, a prophecy, and oh so much more. When I was at Wizard World the creator gave me a full 5 minutes on the book after I guessed that it was probably just like Mouseguard... And the third is The Vanishers, about a fifth grader who travels through time to rescue his friends after they start disappearing from existence.

Bryan Singer is developing a feature based on the comic miniseries Freeedom Formula , a sci fi about a high speed illegal mecha racing circuit and the cost of freedom in a fascist techno-future. Seems reminiscent of IGPX with a bit of Akira.

You can watch the trailer to Afro Samurai: Ressurection at Spike TV right now, or read more about the show here.

You can watch a painfully bad clip with Paris Hilton singing from Repo! The Genetic Opera over at MTV right now.

An honestly pretty cool trailer for Sam Raimi's new family friendly tv show Legend of the Seeker (formerly Wizards First Rule) has landed online. The show is based on Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth book series, and premieres on ABC on Nov 1st, '08.

Kevin Feige said at the SDCC Marvel panel that FOX was waiting the see how well the Wolverine movie does before moving forward on the Silver Surfer solo film.

NBC has posted videos of their Knight Rider and Kings panels on their website. Also catch this new one minute KR trailer.

The will be NO Dinobots in Transformers 2 say the writers.

Care of IGN watch the trailer for the upcoming animated film Resident Evil: Degeneration. No word on a western release date yet.

MTV interviews The Rock on Shazam, and Sam Jackson on Nick Fury.

AICN has a review of what is apparently a terrible script rewrite on Escape From New York by Jonathan Mostow.

IESB has heard that The Rock may appear in the Johnny Quest film, as Race Bannon!

Watch almost 4 minutes of new footage from Star Wars Clone Wars right here on Yahoo!

MTV has a preview up for the upcoming direct to dvd Marvel animated film "Hulk vs Wolverine" and it is killer.

Read Comingsoon.net panel reports and coverage on The Spirit, Watchmen and here, Day The Earth Stood Still, Prince of Persia, The Wolfman,

Read AICN panel reports and coverage on Wolfman, Watchmen, Twilight, Wolverine, Batman: Brave and the Bold and here, and a non-con Star Trek report

Read Latino Review's reports on the Hasbro panel (G.I. Joe), the Fox panel (DTESS, Max Payne, Wolverine), Watchmen, Punisher WZ, The Spirit, Ninja Assassin, Star Wars, and a video interview for Red Sonja,

Read IESB.net's well written reports on Watchmen, Twilight, the Fox panel, the best Wolverine footage breakdown online, and video interviews on Wolverine, Max Payne, and DTESS

And that's about all I can handle for now. That's sure a ton of info, And there'll be even more tomorrow after the Saturday panels get going at Comic Con. It's kinda crazy, but very cool stuff overall. Anything in this list really stand out to you as awesome? In my opinion the Star Wars footage steals the show so far. I'll post it up on its own later this weekend. Until then, I'm off to bed.
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Wolverine pic

So this new picture of Wolverine from X-Men Origins: Wolverine has surfaced from the pages of Empire magazine. I think it looks pretty sweet. I know we've all seen Jackman with the claws before, but this is a good reminder, Wolverine is coming, and its going to kick your ass.

I read 8 issues back to back from my Essential Wolverine this morning on a flight to San Fran from Vancouver, so I'm on a bit of a high for the character. This spin-off film has a ton of potential to rock really hard. Just check out this interview with Kevin Durand who plays The Blob in the movie. Very good stuff. Also Durand is a personal hero of mine, as he was the absolute nicest actor ever when I worked on Dark Angel with him.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine comes out May 1st, 2009.
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Another cameo in Wolverine

Well we already know that the Wolverine film is going to be really chock full of Marvel superhero and villain cameos. A ton of the Weapon X people will be there, as will a few awesome baddies, and now if the rumors hold true, a young Scott Summers, aka Cyclops.

Superhero Hype is reporting what seems to be a fairly solid story that a young Australian actor named Tim Pocock has been cast as a younger version of Scott Summers. Presumably this would be a meeting (if indeed they do actually meet) between Scott and Logan, before Scott joins the X-Men. Although the actor appears to be in his teens I can understand why if they were casting this role they wouldn't want Marsden to play it. He's just too old, and as much as we know so far the Wolverine movie is going to be taking place in the 70s and 80s.

I have to say as a true comic geek I love this kind of move. Its basically designed to get fanboys excited... and I suppose it works. Cause Cyclops in the Wolverine film is pretty damn cool. Now if only they'd put in an Alpha Flight cameo... then we'd really be cookin.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is set to come out May 1st, 2009.
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Wolverine and the X-men trailer

Fresh off Marvel.com check out this brand new, and official trailer for the new animated series Wolverine and the X-Men.



The show is set to air 26 episodes on Nickelodeon in the first quarter of 2009.
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Marvel on the move

After a HUGE weekend for Marvel, at their earnings call this morning they dropped some great news for comic fans everywhere. Care of Superhero Hype Marvel has announced release plans for a slew of their next films. All of which have been rumors, but none of which had schedules on them.

The release slate now looks as follows...

The Incredible Hulk - June 13th, 2008
Punisher: War Zone - December 5th, 2008
X-Men Origins: Wolverine - May 1st, 2009
Iron Man 2 - April 30th, 2010 (newly announced)
Thor - June 4th, 2010 (newly announced, Matthew Vaughn directing)
The First Avenger: Captain America - May 1st, 2011 (newly announced)
The Avengers - July 2011 (newly announced)

Besides the 4 new films announced, Marvel Studios president David Maisel also mentioned that Ant Man is still in development, for what I think we can assume will be a release near the Avengers film timeframe. And that Spider-Man 4 is also in early development. As an awesome little side note he also mentioned that the character Thor will be introduced in Iron Man 2. :) Doesn't that just make you happy? For a more complete list, check out the Marvel development wiki.

This is going to be awesome, seeing everything come together over the next few years leading up to the Avengers film. I love the fact that Mervel is putting so much effort and care into this stuff. Good work guys. Now we've got even more films to stalk :)
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Iron Man and Wolverine toon update

Both Iron Man the animated series and Wolverine and the X-men have found a home. Nickelodeon will air both series exclusively starting in the first quarter of '09. 26 glorious episodes of animated goodness will be broadcast for each series and I have to say I'm definitely excited. Despite the lackluster performance and storytelling in the recent Fantastic Four cartoon, I love it when superheroes hit the small screen, and cartoons with heroes can be really great. We'll have to wait and see how these two turn out. For it's part, I will say I've been digging the solidly written new Spectacular Spider-Man animated series. With episode 4 having just aired this weekend its turning out very cool and fun. I hope these new toons can continue the trend. Oh and check this pic out. I don't know if I've seen any actual pictures of the Iron Man cartoon yet. Pretty interesting style. It's not what I was expecting at all, but I think that could be a really good thing. Hopefully we'll get more on these two shows before next year, because I am eager to see how they approached these characters for myself.

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Wolverine character breakdown

Even more Wolverine casting news has come down the pipeline in the last day or two.

The activity on this film has been pretty furious over this past week. With more and more mutant characters revealed than I think most anyone was expecting. I think these announcements should be the last of the Weapon X team to be cast though. First up, Dominic Monaghan, who we all know and love as Charlie from Lost, and Merry from LOTR, has been cast as Blackwing (aka Beak). And secondly Daniel Henney who is a Korean actor I know basically nothing about has been cast as Agent Zero. But really, what the heck does this mean. Even for me, and you know I have something of a passing interest in comic books, I'm a bit lost as to who is who is this film So I thought now that it looks like were through most of the main casting, and character revelations, we could break it down some.

First obviously is Wolverine, played by Hugh Jackman. You all know him from the X-Men films. As we all should know, he is a mutant with a bad temper, extra keen senses and a super healing ability. This was used to the governments advantage when they surgically laced his bones with the super strong metal alloy adamantium as part of a secret super soldier program known as Weapon X. And yes his claws, at least in one iteration of the comics are actually bones, covered in metal. But I think originally when the character was designed, and in the film, they were supposed to be mechanical enhancements as part of the whole agent of destruction thing the government was doing. His brain was pretty screwed up in the government experiments too, and Wolverine ended up seriously blocking most of the memories of his troubled and violent past. We can assume that this film will explore the origin of Wolverine as a weapon of destruction as hinted at in X2.

That origin will probably have a lot ot do with William Stryker. A minor villain in the comics as seen in the X-Men films, Stryker, previously played by the incomparable Brian Cox, and soon to be portrayed by Danny Huston, is now a rouge army colonel and military scientist who has a dark and complicated past with the Weapon X program. My guess is that in this film he will be the military man organizing the superhuman Weapon X team.

Next we have Sabertooth, to be played in this film by the awesome actor Liev Schrieber. The character, a compatriot of Wolverine, suspiciously has much the same powers as him. Enhanced senses, an accelerated healing factor, and a feral-ness about him. He also has razor sharp claws, and fangs which he uses to kill as a homicidal mercenary. Sabertooth has long been an enemy of Wolverine, and I think its safe to say this film will explore how they became such antagonists.

Lynn Collins of The Number 23 takes on the leading lady role of Silver Fox. The character is a Canadian native (woot! woot represent!) and in the comics had a troubled past as both Wolverine's lover and a victim of Sabertooth advances and rage at rejection. I would guess, there will be some kind of love triangle in the Wolverine film. Silver Fox later showed up in the comics as a leader of HYDRA, a terrorist organization and main foe to SHIELD. One of the only female members of Team X her only meta-human power is the enhanced healing ability given to her by Weapon X.

The other characters revealed to be in the movie will fill out the ranks of Team X. While not all originally Weapons Plus characters, I think its great they have the ability to pick and choose whoever they think fits with the group best. Here's a quick run down of who they are and what powers they have:

Deadpool, to be played by Ryan Reynolds is a fan favorite, who Marvel hope to spin off into his own movie. The character is nicknamed 'the merc with the mouth' because Deadpool is known pithy cracks and pop culture references. He is a master martial artist, but usually uses high technology weapons to kill, and his only superpower is enhanced healing.

Remy LeBeau / Gambit to be played by Taylor Kitsch was never originally a member of Weapon X. He is a Louisiana gambler and smooth talking Cajun ladies man. In the comics he was a later member of the X-Men, and despite having ties to Mr Sinister, has always been paired as a love interest for Rogue. He has the ability to infuse inanimate objects with unstable kinetic energy, and usually charges playing cards which explode when he throws them at his enemies. Gambit is also a character that Marvel might well spin off into his own film, and Kitsch has sign on for a potential 3 films.

Blackwing / Beak / Barnell Bohusk is to be played, as I said above, by Lostie Dominic Monaghan. The character is an odd one, that has gone through a few different iterations. I suspect some kind of hybrid between the old character and the new one will be what appears onscreen. Barnell's powers originally induced through a natural bird-like mutation included hollow bones, enhanced agility, finger talons, and limited flight capabilities. However in the post House of M retconed Marvel universe Barnell is currently working for the New Warriors under the name Blackwing and and wears a bodysuit that gives him enhanced strength, flight, and energy manipulation powers.

John Wraith / Kestrel to be played by Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am is the team's teleporter and also possesses accelerated healing powers. A pretty straightforward character, he is a bit paranoid, likes to use high explosives, and only teleports sparingly in battle.

and the final member of the Weapon X program is Agent Zero / Maverick, to be played by Daniel Henney. The character is a tracker and expert marksman. He also has the enhanced healing factor but relies on some pretty deadly high tech weaponry. In current continuity he has lost his powers completely.

And there you have it. Should shape up to be an interesting team of supers to see onscreen. I hesitate to use the word superhero as really they were more of a 'death squad', but maybe that's just semantics...

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is still filming in Australia, but should wrap soon. It is scheduled for a May 1st, 2009 release. And the director Gavin Hood, who also made the excellent films Tsotsi, and Rendition has speculated that if he gets to make a sequel he would like to see it take place in Japan. And why not, Wolverine has a long and very involved history. Maybe one day we'll even get that Alpha Flight / Wolverine story.
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Upcoming Marvel - 02/08

Care of SuperheroHype! here is Marvel's list of upcoming projects...

It should be noted that because of the writers strike, Marvel will probably not have 2 feature films in 2009, as is their business plan from 2010 and onward. Which film will make the cut for '09 though is still up in the air. SHH thinks it will be Thor, and I hope so too.

Feature Film Projects Being Developed by Marvel – partial list
Iron Man, Marvel - Scheduled for May 2, 2008 release
The Incredible Hulk, Marvel - Scheduled for June 13, 2008 release
Ant-Man, Marvel - Writer/director engaged
Captain America, Marvel - Writer engaged
Thor, Marvel - Writer engaged
The Avengers, Marvel - Writer engaged

Licensed Marvel Character Feature Film Line-Up
Punisher: War Zone, Lionsgate - Completed principal photography; scheduled for September 12, 2008 release
X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Fox - Director engaged; scheduled for May 1, 2009 release

Marvel Character Animated TV Projects
Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes, Moonscoop SAS (France) - 26, 30-minute episodes airing internationally.
Spectacular Spider-Man, Sony - In development; US distribution agreement with Kids’ WB; scheduled for Spring 2008 release.
Wolverine and the X-Men, First Serve Toonz (India) - 26, 30-minute episodes in development; scheduled for Spring 2009 release.
Iron Man: The Animated Series, Method Films (France) - 26, 30-minute episodes in development; scheduled for Spring 2008 release.
Hulk: The Animated Series, TBD -In development; scheduled for Spring 2009 release.
Super Hero Squad, TBD - In development; scheduled for Spring 2009 release.

Marvel Character Animated Direct-to-DVD Projects
Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow, Lionsgate - Scheduled for August 2008 release.
Hulk Vs., Lionsgate - Scheduled for January 2009 release.
Thor: Son of Asgard, Lionsgate - Scheduled for September 2009 release.
Planet Hulk, Lionsgate - Scheduled for February 2010 release.

Marvel Character Live Stage Projects
Spider-Man, the Musical, Hello Entertainment/David Garfinkle, Martin McCallum, Marvel Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment
In development/opening date to be determined; Julie Taymor director; music & lyrics by U2's Bono and The Edge

Marvel 2007 – 2008 Video Game Releases (Release dates controlled by Publishing partner)
Sega, Iron Man - Scheduled for release Friday, May 2, 2008.
Sega, The Incredible Hulk - Scheduled for release Tuesday, June 3, 2008.
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Wolverine update

I may have fallen a few short days behind on the blog lately, but that just means that when I do post you guys'll get all the really fun goodies, right away. Like here with Wolverine. Last week, The USA Today showed us the first picture of Jackman as Wolverine for the upcoming, X-Men Origins: Wolverine film, and frankly, its pretty boss.

Very nice. Look's like he's about half a second away from busting outta that cage.

And as for casting, well there have been a flurry of announcements. I know quite a while ago I told you that Liev Schreiber will be in the film. Well, that's still true, but not in the role I originally thought. Schreiber will play Victor Creed /Sabertooth, only a younger more dashing version of Sabertooth, than we saw in X-Men. After all, this is the story of Wolverine, and his entanglement with Weapon X... oh I just have my fingers crossed for an Alpha Flight reference.

Schreiber is joined now by 30 Days of Night star, Danny Huston. He was the scary bad guy. no, not the one with the blood beard, the main bad guy. Anyhow, he will be playing the role I had thought Schrieber was up for; that of William Stryker. If you'll remember X-Men 2, he was the manipulating bastard that was played so brilliantly by Brian Cox. According to IESB Stryker is joined on screen by longtime Wolverine love interest Silver Fox, to be played by Maggie Q. I don't know a ton about her character, other than she has some sort of SHIELD connection, and had an almost fatal run in with Sabertooth at one point, but whatever the case I'm sure she'll make a great addition to the cast.

That's not all though, the rumors they are a flying. The film will reportedly have a number of great fun cameos by characters we've all been wanting to see. One of which, who I frankly thought should've been in the first X-Men film, is now reported to be making an appearance. The Blob. A truly great, often underrated character, just seeing this HUGE guy on screen should be a great show. Secondly and more importantly, as it might itself lead to another spin-off film, Deadpool is now rumored to be making an appearance. And who might be said to play 'the merc with the mouth'? None other than the once upon a Flash, Mr. Ryan Reynolds...

And even literally as I type this I just saw some more news, hot off the presses at Superherohype, everyone's favorite drunken Friday Night Lights star Taylor Kitsch will be playing none other than longtime X-favorite Gambit in the film. wow, now thats a great role. This film really is chock full of cameos...

And who knows what else is to come from this film? Might I really get my Alpha Flight dream? We can only guess, but since Wolverine is well into production in Australia now, we'll have to keep our eyes peeled, more goodies should definitely be on the way.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is set to come out May 1st, 2009.

UPDATE 02/20 - One more cast addition in the day following this post. Black Eyed Peas front man Will.i.am has joined the Weapon X program as John Wraith, aka Kestrel, a classic character and the team's teleporter. Oh, and if that wasn't good enough, 20th Century FOX has confirmed all of these casting choices. So now we're set. Can't wait to see how this turns out.
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Wolverine and the X-Men trailer

Argh, it's frustrating when I can't get sites to work properly. ah well, nevermind. Recently launched onto the web, through this tricky French website comes a trailer for Marvel's new cartoon Wolverine and the X-Men. Seriously kids, this is not the X-Men you remember. Yes it build more on the traditional 90s cartoon X-Men series than X-Men: Evolution, but it seems in my estimation at least to be really an entirely new beast. and um, is that Foo Fighters in the soundtrack?!? I know it's just a teaser, but where on earth did that come from? Check it out.



Wolverine and the X-Men should be playing on the small screen this Fall. Looks pretty bad ass.
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Upcomming Marvel - 11/05

Once again provided by Marvel via Comingsoon.net. Check it out :)

Feature Film Projects Being Developed by Marvel - partial list
Iron Man, Marvel - Completed principal photography; May 2, 2008 release
The Incredible Hulk, Marvel - Commenced principal photography; June 13, 2008 release
Ant-Man, Marvel - Writer and director engaged
Captain America, Marvel - Writer engaged
Thor, Marvel - Writer engaged
The Avengers, Marvel - Writer engaged

Licensed Marvel Character Feature Film Line-Up
Punisher 2, Lionsgate - Commenced principal photography, slated for 2008 release
X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Fox - Director engaged, slated for May 1, 2009 release

Marvel Character Animated TV Projects
Fantastic Four, Moonscoop SAS (France) - 26, 30-minute episodes; Running Internationally.
Spider-Man, Sony - In development; US distribution agreement with Kids' WB for Spring 2008 release.
Wolverine and the X-Men, First Serve Toonz (India) - 26, 30-minute episodes in development; Fall 2008 release.
Iron Man, Method Films (France) - 26, 30-minute episodes in development; Fall 2008 release.
Hulk, TBD - In development.

Marvel Character Animated Direct-to-DVD Projects
Next Avengers, Lionsgate - Targeted July 2008 release
Hulk Smash, Lionsgate - Targeted October 2008 release
Thor, Lionsgate - Targeted April 2009 release
TBD, Lionsgate - Targeted September 2009 release

Marvel Character Live Stage Projects
Spider-Man the Musical, Hello Entertainment/David Garfinkle, Martin McCallum, Marvel Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment
In development/opening date to be determined; Julie Taymor director; music & lyrics by U2's Bono and The Edge

Marvel Video Game Releases (Release dates controlled by Publishing partner)
Sega, Iron Man - Targeted 2008
Sega, The Incredible Hulk - Targeted 2008

All looks good there. so according the this list we're getting Iron Man, Hulk and Punisher next year, followed by Wolverine, maybe Thor (if they can get that budget down) and Captain America in '09. I haven't heard too much on Ant Man lately. I wonder how that's all coming along. Good news on the direct to dvd stuff. So far that's been of a very high quality. Looking forward especially to seeing what they do with Thor. The one thing I really miss from this list is the rambling of 'other' projects on their radar. For example I'd just like a little confirmation that Marvel are considering Silver Surfer, or that the proposed Sum Mariner movies haven't been lost along the way.

Just speculation here but from tidbits garnered in the past, Marvel has or should have on the radar: Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four 3, Spider-man 4 (writer has been hired), Daredevil 2, Iron Fist (Ray Park was attached), Sub Mariner (3 films), Doctor Strange, Nick Fury, Black Widow, and Magneto.

Still, its good to see that everything's on track for the Marvel juggernaut of entertainment to continue.

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Wolverine morsels

Care of SHH, in a recent article the New Zealand website Stuff.co.nz has a small tidbit of semi spoilerish info on the Wolverine solo movie which is set to film there come January. Honestly its not a huge thing just cool. But if you don't want ANY spoilers, which really this is the kind of thing you'll see from the trailer probably, then just stop reading...

Ok, still there? good. The film will be set in the 1970s and show us the origins of what we know as the modern Wolverine. I wonder if that might mean a trip to the GreatWhite North. How cool would an Alpha Flight cameo be? or maybe they leave that for the sequel. :) Also, in one very cool sounding scene, a missile will narrowly miss our furry friend and explode a barn! That should be a cool effect. I'm trying to think of a barn exploding in a movie, and its escaping me, but hey, I'm sure it'll be sweet. Really most things exploding are pretty sweet, so I look forward to this. Oh, and one more thing I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but Liev Schreiber is apparently in final talks to play William Stryker, the role played to perfection by Brian Cox in X2.

Cool deal for Wolverine. I hope this movie rocks my socks . This weekend I watched director Gavin Hood's previous film Tsotsi, and was completely blown away. It is absolutely incredible, and I highly recommend it. :)

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