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Holy Cow, Marvel NOW! Just Got Awesome!
Behold, the new Fantastic Four!
I’m speechless at how awesome that picture is. Ant-Man!? She-Hulk? Medusa? Miss Thing!? Drawn in the amazing pop art style of Mike and Laural Allred? I am sold! Marvel NOW! finally has something really far out and fascinating to offer, instead of just the same old same old with Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and the bunch.
Don’t be too alarmed though. That’s actually the cover of FF#1, the Fantastic Four’s sister title. The actual comic Fantastic Four will still star the usual team of Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch and the Thing.
Both titles will be written by Matt Fraction, who gave an interview to USA Today that you can read here. Basically his plans for the normal Fantastic Four comic, drawn by Mark Bagley, are the usual family-based stuff. The two kids, Franklin and Val, will be with them. So that’s cool, I suppose. At least they’re keeping the white costumes. I love those. I don’t have much interest in Fraction’s take on the traditional Fantastic Four.
It’s his wacky take on the Future Foundation that I can’t wait to read!
Whereas the Fantastic Four is about the Richards family having all-new adventures, FFis about an all-new Fantastic Four getting to meet the team’s greatest hits, Fraction teases. “Suddenly, there are imposters to the throne and they come out of the woodwork for these guys.”
Ant-Man has an agenda of his own, too, in addition to protecting the world. He blames Doctor Doom for the death of his daughter and, with the power of the Fantastic Four and the Future Foundation, wonders what would happen if they declared war on Latveria and devoted all their time and resources to eliminating Doom once and for all.
“It’s a dark twist on what the Fantastic Four is about — it’s the other side of the coin,” Fraction says. “We have this Fantastic Four with a specific mission in FF and how can he direct and bring these people along with him?”
Basically the premise is that in the main title, Reed is going to take his family on this giant vacation through time and space, which will lead to some awesome adventures. They’ll be gone for exactly 4 minutes. And should something go wrong, Reed has everyone pick a replacement. Reed picks Scott Lang, Ant-Man, Sue picks Medusa, Ben picks She-Hulk, and Johnny…well Johnny forgot, and so he just randomly picks the babe he slept with the night before they leave. That’s Miss Thing, a brand new character who’s wearing Thing armor.
And I guess beyond that, something does go wrong during those 4 minutes, and this is the new Fantastic Four.
I’m very, very excited about this one, folks.
Marvel Movie News from Comic-Con
The biggest news to come out of this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, in my opinion, were the announcements of Marvel’s next batch of superhero movies. There was a lot of stuff going down at Comic-Con, but I think this was the biggest. WB made some mention of their next Superman movie, but I’m not too impressed. It’s the Marvel stuff that has me excited!
So even though it’s old news at this point, I still want to give my two cents.
First up, the announcement I’ve been waiting for: Ant-Man!
I’ve been following Ant-Man coverage for as long as I’ve had this blog, and to finally get the official announcement that Edgar Wright is going to start directing is exciting! Not to mention finally getting that logo. Plus the minute-long test reel that he filmed last month was shown in its entirety to the crowd. I, of course, haven’t seen it, and it hasn’t made it to Youtube yet. But You can check out some Twitter reactions here.
From what I’ve managed to gather, the Ant-Man suit is black with red fringe, and it looks more like Eric O’Grady’s more modern costume. It’s steampunkish, I guess. Filming is expected to begin next year, and I am very excited.
Ant-Man is quite possibly the movie I am most looking forward to out of all movies in the next 5 or so years. And that includes Avengers 2.
Iron Man 3 actually had a mini-trailer shown at Comic-Con, which is kind of exciting. Who knows when we’ll get to see the first real trailer, but I’m excited that the film is coming along so well. Apparently in the footage people saw the Iron Man armor simply flying across the room to Stark, rather than having him standing in a giant machine that puts the armor on him manually. Now he controls it with his mind – which is the point of the Extremis storyline in the comics, of which the new movie will be based. Although considering that the armor looks like…
I can’t say I’m too pleased. That’s supposed to be his new Iron Man 3 armor, and it looks silly. Who though it would be a good idea to inverse the gold and the red? It looks hideous.
Though we do have confirmation that Ben Kingsley is playing a variation of the Mandarin, which is awesome! Ben Kingsley seems perfect for the role, and I definitely wanted Mandarin in this film. That he won’t be the a negative stereotype Chinese man is fine. PC him up a little. Works for me.
Not much news came in about Thor 2, other than the fact that they’re not going to call it ‘Thor 2’. I find that fascinating, considering that all of the Iron Man sequels have been numbered. Calling it ‘Thor 2’ just seems obvious. But ‘The Dark World’? Sounds foreboding. I’m hoping he goes to visit the Underworld, otherwise known as ‘Hel’ in the Norse mythos.
It makes a little more sense that the Captain America sequel has a subtitle, since his first film was Captain America: The First Avenger. So at least Captain America: The Winter Soldier is keeping that bit. Again, not much news came out other than the title – but what an exciting title. That is the exact #6 suggestion on my list of 6 Things I Want in the Captain America, Iron Man and Thor sequels. So I’m glad to see that Marvel Studios are reading my blog lists. The Winter Soldier is a badass character with potential for a badass storyline. So I’m excited.
We all knew it was coming, and Marvel has finally confirmed that Guardians of the Galaxy will be coming out in 2014. I still think this is a risk on their part. Obviously movies about space heroes have had some success in the past. But I think it’s going to be jarring for the public to be thrown into this space-themed world when they’re expecting the more grounded, realistic Avengers sort of superhero action. And say what you will about The Avengers film, it was definitely grounded in realism. They may have been larger than life heroes fighting an endless army of aliens, but compared to what they could have done, that film was riding on its sense of realism.
I don’t know if Guardians of the Galaxy can do the same thing. Especially not with this cast.
The Avengers in Space!
That’s real, actual concept art from the upcoming film. We’ve got, from left, Drax the Destroyer, Groot, Starlord, Rocket Raccoon and Gamora. Anyone not familiar with this group click here for an earlier write up I wrote on the comic and team. It looks like a fantastic team, and one that sticks very close to the series that came out a few years ago. But again, I just think the non-comics-loving movie audience isn’t going to grasp the Guardians of the Galaxy the same way they did The Avengers.
Though I will always be behind a movie that brings Rocket Raccoon to the masses.
October is Going to Be A Big Month for Me and Marvel Comics
The solicitations for the first month of Marvel NOW have hit the web – and things look pretty damn cool! Marvel plans on launching a new #1 issue every week, and the first one will be Uncanny Avengers #1, which I already told you guys about. So there aren’t any more fancy new comics to tell you about. But there are still dozens of other post-Avengers vs. X-Men comics coming out in October, and apparently Marvel has geared a lot of them towards some of my favorite characters. Weird! But awesome!
You can read all of the solicitations here, but I’m going to be going through a few of my favorite titles.
X-Factor #245
X-Factor #245: Starring Multiple Man, my all-time favorite comic book character, it seems that the book is getting a pretty big shake-up. We already know that Havok is leaving the team to join the Uncanny Avengers, but who else?
“BREAKING POINTS” Conclusion!
• In the last of five issues that will change the face of X-FACTOR forever, two characters find their lives irrevocably altered.
• When the smoke clears, the team’s roster will be nearly halved…
Finally! I’ve been complaining about the size of X-Factor’s cast for a long time now. It’s about time writer Peter David trimmed the fat and made the team more manageable. It’ll make for a much better series. I hope he keeps Multiple Man, Strong Guy and Wolfsbane for sure. The rest can come or go as he sees fit. Based on an interview I read about Marvel NOW, one of the Marvel head honchos said that X-Factor is going to be largely unaffected by the relaunch. On the one hand, that’s too bad. But on the other hand, I’m glad it will be sticking around in a version that’s similar to what I’ve been enjoying for years. X-Factor doesn’t sell very well, but it has a very loyal fanbase, myself included. So I’m glad it’s not going to have its feathers ruffled too much by this relaunch.
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Secret Avengers #33
Secret Avengers #33: I’ve written a bit before about Eric O’Grady, the Irredeemable Ant-Man! He’s been a member of the Secret Avengers for awhile now, but most recently, he was ‘killed’ and somehow brought back to life by the bad guys. Well in October, it looks like he’s going to become a full-on villain!
THE RISE OF THE DESCENDANTS part 1
• THE RISE OF THE DESCENDANTS BEGINS HERE! The event that will devastate the lives of the Secret Avengers!
• Descendants siege on Avengers Lighthouse station!
• Father launches his invasion. Can the Marvel Universe survive the plague of contagious robotic evolution?
• A terrible new Avenger’s foe is born: Beware the bite of The Black Ant!
I can’t say as how I really like this change, because I was a big fan of O’Grady’s perverted, jerkass version of a superhero. He had a lot of potential as a member of the Avengers. But I suppose he could make an interesting villain, maybe. Though aren’t red ants far more evil and dangerous than black ants? But then the superhero Ant-Mans usually dress in red, so I guess he needed to dress differently. We’ll see where this goes.
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Hobgoblin Fight!
Amazing Spider-Man #695 & 696: Writer Dan Slott is finally getting around to doing something awesome with Phil Urich, the new Hobgoblin! Though it looks like Phil might be in the crosshairs, because the solicitation sounds like a former Hobgoblin is going to be coming back and gunning for Phil. That makes sense, considering Phil had to kill the previous Hobgoblin to take over. And nobody stays dead in comics.
ISSUE #695 – DANGER ZONE Part 1
• Dark times are coming for Peter Parker and change is closer than you even fear.
• As we aim headlong to ASM #700, The Kingpin ‘s latest plan turns one of Spider-Man’s greatest strengths against him.
• Hobgoblin is back…but his days may be numbered as the past sharpens its blades.
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
ISSUE #696 – DANGER ZONE Part 2
• GOBLINS GO TO WAR…and Peter Parker is caught dead-center!
So I’m worried that Phil would make for an easy death. He’s not as established as the previous Hobgoblin, and hasn’t exactly proven himself to be all that great. Since he became Hobgoblin, Phil became a total jobber, thrown into books like Venom and Spider-Girl just to be beaten, to make the heroes look good. Not to mention the fact that he hasn’t beaten Spider-Man. Though of course I hope Phil’s days aren’t numbered. Maybe he’ll become a good guy again! That would make my life.
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But the October solicitations are not all good news! The solicitation for Uncanny Avengers #1 mentions “the funeral of one of Marvel’s greatest heroes!” So it looks like Cyclops is going to bite the big one after all at the end of Avengers vs. X-Men. And it appears that X-Men: Legacy is getting cancelled only a handful of issues after writer Christos Gage made the Mimic an X-Man again. Mimic barely got to do anything! So I guess from now on I just have to hope that he shows up somewhere else…I must hold on to hope!
And finally…where’s the Scarlet Spider comic?
Edgar Wright Films a Tiny Bit of Ant-Man
My excitement for Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man film is almost as giant as my excitement was for The Avengers. So I am following every little scrap of news that comes out about the film. Hopefully you are too. This week sees some of the biggest little news yet, as apparently Edgar Wright has filmed a test reel showcasing the look and feel of the movie, as well as testing the special effects of Ant-Man’s shrinking. Holy awesome, that’s good news!
If any of us had shrinking powers…
A test real isn’t actual movie footage. I guess it’s just some test scenes, and again, a prototype for how the special effects might look. I’m sure everybody wanted to see how far the special effects for shrinking somebody have come since Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. There’s no word how long the test reel is, or what scenes are in it, or even who is playing Ant-Man. And we’ll probably never know. This is the kind of thing that will stay in the hands of the Marvel movie people.
But hot damn, this is exciting news! We’re one small step closer to the Ant-Man film, and I’m ecstatic. Rumor also has it that Ant-Man will be the focus of the post-credits scene in Iron Man 3. I have zero confirmation on this rumor, but wouldn’t that be brilliant?
Or best of all…San Diego Comic-Con is right around the corner. Could you imagine the excitement of the crowd if Marvel suddenly decided to show off the Ant-Man test reel? California might crack off the side of the country from the sheer magnitude of the geekgasm.
Oh, So That’s the Ant-Man Who is Going to Join the Defenders…
Turns out that Ant-Man is going to join the Defenders after all! And based on solicitations for September’s comics, it’s going to be the newly resurrected Scott Lang Ant-Man! And he’s going to be wearing one of my favorite Ant-Man costumes ever!
That’s him in the Ant-Man costume
This isn’t really important comic book news or anything, just something that’s important to me. Writer Matt Fraction recently relaunched The Defenders, and I picked up the first few issues because I saw an ad for the series that included an appearance by Ant-Man. But since he was so tiny in the ad, there was no way of knowing which Ant-Man. There have been three of them.
I assumed it would be the current Ant-Man, Eric O’Grady. I thought he was going to transfer from the Secret Avengers to The Defenders. And O’Grady is a character for whom I’ll buy any book that he’s appearing – which includes Secret Avengers, but did not include his run on the Thunderbolts. But whatever.
Then after several issues without Ant-Man, I stopped buying The Defenders.
Only now we can see that Ant-Man will be joining the team! And it will be the second Ant-Man, Scott Lang. He recently came back to life in a different comic, and it’s good to know that Marvel will be doing something cool with him. Scott is probably my favorite of the three Ant-Men. So I’ll definitely be picking up The Defenders again.
I just thought you’d like to know.
Henchman-4-Hire 