Last month, there was a small blip on the Deadpool movie radar when a little rumor popped up that Robert Rodriguez would be helming the film starring the Merc With a Mouth. I saw it, but couldn’t find much truth behind it as both Rodriguez’s “people” and FOX were denying the reports, only confirming that Rodriguez had the script.

Well, now it looks like this might have a little something behind it. The LA Times is reporting that FOX and Rodriguez are now in the negotiation phase to try to work out a deal that will put him in the director’s chair.

There’s no deal yet, and the sides need to agree on a number of key points, but it’s moved beyond the casual discussion stage and into the more substantive realm of deal points.

As a big Deadpool fan (yes, I know he is just everywhere these days) I think Rodriguez would be a great fit. He has proven he can bring the funny and the action simultaneously and a good Deadpool movie is going to need lots of both. For the time being though, Rodriguez is promoting his upcoming film, Machete, and is currently working on Spy Kids 4: Armageddon (I know. . . I know), and Deadpool himself, Ryan Reynolds, is wrapping up filming this week on Green Lantern and then I believe moving on to a film called The Change Up. So, Deadpool is most likely still a few years out, but this is an exciting prospect to hopefully getting a good Deadpool film from FOX of all studios!

Share your thoughts on the Deadpool movie over in the BSR! Forums!

Here is the 5 minutes of  Thor footage they showed this past week in San Diego. So, for those of you that weren’t able to attend Comic-Con last week, or for those that did and weren’t able to get into the insanely packed Hall H you get to see it here in all its glory! I don’t know about you but I was a little bit wet in the pants after seeing this!

UPDATED: Here’s a new link. and an embed:

This past weekend I went to the mecca of all things geek and pop culture, San Diego Comic-Con International. I went to a number of panels and walked the floor and here is all the Marvel news and tidbits I gathered! I was also able to get some pictures of the slides that went with some of the announcements. I did get in trouble with security a couple of times because we weren’t supposed to take pictures of what was on the screens.

-Loki by Roberto Sacasa and Sebastian Fiumara Oct ’10

-Captain America and the Korvac Saga by Ben McCool starts in Oct ’10

-Captain America: Hail Hydra by Brian Clevinger Jan ’11

-Captain America: Fighting Avengers, an all ages book that will be an ongoing and starts in January.

-Captain America: Man out of Time by Mark Waid starts in Jan ’11

-Ultimate Thor by Jonathan Hickman and Carlos Pacheco kicks off in October!

-Ultimate Doom by Brian Michael Bendis which will  complete the Ultimate Enemy trilogy.

-Strange Tales II, another anthology mini series using some of the best independent comics writers and artists.
-Iron Man/Thor will be a new ongoing by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning and starts Nov ’10

-Power Man and Iron Fist by Fred Van Lente and Wellinton Alves, comes out in January and will be using the new Power-Man that will be introduced in Shadowland.

-Rocket Raccoon and Groot by Abnett and Lanning, Art Timothy Green, Cover by Mike Mignola Jan ’11
Lanning said he couldn’t say much about the series without revealing details of the “Thanos Imperative,” but would say “Groot will refer to himself as Groot, and Rocket will fire some unfeasibly large cannons.

-Red Hulk will be joining the Avengers in issue #7

-Issue #4 of “Avengers” will feature Galactus, then they showed a slide of a two page spread from the issue and Bendis joked that the side of the spread of Romita’s art for the issue read “Fuck you, Bendis” as the spread was chock full of detailed information.

– Throughout the Marvel panels they kept showing teases asking “Who is the new Man Without Fear?” All the candidates that they showed were Nova, Gambit, Falcon, Black Panther, and Kraven the Hunter. We were told that after Shadowland one of those would be the new Man Without Fear.

-Thor will be a playable character in Marvel vs Capcom 3!

-Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness are doing a new series called Avengers: Three starring Captain America, Thor and Iron Man.

-Marvel will be doing the prequel to the Enders series  in 2011 called Formic Wars: Burning Earth.

-October of this year will see Tron: The Betrayal which will be a 2 issue series giving the back story on the upcoming Tron: Legacy movie

-At the Cup o’ Joe panel they  showed a slide of the Crossgen logo, which then morphed into another logo. Joe Quesada then said he couldn’t comment on it any further.

-While its not a crossover Wolverine’s journey to hell in the upcoming Jason Aaron book will be reflected in Daken and X-23’s books in unexpected ways.

-Wolverine the Best There Is by Charlie Huston and Juan Jose Ryp.

-Rick Remender said that in Uncanny X-Force the team will have co-captains of Wolverine and Archangel as a way of having checks and balances with each other.

-Starting in Jan’11 the X-Men will be teaming up with other major heroes to take on major villains in Sworn to Protect. The message they’re sending out to the people are “If you need us, we’re out there” Arune Singh told us to pay attention to the past “We are the X-Men” teasers in regards to this.

-Kieron Gillen will be writing a book about Hope and the Five Lights called Generation Hope, behind the slide they showed appeared to be the phoenix.

– My favorite question from any of the panels had to be at the X-Men panel when a fan asked “Have you guys ever seen San Francisco? Its not that sunny.” To which X-Men editor Axel Alonso replied “Motherfucker I am from San Francisco!”

– There were various props from the upcoming Thor and Captain America movies on display at the Marvel booth. Odin’s Throne! Odin, Loki, and Thor’s helmets! Captain America’s shield! And from the Thor movie… The Infinity Gauntlet??? Wha huh??? AWESOME!!!

Well folks there you have it! More Marvel news than you can shake a stick at!

This con so far has been run sooooo much better than in recent years (though I will be submitting a list of 10 things to make the con better in a future article), but then, as I waited in line for hours and hours for the Marvel Panel in Hall H (and Paul and Cowboys and Aliens before that) but couldn’t get in because there was an altercation in Hall H and someone got stabbed in the eye with a pen, Joe Pesci style.

I was 100 people from gaining entrance to Hall H, but they closed entrance and exits, not that I think anyone would leave if they had the chance.

I got a series of live tweets about the altercation and first-hand information from security guards.  And the ambulances came by, etc.  It was during the Resident Evil panel, and I guess that’s just the sort of crowd that would stab a guy in the face over a chair in Hall H.

The big news out of the Marvel Panel, though, is that they assembled the Avengers for the first time with their official director.

Our friend Jimmy Martin was in Hall H all day, so we’ll try to get a first hand report from him.  But we would like to present to you the Avengers:

The Avengers, from left: Robert Downey Jr., Clark Gregg, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, director Joss Whedon and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige.

This confirms our report from Thursday about Mark Ruffalo, and all of the rumours about Jeremy Renner.

I’m incredibly happy with this cast.  I wanted to see Edward Norton as an Avenger, but Mark Ruffalo is perfect, too.  Jeremy Renner is a great choice for Hawkeye.  And I’m very happy with Wheedon directing as well.

There is a whole slew of photos and coverage I have that I’ll be posting over the next week, including photos of Chris Hemsworth, interviews and pictures of the cast of Scott Pilgrim and Paul, and my interview with Kevin Smith, among a ton of other coverage, so be sure to check in throughout the week.

So we all know that now Joss Whedon if OFFICIALLY directing. Its great, we love it, it makes us happy. Now what the fuck is he going to do to them? What is his Avengers world going to be like? Are Cap and Iron Man going to be friendly? How is a Thunder God going to fit with those two? Well I09 got a little interview with him at the From Dusk Til Con party and we get some info that makes me happy and will probably make you a little happy too.  Heres a little excerpt to whet you appetite and head over to I09 for the full thing.

While working the press line at AMC’s From Dusk Till Con, Comic Con party we got the chance to ask Whedon just what he plans to do with The Avengers – specifically with the complicated relationship between Tony Stark and Iron Man.

The JJ and the Joss panel was great. How does it feel to finally be able to talk about The Avengers and have that off your chest?

It is a great relief, to actually just go ahead and say, “I have a problem.” To come out to people and say “I’m directing the Avengers.” And the first step is admitting it, and hopefully I’ll be cured, in two years.

As always go on into the forums and share your thoughts about this development.

Our good friend Jimmy Martin, film critic for SLUG magazine, opted not to go see Scott Pilgrim tonight with me to go to some Comic-Con parties.  He’s been live tweeting his evening (along with Androidika) and he dropped this little gem on us about 10 minutes ago:

Told by Joss Whedon that my bet for Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk shouldn’t be changed! It’s semi-official!

This tells you two things.  One, you should be following @slugfilmcritic on Twitter, but it also means quite a bit for the Marvel universe.  There’s been plenty of talk about Ed Norton’s interest in reprising a role he did really well in, but what could have been the considerations made against him that is putting Mark Ruffalo in the lead?

I’m not going to argue with the casting, I think it’s great.  I watched Mark Ruffalo again recently in Shutter Island and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the guy certainly has the chops to play with the big boys…  But so does Ed Norton, and he also has a continuity with this series, right down to having Tony Stark guest-cameo in his movie.

What do you guys think?

And now for a guest post from our popular podcasting pal, Kiley:

It was hard not to be an “X-Fan” growing up in the late 80’s & early 90’s. With Marvel’s great crossover events, such as The Mutant Massacre and, to a lesser extent, Fall of the Mutants, it seemed there was nowhere to go but up! Chris Claremont then re-booted X-Men in 1991 with, what the fan boys believed to be, super star artist Jim Lee. All around, the fan boys couldn’t be happier. Then, BAM!, it turned ugly. It was as if you became a geek getting one of the biggest wedgies! Year after year Marvel could not put out a comic that wasn’t a X-title. I don’t know about the other people out there, but I became very bored, very quickly and quit reading anything with an “X” in the title. It wasn’t until nearly a decade later that Marvel rekindled my love for the mutant universe with Grant Morrison’s New X-Men storyline.

Now, I have a love hate relationship with Mr. Morrison’s comic book writing style. The man has done great work, i.e. Arkham Asylum, WE3, and Hellblazer, but then it is followed by some truly horrific work, i.e. Batman R.I.P., All Star Superman and Final Crisis (I know many people may disagree with the All Star Superman, but remember, it is just my opinion). New X-Men may have revived my love for Marvel’s mutant books, but the problem with the series was it ended terribly. For example, it was great ending to the series when we found out that the character Xorn was revealed to be Magneto, which then led to Wolverine, not even hesitating, separating Magneto’s head from his body! This was the greatest X-Men story ever, well, until Marvel revealed that Wolverine did not actually kill the real Magneto, and yet again, ruining the X-Universe for me.

In the last few years, I have begun picking up some X-titles (call me a sucker). I got lucky. From the beginning, X-Force and X-Factor have been top-notch titles. Then I went along for the ride when Marvel connected these series with the crossover event, Necrosha, which in my humble opinion, was Marvel’s feeble attempt to cash in on DC’s Blackest Night event. Needless to say, the story seemed very forced and badly written. They even threw in X-Men: Legacy, which had nothing to do with the story lines of  X-Force and X-Factor. Marvel seemed to have the what-the-hell attitude and just shoved into the crossover as chapters, but I digress.
Once again, I was almost done with the X-Universe. Well, that is until I got my hands on a copy of the 1st issue of the mutant crossover event, Second Coming. Now, I am trying to do reviews on recent books and that this series ended last week, but this story just grabbed me by the nuts and pulled me (with a huge grin on my face) all the way to the end of the crossover! This is the way an X-Men crossover is meant to be!

You start with the mutant population in the triple digits trying to survive, while a small group of evil doers decide it’s time to exterminate the mutants once and for all! This crossover also brought back the villains I loved from the good old days, Bastion, Bolivar Trask, William Stryker, Graydon Creed and Cameron Hodge.
Marvel also grew some balls and killed off a couple of major heroes in the X-Men Universe. Plus, they mutilated and seriously maimed others, always a fan boy favorite! I am not giving any more details to avoid spoiling it for anyone who has not read the series, but I strongly urge everyone out there to try to track down the issues that comprise the story line of X-Men: Second Coming.

Now, I know what those of you who disagree with me are starting to think, but I am way ahead of you! I understand that in the world of comics these “killed-off” characters will eventually return from the dead, but until then, I think that Second Coming has been the best X-Men event in decades. Just enjoy it for now knowing we can all bitch about their resurrections when they inevitably come to pass!

Now that I finished with the good, let us get to the “What to AVOID.” You read above that All Star Superman, Batman R.I.P., and Final Crisis were three DC Comic series NOT read. I mean, why DC thought it was a good idea to trust Grant Morrison to these money-making series is beyond me. Seriously, Grant Morrison should be paying me back the money I spent on those books. Those books that were poorly written; had painfully, long-winded, pointless dialogue; and my favorite, indecipherable storylines.

But can we really forget Marvel and their newest “What to AVOID” comic … the new X-Men #1! By purchasing this, yet another painful Marvel re-boot, at $3.99 you get … wait for it … Vampires! Yup, Marvel follows up the great, nut grabbing Second Coming event by sending their band of merry mutants to battle … ugh … vampires. Un-freakin’-original vampires! Need I say more?


Howdy everyone! Its Wednesday and that means new comics! Seriously, how is this not the best day of the week? Before I tell you what’s coming out lemme tell you what you should be excited for! This feature is brought to you by Dr Volts Comics where all of the titles on this list are available. They are located at 2043 E 3300 S in Salt Lake City, UT.

The Man With The Getaway Face

Last year IDW put out this little graphic novel by the name of The Hunter. This book, an adaptation of Richard Stark’s novel, was written and beautifully drawn by the very talented Darwyn Cooke. In my opinion it was hands down the best Graphic Novel to come out last year. The Outfit, which is the next volume, is coming out later this fall. Until then we get this book which serves as a prelude to The Outfit. For $2.00 you’ll get a 24 page story, printed at 8×12, and it Darwyn Cooke. If you like noir, then this is most definitely the book for you! If it isn’t, then still try it! Its only two bucks!

Superman #701

“Grounded” by J. Michael Straczynski officially starts in this issue. Superman begins his walk across America to get himself back in touch with humanity. I’m really excited for this one as JMS takes a step back from the giant slugfests we’re used to with Superman and takes a step back to examine the character.

Aight enough babbling from me, although you really should check those books out! Here are the rest of the books out this week so look it over, make your pull lists, and go read some funny books!

DARK HORSE COMICS

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WIZARD ENTERTAINMENT

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************

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This is the first picture of Loki (Tom Hiddleston)  from the Thor movie. Here he is with Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Odin (Anthony Hopkins). The more I see of this movie, the more I really can’t wait for it to come out next May!

UPDATE #2: Norton has issues an official statement on the matter on his Facebook page:

UPDATE: Let the battle begin! Brian Swardstrom, who represents Norton, issued the following statement regarding Norton’s departure:

This offensive statement from Kevin Feige at Marvel is a purposefully misleading, inappropriate attempt to paint our client in a negative light. Here are the facts: two months ago, Kevin called me and said he wanted Edward to reprise the role of Bruce Banner in The Avengers. He told me it would be his fantasy to bring Edward on stage with the rest of the cast at ComiCon and make it the event of the convention. When I said that Edward was definitely open to this idea, Kevin was very excited and we agreed that Edward should meet with Joss Whedon to discuss the project. Edward and Joss had a very good meeting (confirmed by Feige to me) at which Edward said he was enthusiastic at the prospect of being a part of the ensemble cast. Marvel subsequently made him a financial offer to be in the film and both sides started negotiating in good faith. This past Wednesday, after several weeks of civil, uncontentious discussions, but before we had come to terms on a deal, a representative from Marvel called to say they had decided to go in another direction with the part. This seemed to us to be a financial decision but, whatever the case, it is completely their prerogative, and we accepted their decision with no hard feelings.

We know a lot of fans have voiced their public disappointment with this result, but this is no excuse for Feige’s mean spirited, accusatory comments. Counter to what Kevin implies here, Edward was looking forward to the opportunity to work with Joss and the other actors in the Avengers cast, many of whom are personal friends of his. Feige’s statement is unprofessional, disingenuous and clearly defamatory. Mr. Norton talent, tireless work ethic and professional integrity deserve more respect, and so do Marvel’s fans.

ORIGINAL: It appears Marvel will be moving in a different direction – again – with the role of Bruce Banner/Hulk. Hitfix.com reported over the weekend that an inside Marvel source has broken the story that Marvel has chosen to recast the role for the Avengers film coming in 2012. Of course, this is normally something for me that would be thrown right to the “Rumor File”, but they also claim to have received confirmation from Marvel’s Kevin Feige himself:

“We have made the decision to not bring Ed Norton back to portray the title role of Bruce Banner in the Avengers. Our decision is definitely not one based on monetary factors, but instead rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members. The Avengers demands players who thrive working as part of an ensemble, as evidenced by Robert, Chris H, Chris E, Sam, Scarlett, and all of our talented casts. We are looking to announce a name actor who fulfills these requirements, and is passionate about the iconic role in the coming weeks.”

Ever since talk of the Avengers movie started there was a lot of speculation as to whether or not The Hulk would be in the film, and whether or not Ed Norton would reprise the role – especially after all the rumors of turmoil on The Incredible Hulk set between Norton and the writers, Norton and the director, Norton and Marvel, Norton and the coffee guy, etc. . .  Of course, all these conflicts were denied by both, the studio and Norton – but who really knows? So, now it looks like after all the speculation, the Hulk will appear in the Avengers film, but it won’t be Norton playing his human counter-part. Why? Well, we have Marvel’s official statement above, but could there be other reasons? Norton is a pretty outspoken guy, so it wouldn’t surprise me if we perhaps get an “official statement” from him in the coming days.

I think it’s too bad they are recasting the role of Bruce Banner, especially since last time he was asked about it Norton seemed to be pretty interested in reprising the role with the ensemble cast that will be making up the Avengers. It’s a pretty major role to be recasting with perhaps an unknown instead of Edward Norton. But, all well?

What are your thoughts on no Ed Norton in the Avengers movie as the Hulk? Does this make you less excited for the film?