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?

Digital Spy got the chance to speak to Alfred himself at last night’s London premier of Christopher Nolan’s Inception. Sir Michael Caine sounded confident in saying that the third Batman film under Nolan’s direction will start filming in April 2011 – aiming for a July 20, 2012 release!

So. . . yeah, that’s it for that bit of news.

Arse-bot here again with even more X-Men: First Class casting news/rumors!

As of yesterday, it looks like there are some pretty strong sources saying Aaron Johnson will be playing Cyclops, Caleb Landry Jones will be fillilng Banshee’s shoes, and Nicholas Hoult will be playing Beast.

Now, another name you can add to that list? Lucas Till (pictured above) may be playing Cyclops’ brother, Havok. Entertainment Weekly is reporting that the Hannah Montana: The Movie co-star could possibly be filling the role of Scott Summers’ sibling. BUT! They are quick to point out the following:

. . .keep in mind that these parts may not be the actual characters in the movie. Instead, this could be part of a misdirection campaign to keep some surprises from X-Men fans.

On top of all this crazy casting news from the past few days, EW throws one more wrench into the gears with this little tidbit:

. . . Aaron Johnson is not appearing in X-Men: First Class. The British star of Kick-Ass may have been photographed leaving a building with Vaughn and McAvoy, but he will not be playing any type of superhero, or any other part for that matter, in the new film.

Which blatently contradicts AICN’s “source” claiming that the role has all but been announced by FOX!

SO WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!

I think the easy and shortest answer is “no one outside of the studio knows”. The fact is, until something is officially announced by FOX, these should all be filed under the “rumor” to “strong-probability-but-still-a-rumor” categories. That being said, sometimes the fun of these upcoming movies – especially ones like X-Men with an ensemble cast – is seeing all the speculations and rumors of who might play who, and then seeing the final decision. So, sit back, enjoy the ride, and we will keep bringing you all the rumors and speculations, and eventually the final confirmations from the studios!

Earlier today, it was unofficially announced (and we are still waiting on confirmation) that Aaron Johnson will be donning the Cyclops shades for Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class – and now we may have two more pairs of shoes filled.

Variety is reporting that Caleb Landry Jones (above) will be playing Banshee in the film, and Nicholas Hoult (below) will be playing a presumably pre-fur Hank “Beast” McCoy. Much like the announcement earlier today, FOX has yet to confirm any of this – but Variety seems to feel confident enough to be reporting this as “news”.

Sound off in the comments! How do you like the “new” Cyclops, Beast, and Banshee?

If you remember, a while back some photos were taken of Kick-Ass star, Aaron Johnson, having lunch with Kick-Ass and X-Men: Frist Class director, Matthew Vaughn and his new Professor Xavier, James McAvoy. Of course, speculation began to fly that this was more than just a “lunch with friends” and that it was more likely they were discussing a possible role for Johnson in Vaughn’s X-Men outting; of course, the top name flying around the interwebs was Cyclops.

Well, today, AICN is reporting they are confident that Aaron Johnson with play Cyclops in the upcoming X-Movie. Apparently, they got a tip off from a reader who is somehow involved with the movie who told them this:

I work in the [REDACTED] and we heard today that Matthew Vaughn found his young Cyclops and it shouldn’t be any surprise because he worked with him before. It’s Aaron Johnson. This is one hundred percent locked at this point. Thought you guys should know.

According to Quint over at AICN, he has reached out to his contact at the studio who has confirmed the same.

So, barring any official word from FOX denying this claim, it looks like we have our new Cyclops!

I for one think Johnson is a pretty talented actor and enjoyed him in Kick-Ass. It will be quite the change to see him go from fumbling wannabe superhero to the hard-headed, confident leader of the X-Men – but I have no doubt in his ability to pull this off. I still have a lot of reservations about another X-Men movie under the FOX tent, but I am trying my best to remain cautiously optimistic.

So, Aaron Johnson = Cyclops! What do you think!?

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I’m really not sure why I like the Predator franchise. Out of the previous 4 movies featuring the rapacious reptilian aliens, only one was really any good. And even then, the first Predator film has become more famous for catchphrases like “Get to tha choppa!” or being the only major Hollywood film to feature two future Governors of US states (see, I bet you forgot that Jesse “The Body” Ventura was in Predator or that he was Governor of Minnesota, but I digress). Predators have scared the bejeezus out of me since I was a little kid. I remember fondly the ads for Predator 2 that ran in my Chris Clairmont X-men comics and how I would quickly turn the page to not have to look at the Predator’s frightening visage. And how I would then, after screwing my courage to my 9 year old sticking place, pore over the ad and its explanation of the Predator’s impressive arsenal. And eventually i saw Predator 2 and wasn’t so much scared as… umm… bored. And despite how gawd-awful the Alien vs Predator movies were (whoever wins, we lose– indeed! 8 bucks and two hours of our lives we lose….) I went into this with somewhat low expectations.

Piquing my interest was this film’s pedigree. Specifically, the casting choices seemed interesting, and I really love the films of Robert Rodriguez (sans terrible childrens’ films that he lets his kids co-write with him), who served as producer on the film. Rodriguez’s fingerprints are apparent on the film. Apart from the obligatory Danny Trejo appearance, he also made sure some of this was filmed in and around Austin, TX.  Specifically, a nice scene filmed at what is unmistakeably McKinney Falls State Park. So, despite mine and Rodriguez’s love of Austin, was this film passable?

Absolutely. The spoiler free plot?  If you’ve seen the trailer, you can basically guess: a group of badasses, including Russian Spetznaz, US Special Forces, a mercenary, Yakuza, one of the FBI’s most wanted, a cartel enforcer, a leader of an African genocidal death squad…. and Topher Grace? are all put on a Predator game preserve and hunted.  It’s kind of like Ten Little Indians if the hunted fought back with samurai swords and big effing guns.

When the movie was action it was awesome. Great fun, lots of tension, great payoff.  When it got all talky and one of the characters conveniently knows something that helps explain the plot, it got boring. It also felt contrived and well, kind of dumb. Who cares what the hunting patterns of the Predators are, or that one of the characters was privvy to the details of what happened to Dutch in the Guatemalan jungle in 1987? It almost feels like the actors break the fourth wall and talk directly through the screen to the audience to say, “In case you haven’t been paying attention, here’s what’s going on….”  It really took you out of it because despite all the tension that had been built and the sense of impending doom, you knew that as long as exposition was happening that they wouldn’t be attacked by Predators.  Ho-hum.

But this cast does an amazing job with what they’re given.  Most of these characters are fairly two dimensional, and in the hands of lesser actors might have been forgettable. But you find yourself actually caring when one of them is killed savagely, or at least satisfied when someone’s spine and skull are ripped out in one motion.  Good times.

This film also goes off the rails when it tries to have some deeper meaning or teach us a lesson. You can tell the filmmakers figured that things were dragging when it wasn’t about people being hunted. Some either sloppy editing or sloppy scripting leads us to believe there was mucho left on the cutting room floor- for example, a subplot involving other aliens being hunted on the Predator game preserve planet. (And NO– not Aliens aliens.)

Regardless, while this is not a perfect film, it’s fun when it’s firing on all cylinders. And that is the majority of the time. If you want to see some awesome hardcore violence, lots of squirting green flourescant blood, hot Predator on Predator fighting action, and lots of exploding people and things, this is your flick.

2 1/2 stars

I am usually working when The Forcecast is live and I haven’t dipped my toe into many podcasts, so it was interesting to catch a really big news piece on the one time I listened to the show in the last few months.

Last week, host Jason Swank (no relation) interviewed Matt Wood who is one of the bigshots in audio over at Lucasfilm.  He was also General Grievous in Episode III and he Clone Wars cartoons.  During the interview he dropped this tidbit about Obi-Wan’s Krayt Dragon call in A New Hope:

And, to be honest, that sound effect has been changed again. So at some point the audiences will be hearing that scene again with the new sound effect.

He also talked about how whenever they get a chance to remaster the audio for A New Hope they try to do so because it wasn’t recorded with longevity in mind.  Over the years they’ve worked to clean the audio and replace stock sounds.

Some have been wondering what they could be once again remastering and tinkering with the audio for and I think it’s pretty obviously the Ultimate Blu-ray collection.

I think we’ll see other changes to the films for the Ultimate edition as well.  There have been rumblings of a digital Yoda replacing the puppet in The Phantom Menace and I’ve even heard a crazy rumour (that I doubt is true) about a revamp of Anakin and Obi-Wan’s fight in A New Hope.

The biggest change I’d like to see that I think would create the most goodwill of fans is to see the scene in the Cantina fixed once and for all.  Han fires first.

(For more frequent Star Wars updates, you can visit me on The Examiner)

Aside from that, what would you like to see changed in the new edition?

I think this poster for the last Harry Potter film is a pretty striking image.  It reminds me quite a bit of what I wanted the scouring of the Shire to look like in the Lord of the Rings, but alas, we were never able to see that put on film.

Let us know what you think:

We’ve just learned from an official announcement from Sony that they have cast who will play Spider-Man/Peter Parker in the new Spider-Man movie directed by Marc Webb. The movie opens July 3rd 2012 and will be released in both 2D and 3D. Here is a picture of him followed by the official Press Release.

After a comprehensive worldwide casting search, Andrew Garfield has been chosen to portray Peter Parker when Spider-Man swings back onto the screen in 3D on July 3, 2012.  The new film will begin production in early December directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt.  Laura Ziskin and Avi Arad will produce the film from Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios.

Sorry about the headlines. But I’m guessing I made it like that for the same reason Perez Hilton is reporting that Johnny Depp is playing the Doctor in a 2012-Marvel Studios produced version Dr. Who.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m only now jumping on the Dr. Who bandwagon. I’m three-fourths of the way through Christopher Eccleston’s tenure on the series and I’m pretty sure this is a BBC production and I’m pretty sure they have pretty exclusive rights to the character. (Though Marvel did some Tom Baker comics in the 80s, right?)

IMDb doesn’t have anything for a Doctor Who movie in 2012 and why would Marvel studios be involved? It doesn’t make any sense.

Perez says:

One website has quoted the former showrunner of the successful BBC series saying that Johnny is secured for the role and that the Doctor Who film will be released in 2012. (The article was later removed from the site, probably because the guy wasn’t supposed to say anything.)

Like I said. This doesn’t make any sense, but I’ve seen it reported all over the place.

My guess is this is totally made up.

UPDATE: Jason in the comments has a pretty compelling theory.  What if he just got mixed up and Perez Hilton meant Dr. Strange?  That could be reasonable and he certainly fits that part much, much better.

My only reservation about that theory is that Dr. Strange was on the short list of the low budget Marvel movies and I don’t know if you guys noticed, Johnny Depp commands a salary higher than some of those total budgets.

I don’t know.  It’s all just words on a website.