Auteur Edgar Wright, walked away from Ant-Man after eight years of development last month, reportedly due to creative differences with Disney-owned Marvel. Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios President, has reassured fans and stated that the screenplay he wrote with Joe Cornish would still form the basis of the final film.

During a recent interview, Feige talked a bit about Wright’s Ant-Man, confirming that the story they locked into place for the film all those years ago has impacted how Marvel approached its cinematic universe (specifically the lineup for The Avengers), knowing how Ant-Man would later come into play.

So, what really went wrong?

Who can say what really caused this rift, but I will miss the originality of Wright’s voice, I enjoy the continuity and fan service of both Marvel and the MCU, but can see it can also become a trap. I certainly feel that obsessive continuity, overemphasis on constant, universe wide events and the retreading of villains and story lines has ultimately limited the audience for the comics. There was an era — the 70s— where Marvel was very experimental; where three of their most popular characters were Shang Chi, Dracula and Conan; and where even established characters like Dr. Strange seemed to operate in a radically different world than the Avengers. As a consequence, I don’t find myself bothered by incongruities in tone between various franchises as long as the world building and storytelling is enjoyable.

Brand discipline is very important, but so is creative versatility. Even the MCU is synthesizing the cross-pollination of multiple generations of characters and plots that diverge radically in tone. Some characters, like Star Lord and Rocket Raccoon, weren’t even part of the Marvel Universe originally. The danger of containing every concept within the constraints of a single creative universe is that it will make the Marvel Studios less open to unique ideas and less agile. The weakness of the first half of AOS season one, the decision to drop a cross generationally appealing Avengers: EMH, the stunted ending of Captain America 1, and the mediocre execution of Iron Man 2 (some would say 3 also) and Thor 2, show the fault lines.

However, It’s fairly obvious that the timeline is what soured relations. Marvel hired Edgar Wright for Ant-Man before Marvel took off. Edgar Wright made Marvel wait for years and he made two other “passion” projects before he finally put his attention into Ant-Man. When Edgar finally was ready to stop postponing it, he was in a different landscape as Marvel had successfully built a wonderful cinematic universe that must be adhered to. Edgar always objected to a connected movie before it became popular and mandatory. So, when it came down to it Marvel HAD to choose a cohesive connection with an established character than the whims of a cult director. Period. End of story.


I hate saying this. It truly is Edgar Wrights fault for delaying the movie and had he focused on making Ant-Man instead of Pilgrim and Worlds End then we would have had ‘his’ film. He snoozed way to long and was unwilling to budge. I love Edgar’s movies. However, I have invested trust in Marvel and I do think Ant-Man will be better for it in the long run.

-Dagobot



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The latest international trailer for one of the most anticipated movies of the summer just dropped, and we are pleased to share it with you!

I hope you’ll have as much fun watching it over and over again as I have!

The Netflix show “Daredevil” added Vincent D’Onofrio in the role of Wilson Fisk, who is better known as The Kingpin in the Marvel Universe. It was announced by showrunner Stephen DeKnight via Twitter:

D’Onofrio is a talented character actor, starting from Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket,” in films like Tim Burton’s “Ed Wood” and most frequently on “Law and Order: Criminal Intent.”  This isn’t D’Onofrio’s first foray as a Marvel character. He also played Thor in “Adventures in Babysitting.”

D’Onofrio joins “Boardwalk Empire”s Charlie Cox on the show. Cox was cast as Matt Murdock/Daredevil on the show sometime last week.

“Daredevil” is a planned 13 episode series for Netflix, set to air via Netflix in 2015, and to tie into both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and another series teaming him with other heroes called “The Defenders.” 

It looks like Marvel isn’t letting a little bit of public turmoil slow down their well-oiled machine. According to Variety, they have a director for the Phase 3 debut of Doctor Strange – the Sorcerer Supreme (I hope Taco Bell does a cross promotion for the movie – that would be awesome, and dangerously delicious).

According to Variety sources, the lucky filmmaker is Scott Derrickson, who is mostly known recently as a horror director, but also gave us the big budget snooze fest remake of  The Day The Earth Stood Still. The Horror background is interesting and possibly gives us an insight in to Feige’s thoughts about the kind of movie he wants it to be.

According to Variety’s crack team of Comic Book Researchers:

The comic revolved around a former neurosurgeon who serves as the “Sorcerer Supreme” — the primary protector of Earth against magical and mystical threats. Strange made his first appearance in the 1963 comic series “Strange Tales” and would go on to have his own comic series and would appear in several other comics that included “The Fantastic Four,” “Spider-Man” and Nick Fury.

Also:

The pic will be produced by Kevin Feige who repeatedly said how badly he wants to get a Dr. Strange movie made over the years. Executive producers on the project are Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Alan Fine, Stan Lee, and Stephen Broussard.

I am still relatively bullish on Marvel’s short term future (next 3 to 5 years) even though I am sorely disappointed in the loss of Edgar Wright on Ant-Man. Now they just need to get someone interesting cast and we can start second guessing everything.

I will go on record and recklessly say they are hoping to cast Keanu Reeves, based solely on him being the lead in The Day The Earth Stood Still.

Who do you think is going to be cast? Let us know in the comments.

This teaser for the “Big Hero 6” teaser trailer that hits tomorrow just made its way to Disney Animation’s Youtube. Check it out and check back tomorrow for the full thing.

It appears this cuts off just before the image that was released yesterday.

Do you want to see “X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST” before it hits theaters? Well click on this link for your chance to download a screening pass for you and a friend to check out an advance screening on Tuesday, May 20^th at Cinemark Jordan Landing in West Jordan, Utah! Seats in the theater are first-come, first-serve so PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY! “X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST” opens everywhere on May 23^rd! www.x-menmovies.com

Winners will be sent their pass on Sunday, May 18, so be sure to enter no later than Saturday, the 17. Best of luck to everyone, and we hope to see you there!

ABC has officially announced which shows are coming back for the fall season, and “Agents of SHIELD” made the cut. While the freshman show has faced lukewarm ratings, they were apparently strong enough to bring it back for at least one more year.

They also greenlit to series the upcoming “Marvel’s Agent Carter” and gave us this summary:

“Marvel’s Agent Carter,” starring “Captain America’s” Hayley Atwell follows the story of Peggy Carter. It’s 1946, and peace has dealt Peggy Carter a serious blow as she finds herself marginalized when the men return home from fighting abroad. Working for the covert SSR (Strategic Scientific Reserve), Peggy must balance doing administrative work and going on secret missions for Howard Stark all while trying to navigate life as a single woman in America, in the wake of losing the love of her life – Steve Rogers. Inspired by the feature films “Captain America: The First Avenger” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” along with the short “Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter.” “Marvel’s Agent Carter” stars Hayley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter. Executive producers are Michele Fazekas & Tara Butters, Steve McFeely & Christopher Marcus, and Jeph Loeb.

As you can tell from my previous thoughts on “Agents of SHIELD”, I’m very excited for its return and where the show can go now that it’s been evened out and finally found its voice.

The season finale of “Agents of SHIELD” airs next Tuesday, May 13, at 7 PM MDT.

Slow week, might as well get to it.

Marvel is looking to translate some of their recent film success into the gaming world. Normally licensed gaming news is met with a groaning smile. Of course we want that Deadpool or Spider-Man game that may or may not coincide with a film release. But it’s usually so bad that we can’t stand playing when it comes out. TQ Jefferson, head of Marvel Entertainment’s gaming division, highlighted a plan to remove the groaning part of your smile. Speaking to Polygon, Jefferson said “Marvel’s overall success in film and TV and other lines of business, means that Marvel is now attracting better partners in the gaming space.” He continued, saying they’re “talking to people now who have strong vision and great teams that can actually execute, and we’re not as concerned with hitting a date [film launch] and wanting to hold out for quality and have things go out when we’re ready.” This should lead to “smarter, more interconnected experiences” and “more interconnected narratives” within the Marvel game experiences. They are also being much more selective and measured in how [they] approach partnerships,” “pushing more quality now than… ever… in the past and if that means fewer games, that means fewer games.” They’re “aiming to [hit] a high quality bar and [hold] [them]selves to a higher standard.” This seems like good news to me. It almost sounds like they’re applying the Marvel movie model to the Marvel game industry.

The update to Ultra Street Fighter IV comes with a varied selection of new content. There are the five new characters, the usual balancing fixes, and a couple other intriguing add-ons. In the new “Local Battle Log” option you’ll be able to watch your last 10 fights, offline. They can also be uploaded to YouTube. There is also an elimination Team-Battle mode, online training mode, and Edition Select. The digital expansion and new retail release will be coming in June 2014.

Planning to pick up Wolfenstein: The New Order when it releases May 20, 2014? Start cleaning up some hard disk space, this one’s going to be huge. On PS3, you’ll need 17GB for a PSN download or 8GB for a mandatory disc install. Xbox 360 has similar requirements, but that 8GB mandatory install is just the first of four discs! Next-gen versions are even heftier, requiring 47GB installs on PS4 and XB1.

Like I said, slow week. Okay for me, I’m still obsessed with inFamous Second Son. It’s very good. Come back Friday for more news from the week.

Before anyone wants to jump in and fanboy it up about their love/hate for either all things DC or Marvel, people should understand that this panel had pretty much nothing to do with which company was better or worse than the other. Sure, there was some good-natured joking and elbows thrown about the panelists’ favorite company, but the main focus was on how the two have handled what is being produced in the movie and TV realms.

I don’t think it’s a stretch for all of us to agree that Marvel has absolutely nailed their movie franchises and completely dominates DC in this area. And we’re not talking about what is being doing over at Sony and Fox with Spider-Man or the X-Men, respectively. Marvel Studios has done a fantastic job at creating a living and cohesive universe where all the best of their superheroes get to play and provide us with breathtaking stories. Sure, Iron Man used to be a C-Level character, at best, but with his trilogy of movies and “The Avengers”, he (along with Robert Downey Jr.) is now pretty much the go-to character for when Marvel wants to rake in truckloads of money, and it was only through the intelligent way that studio handled his franchise.

Of course, DC has had wins at the box office. Nolan’s “Batman” trilogy was both critically and commercially successful, and “Man of Steel” made a ton of money and was a great movie (despite fanboy grumbling). The biggest question facing them now is where do they take their characters from here, and how are they going to cohesively meld them together for an upcoming Justice League movie?

One thing DC has done an excellent job with, though, is their TV series and animated movies. Whether people want to admit it or not, “Arrow” is a hit, and their upcoming “Gotham” looks to have a lot of promise. DC knows how to handle the events of their stories on the small screen, and it would behoove them to take note of what they have accomplished and try to apply it on their big screen adaptations. 

Marvel could learn a few lessons for “Agents of SHIELD”, a series that I absolutely love but fully admit has had a lot of problems and needs to better intertwine with the bigger Marvel universe. They’re starting to get it now, but it was a long and slow burn to get to where the show is today.

All in all, it was an excellent and really fun panel, so please check out the audio below and let us know what side you weigh in on!

Click here for the panel audio.

The Salt Lake City Fan Xperience convention began yesterday to a hell of a strong start. The convention center is awesome and it’s packed wall to wall with all things geek. Even after walking all day, I didn’t even get close to seeing everything.

The very first panel I attended was X-Men: Future Days of Film and Comics. The panel consisted of Blake Casselman, McCord Larsen, Andrew Malin, Kade Herbert, and Elias Pate and discussed the nature of the series and how it relates to real life, as well as their favorite stories and suggestions for the future of the characters both on the screen and on the page.

A comparison was made between the Mutants and any real world disenfranchised minority. The beauty of the characters and the universe they live in, is the ability it provides us to discuss instances of inequality. By putting morality questions into a fictional world, it allows us to view them more honestly and objectively, and then hopefully we can apply what we learn in real life. Specifically a parallel was made between Mutants and the LGBT community. While that comparison may not have been intentional at the characters genesis, it is certainly relevant today. The comparison between the two groups was perhaps best crystallized in “X-Men: 2” (2003) when Bobby tells his parents he’s a mutant.

Watch this scene again…

 Replace the word ‘Mutant’ with the word ‘gay’ and it’s every uncomfortable coming out story you’ve ever heard (except for when Bobby shows his family what he can do, which in the real world scenario would presumably involve Pyro, and fellatio).

Look at that face…

The kicker is his mother looking him straight in the face and asking “Bobby, have you tried… not being a mutant?” There’s some pretty clear social commentary here to anyone who is even remotely paying attention, and for good reason. Bryan Singer, the film’s director is openly gay, as is Ian McKellen, so it makes sense they would want to use the platform to say something about their personal experiences and to try and move social justice forward. They also have the added credentials of being human beings, all of whom ought to work toward equality and higher standard of living for everyone. Which is ultimately what the “X-Men” is about, it’s a story of the struggle for equality, and how in the end, we’d all be better off if we could just get along.

Couple that with a talented and well known cast, and what you get are the movies we know and enjoy today. Regardless of where you stand on any particular “X-Men” film, they paved the way for the comic book movies we’re getting now. They showed that you could take these types of stories and put them on the screen successfully, they showed that it was possible. For that, I am eternally grateful. The “X-Men” franchise is still going strong, “Days of Future Past” hits theaters May 23, and looks nothing short of spectacular. While longevity isn’t the full measure of value or worth, it certainly doesn’t hurt and it doesn’t look like the “X-Men” are going away any time soon.