Not groundbreaking, or even surprising news for that matter, but a nice little tid-bit none-the-less:

Dylan Baker, the man who has portrayed Dr. Curt Connors in the last two Spider-Man movies, has confirmed that he will in fact be in Spider-Man 4. UGO caught up with him at a screening of his latest movie ‘Trick ‘r Treat’:

Dylan Baker and Michael Dougherty were at a presentation of Trick ‘r Treat last night at New York’s Walter Reade Theater for Lincoln Center’s third annual “Scary Movies” program.

During a post-screening Q & A, Baker confirmed that he is on board for Sam Raimi’s forthcoming Spider-Man 4. According to reports, Baker said that he had just gotten his first call concerning Spider-Man 4 that very day. Baker appeared in Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3 as Dr. Curt Connors, a professor at Empire State University.

When Dougherty ribbed him about “just appearing in the background” Baker said that, basically, that’s what he’d be doing. It was unclear if they were being truthful or if, in fact, Dr. Connors would become supervillain The Lizard in this fourth entry in the film series. During their riffing, Dougherty used the phrase “co*ktease for another year” as to whether or not we’d see The Lizard.

MTV seems to be breaking a LOT of Marvel movie news lately!

The latest is an interview with Iron Man/Iron Man 2 Director, Jon Favreau, in which he states that he will not be directing the Avengers movie like many had previously thought (see: hoped for):

“They’ll have to [find a different director], because I’m not going to be available,” he explained. “It’s something I’m being the executive producer on, so I’ll definitely have input and a say.”

“It’s going to be hard, because I was so involved in creating the world of Iron Man and Iron Man is very much a tech-based hero, and then with ‘Avengers’ you’re going to be introducing some supernatural aspects because of Thor,” he continued. “How you mix the two of those works very well in the comic books, but it’s going to take a lot of thoughtfulness to make that all work and not blow the reality that we’ve created.”

Also, during the conversation, Favreau confirmed that Ed Norton will not be making an appearance in Iron Man 2… however, that doesn’t mean Hulk won’t! I know, I know… I’m just trying to start my own rumors now.

In this bot’s humble opinion, I would really like to see Marvel maybe start moving forward with an Avengers movie pretty soon. I know there is a lot of focus right now on getting the Captain America and Thor movies off the ground, but at some point, everyone is going to have to start working together towards a common goal to bring a difficult project like this together.

You can check out the rest of the interview over at MTV.

As we reported last Friday, MTV talked to Sam Raimi about the upcoming Spider-Man 4, which is hopefully going to begin shooting in March 2010. MTV promised that Raimi had more to say and they would release that in the days to come. True to their word, they have released more of their conversation with the Director, this time with regards to the villain for the fourth film. While he (obviously) didn’t reveal for sure who it would be, he did say this:

“I love the Lizard,” said Raimi. “There’s a great story there in the Marvel comic books about Dr. Connors. I’m less familiar with Carnage.”

And of course, what I think is the usual spill for Raimi when it comes to choosing the Spidey villain:

“What we’re trying to do right now is really understand the journey Peter is going to go on this time and have the villain maybe be a counter to that growth, something that he has to overcome,” Raimi said. “Or maybe he has to grow in a way to overcome the villain, because there always seem to be stories of coming of age, of a young man growing up and learning things about life, so once we are identifying the exact movement that Peter has to grow to, I think the villain-and we’re trying this right now; we’re trying to choose a villain based on who would be the proper counter to that growth, so we really have dramatic conflict.”

Kind of seems like the same song Raimi sang when it came to making the previous two sequels. Carefully choosing a villain that helps Peter progress as a character and grow as a hero (and yet we still ended up with Venom in the third film?). While this is great and all, I would really like to see Peter be the hero finally. It’s been three films now and it still seems like he is learning and not accepting this whole hero thing. I know he’s still got a long way to go, but I would like to see Spidey have more confidence in this next film and be a little more of a wise-cracking kick-ass superhero. It’s time to let Peter start figuring it out.

You can check out the rest of the story over at MTV!

In an exclusive conversaion with Spider-Man franchise director, Sam Raimi, MTV was told that he hopes to start filming the fourth installment in the first week of March, 2010:

“We’re hoping that it’s the first week in March,” said Raimi.

At the moment, pre-production is in full swing, even as screenwriter Gary Ross (“great director and a very fine writer,” said Raimi) continues to work on the script.

“He’s working on a draft,” he continued. “I just gave him some notes and he’s doing a rewrite right now.”

On other fronts, “Spider-Man 4” continues to chug along. “The production is starting to come together,” Raimi told us. “I’ve got a production designer who is starting to design the sets and the environments that the picture will take place in. We just brought aboard Scott Stokdyk as one of the two visual effects supervisors, and I worked with him on all three ‘Spider-man’ pictures.”

So far, the only major people to sign back on for a fourth movie are Kirsten Dunst and Tobey Maguire, so Raimi is still charged with the task of filling the rest of the rolls for the movie.

According to MTV, there was more revealed regarding the direction of Spider-Man 4 including conversations about the direction of the character, which villains might make the cut, and more. While I doubt there will be any major reveals with any of this, we will keep our eyes peeled for any more news coming from MTV’s “exclusive conversation” with the man behind Spider-Man!

Official Press Release from Marvel:

Marvel is proud to uncover the Hulk #16 Deadpool McGuinness Variant by fan-favorite artist Ed MGuinness!  In Hulk #16, Emmy & Eisner Award winning superstar writer Jeph Loeb and red-hot artist Ian Churchill go into Code Red as Red Hulk recruits a team of lethal heroes including Deadpool, Punisher, Elektra and more to capture Domino.  But what secret has Domino discovered regarding the Red Hulk that would lead him to recruit this powerhouse team?  Luckily, Domino isn’t on her own as she’s enlisted her friends in Wolverine and X-Force to even up the score!  And if this titanic throw-down between two teams of Marvel’s heaviest hitters wasn’t enough, Red She-Hulk makes her thunderous debut!  But just whose side is this wildcard on?

Don’t miss the series that ComicBookResources.com calls, “classic Marvel fun.”  Marvel urges retailers to check their orders on Hulk, as it continues to garner buzz with the current “Code Red” storyline featuring a plethora of guest-stars from Deadpool to Wolverine and X-Force! Who is the Red She-Hulk? How will the X-Force fare against the Red Hulk and his A-list squad!? Find out in Hulk #16!

HULK #16 (AUG090471)

HULK #16 MCGUINNESS VARIANT (AUG090472)

HULK #16 DEADPOOL MCGUINNESS VARIANT (AUG098052)

Written by JEPH LOEB

Pencils & Cover by IAN CHURCHILL

Variant Cover by ED MCGUINNESS

Deadpool Variant Cover by ED MCGUINNESS

Rated T+ …$3.99

FOC—10/8/09, On-Sale—10/28/09

Last week saw the release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine on DVD and Blu-ray. Available in three different editions (single-disc DVD, two-disc DVD, and Blu-ray), the back-story of fan favorite X-Man, Wolverine, is now yours to watch and enjoy in the comfort of your own home.

When Wolverine was released in theaters, we here at BSR! did a roundtable on the film (and a lone-review toting it as the greatest superhero movie ever), which you can check out everyone’s thoughts here. Here’s what I had to say about the film:

As fas as the movie itself goes, I tend to be a lot more forgiving with these types of comic book movies than most of my fellow nerds, and with this film it was no different. Was it great? Definitely not. It was however, a good mindless-action-popcorn movie; unfortunately this is not what it should have been. One of my main complaints was that they blew through the first 150 years of “Jimmy’s” life in the opening credits, I felt like there could have been more said about this. The part they did focus on was mildly interesting to me, but still left a lot unexplored and didn’t really paint Wolverine as the supposed “animal” that he can be; and this remains true throughout the entire running time of the movie. They leave the points they should have explored unexplored and focus on the most mindless parts with little substance.

The cast, aside from will.i.am, was good but horribly under-used. You hate to see good actors put into poorly written action movies. I was horrified at some of the lack-luster special effects throughout the entire movie so much so that I cringed at a few parts (Logan playing with his new claws in the bathroom mirror). And let me just say that I watched X2 a few days after I saw this movie and if you thought you could poke holes all throughout the plot of X-Men Origins, go watch X2 again… you’ll double the amount of plot complaints you already had.

All in all, if I am being perfectly honest, I don’t know what else to say about this movie. As a comic nerd, I was appalled at many parts of this movie, and as someone looking to be entertained for a few hours, I thought some of it was pretty cool. I don’t think anyone should not go check this movie out, as there are enough “Oh, it’s cool to see Wolverine do that on screen” parts to at least keep you mildly entertained and let you form your own opinion.

As far as the special features go, they are pretty standard: a few featurettes and commentaries that aren’t too exciting or interesting. The special features are so standard that I would almost recommend saving yourself the couple bucks and pick up the single-disc version as opposed to the two-disc  special edition -but there is a pretty lively interview with Stan Lee. You can check out the full list of special features below.

I give X-Men Origins: Wolverine on DVD and Blu-ray a very mild recommendation. I wouldn’t rush out and buy the two-disc special edition right away, but for those who may have missed it in theaters I’d say it’s at least worth a rental. You can purchase any of the three editions over at Amazon.

Blu-ray Disc Specs:
The X-Men Origins: Wolverine BD is presented in widescreen on a 50GB dual-layer disc authored in BD-J with AVC (MPEG 4) compression with English 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio and French / Spanish 5.1 DTS along with English / French / Spanish subtitles. Special features include:

• Disc One
o Commentary by Director Gavin Hood
o Commentary by Producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter
o The Roots of Wolverine: A Conversation with X-Men creators Stan Lee and Len Wein
o Wolverine Unleashed: The Complete Origins
o “Wolverine Weapon X Mutant Files Featurette: 10 Character Chronicles
o “The Thrill of the Chase: The Helicopter Chase Sequence” featurette
o “X Connect and On Set With Gavin Hood” featurette
o X-Facts: Trivia Track
o Deleted Scenes with Commentary by Director Gavin Hood
o Alternate Memory Erase Sequence
o Alternate Tag Scene: Japan
o Fox Movie Channel Presents: World Premiere
o IMDB BD-Live technology
• Disc Two
o Digital Copy

Two-Disc Special Edition Specs:
The X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2-Disc Special Edition DVD is presented in widescreen with English 5.1 Dolby Surround and French / Spanish Dolby Surround along with English / French / Spanish subtitles. Special features include:

• Disc One
o Commentary by Director Gavin Hood
o Commentary by Producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter
o The Roots of Wolverine: A Conversation with X-Men creators Stan Lee and Len Wein
o “Wolverine Unleashed: The Complete Origins” featurette
o Deleted and Alternate Scenes
o Alternate Tag Scene: Japan
o Anti-Smoking PSA: Bubbles
• Disc Two
o Digital Copy

Single-Disc Specs:
The X-Men Origins: Wolverine Single-Disc DVD is presented in widescreen with English 5.1 Dolby Surround and French / Spanish Dolby Surround along with English / French / Spanish subtitles. Special features include:
o “Wolverine Unleashed: The Complete Origins” featurette
o Anti-Smoking PSA: Bubbles

Tim Peacock, who portrayed young Cyclops in X-Men Origins: Wolverine said this on his Twitter:

“Currently shooting Australian TV series till February 2010…then X-men first class”

This isn’t that unreliable considering that there have been lots of talk and hints about FOX making an X-Men: First Class movie, even Wolverine Producer Lauren Shuler Donner has hinted at this possibility and a 2010 shooting start.

It will be interesting to see if perhaps we start getting confirmations and/or some more details…

Official Release from Marvel:

On Monday, September 14, The Super Hero Squad Show makes its Marvel-ous debut on the Cartoon Network with an action-packed sneak peak you can’t miss! Experience the adventures of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Silver Surfer, Wolverine, Storm and all your favorite Marvel Heroes like never before! The greatest heroes in the universe unite against the deadliest villains in an exciting, family friendly Super Hero team up unlike any in history! The Super Hero Squad unites to protect Super Hero City for VillainVille, as they must stop Dr. Doom and his allies from gathering pieces of the powerful Infinity Sword, or the bad guys will rule the universe! Luckily, the City is filled with Marvel Super Hero guest-stars to help out in a pinch. These brave heroes totally deliver the action – but with plenty of humor on the side as they “Hero Up!” to save the day.

The Super Hero Squad Show features superstar talent playing the roles of the series’ memorable characters, including:

Tom Kenny (Spongebob)

Charlie Adler (Transformers 1 & 2)

Steve Blum (Wolverine and the X-Men, Hulk Vs.)

Grey DeLisle (Fairly Oddparents and The Replacements).

And when it comes to guest-stars, The Super Hero Squad Show features the greatest characters—and talent—including:

Wayne Knight (Seinfeld)

LeVar Burton (Reading Rainbow, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Michelle Trachtenberg (Gossip Girl, 17 Again, Buffy)

Greg Grunberg (Heroes)

Lena Headey (Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, 300)

Adrian Pasdar (Heroes)

Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galatica)

Jennifer Morrison (House)

Tamera Mowry (Twitches and Sister, Sister)

Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street films)

Stan Lee as the Mayor of Super Hero City.

Cartoon Network is airing a number of sneak premieres in order to satisfy your cravings for the most powerful team up of Marvel Heroes the world has ever seen, with the following schedule:

9/14/09 Sneak Premiere (Episodes 1 & 2) – 7PM

9/16/09 Sneak Premiere (Episodes 1 & 2) – 7AM

9/18/09 Sneak Premiere (Episodes 1 & 2) – 3PM

9/19/09 Premiere (Episodes 1 & 2) – 8:30AM

9/26/09 – (Episode 3) – 8:30AM

10/3/09 – (Episode 4) – 8:30AM

10/10/09 – (Episode 5) – 8:30AM

10/17/09 – (Episode 6) – 8:30AM

I’m gonna start the review by saying this, and only this. Will I ever get Punisher in a Marvel game besides his own? And now that I’ve bitched, we can begin.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is a great game written for fans of the Marvel franchises. Following the Civil War story line, the super heroes are divided into teams lead by Captain America or Iron Man. Fans of the first will be instantly pulled into the quick combat, and hopefully will notice the solid physics improvements, mainly in Stronger Heroes throw bigger items better than heroes with smaller physiques. After fighting your way through an attack on Washington and through some cheesy voice overs. I fought an epic, and mildy frustrating fight with deadpool, and with some political talk recruited him to join Caps side. The graphics are strong in this rendition of Ultimate Alliance as they were in the previous, and they definitely spent a lot of time putting detail work into models, textures, and giving each of the characters a unique reason to be irritated with the story. And knowing that the Activision and Marvel writers prepared an entirely new experience for us story-wise that I dont wish to spoil, I’ll say this game was pleasantly surprising. The myriad of heroes they crammed into this game is excellent, the multiplayer aspect is fantastic, and hell its Marvel. This game is a great buy for any super-hero fan.

• Graphics – 8
• Sound – 7
• Story – 10
• Controls/Combat – 8
• Overall – 8

ComingSoon.net is currently attending Disney’s D23 Expo in California and got the chance to ask Disney President and CEO, Bob Iger, about the recent acquisition of Marvel by Disney. Here’s what he had to say:

Iger stressed the notion that fans can expect Marvel to continue to operate as it has.

“We’re not planning on any ‘Disneyfication’ of Marvel,” said Iger, “…Our intention is to keep Marvel as an entity.”

Iger went on to explain that he has met with a great many Marvel talents and that, like the acquisition of Pixar, Disney’s primary goal is to stay on the sidelines and let the artists do what they do best.

He did admit that he was excited about the chance for some cross-pollination in the future, though nothing is planned as of yet.

Iger reiterated that part of what is so intriguing about Marvel is that the deal is designed to play out in the long run, having characters that “transcend gender and age.” In the short term, Disney just has to wait until some of the Marvel deals already in place with other studios and theme parks “work their course” and, until then, “there isn’t much planning to be done.”