We finally get a new Green Lantern trailer after months of waiting. This past weekend at Wondercon, Warner Bros debuted 4 minutes of footage. And it… is… AWESOME! To all the naysayers that were blasting the movie solely based off the previous trailer I laugh at you! The special effects look gorgeous, and after seeing this footage I’m starting to come around on Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan. We also get to hear Geoffrey Rush as Tomar-Re, which we told you about earlier this week. This trailer also has Oa, Sinestro, lots of Lanterns, fighting with Hector Hammond, and what I’m hoping is the Parallax entity! Let us know what you think after watching. This footage has made this bots gears all lubed and greasy!

Green Lantern opens on June 17th and stars Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Mark Strong, Peter Sarsgaard, Temuera Morrison, and Geoffrey Rush.

Wow! So last week we mixed our usual two-fisted action with political intrigue! The mayoral race was being fixed, but Britt Reid uses his position as editor of the Daily Sentinel to demand a recount! It all culminated in a rendezvous with an armored car, dynamite and a dangerous mountain curve! While, it’s pretty much a given that the Hornet is going to escape relatively unscathed, you gotta wonder how. The armored car got blowed up real good! I can’t wait to see what happens next, can you!? Sit back and enjoy chapter 11 of The Green Hornet: Disaster Rides the Rails!

The season finale of The Clone Wars ended with a seemingly standard invasion of a Separatist base plot. Masters Plo Koon and Anakin Skywalker (with the help of “Commander” Ahsoka Tano) are leading the charge on Felucia when they decide to split up in three squads and assault the base from different directions. While covering the flank of her Clone Troopers, Ahsoka is abducted by Trandoshan Sport Hunters who transport her to a jungle world where they hunt for sport.

Attaching herself to a group of lost Padawan’s who befell similar fates and finding a familiar Wookiee who can help them, Ahsoka leads a battle of survival to get them all back home.

Without a doubt, this was a very compelling episode and proves that the team behind The Clone Wars is still reaching out to the depths of their creativity and storytelling ability and something tells me we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg.

Virtually everything about these pair of episodes were turned up to eleven. The story was well-constructed, the voice acting was better than ever, the musical cues were awe-inspiring, and the look of the show was second to none.

The photography, camera work, and lighting was incredible in a number of different places: First, the faintly lit vegetation of Felucia looked much, much better since the last time we’ve seen it on the show. Then there was the Trandoshan ship that was lit very much like the ship from Predator, which this episode takes so much inspiration from, and it looked incredible. The next moment that struck me was the lighting behind the Padawans during their discussion with the sun to their backs, particularly the look of the Cerean padawan in that scene. Chewbacca’s reveal was also wonderfully rendered, reminiscent of his reveal in Return of the Jedi in Jabba’s dungeon. And perhaps the best camera work on the show was Ahsoka’s fight with the head Trandoshan in his trophy room… When the dagger hit the floor? Wow.

The animation is leaps and bounds better than it’s ever been. The Trandoshans and the Wookiees all looked wonderful, from their facial movements to the way they walked and moved, it was all pitch-perfect. There were moments where I saw real emotion in Anakin’s face and the life behind Ahsoka’s eyes was uncanny. And Chewbacca moved like Chewbacca. It was him, through and through. The animation and filmmaking on these episodes were stunning.

The character work in this pair of episodes was… (I’m having trouble coming up with more synonyms for awesome…) We got to see sparks of Anakin’s fear of loss and how much he’d beat himself up if ever he did lose Ahsoka. And Ahsoka is coming so much into her own, more than ever before. The best and worst parts of Anakin are rubbing off on her and she’s become one of the most interesting and compelling characters in the Star Wars saga. The moment she first force pulled the blaster out of the Trandoshan’s hand, lifted him up by his throat and cracked him into a rock was breathtaking.

And does it need to be said that seeing Chewbacca cut loose and tossing enemies off the sides of ships and choking guys to their knees was a thing of beauty. It’s really the first time we’ve ever seen it happening and it was quite a thing to see.

There were a couple of things about the episode though that I thought could have been improved. First off, there were a couple of scenes were Chewbacca’s dialogue sounded like he was talking in a totally different environment than Ahsoka, whose voice was echoing in a moderately sized metal room. It was a little odd.

The other thing was I wanted to see even just a moment of interaction between Yoda and Chewie and Tarfull. It’s my ardent hope that in Season 4 we might see more of their relationship grow into the trusting one they had in Revenge of the Sith.

Speaking of Season 4… The preview of Season 4 they played at the end (which you can watch here) was thrilling. I’m already wishing I can skip summer and move straight into fall. It’s got Admiral Ackbar (maybe?), General Grievous fighting Gungans, underwater battles, fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles…

Until then, we’ll still be here, reporting on all of the goings on in the Star Wars universe.

We all know what day it is today, and Image Comics sent us the following image with no information attached to it. It could be a prank, it could be an actual thing. Knowing Robert Kirkman, it’s probably for real. Take a look at the image, and you can read my take on what it could be.

Coming in 2012, Invincible finds out he has a sweet soul brother he never knew about! In an untold tale of Omni-Man’s past, we find out that in the late 70’s he had a one-night affair with a woman in Harlem named Marla Mason. From this night of passion, a child was born. Marla named the boy Tyrone, but growing up, everyone called him ‘Stone’, due to his cool demeanor and tough exterior. No one knew why Stone was so resilient, until one day, Marla was gunned down in case of mistaken identity. On her deathbed, she tells Tyrone of his heritage.

Now, knowing his lineage and having new purpose in life, Tyrone ‘Stone’ Mason meets his estranged father and half-brother, better known as Nolan and Invincible respectively. After being filled in on the current situation, ‘Stone’ takes on the duties of Invincible on Earth while Nolan and Mark Grayson take off for space. Watch out! This ain’t your mother’s Invincible, sucka!

Yeah, that’s totally made up, but we’ll keep you posted if anything does come of the teaser image. Happy April 1st!

Earlier this week, the Disney Park Blog gave a tease about potential destinations that Star Tours 2.0 would be travelling. They offered three teases and only one of them turned out to be false. (It was Endor we will not be travelling to, which is…sad… Because that’s where I’ve always wanted Star Tours to take me.)

But today (which I’m pretty sure is real, despite the date) they released a list of most of the destinations they’ll be visiting. There’s also a new spaceport they’ve created just for this attraction that they haven’t named publicly.

From their post:

Additional destinations include a visit to the beautiful planet of Naboo, a rare tour of the Wookiee planet of Kashyyyk, and a trip to the icy planet Hoth (seen above in a still image from Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back).

Of course, no Star Tours adventure would be complete without an unexpected visit to the Death Star, this time above the planet Geonosis.

This is a pretty solid list of planets and a host of variety is possible and I love the idea that Geonosis is where we’ll encounter the Death Star, since it was Geonosian engineers that designed it. I love the possibilities that entails.

But I still want to go to Endor.

It was only a couple months ago when Nathan Fillion said he would reprise the role of Mal in the cult favorite Firefly if he could buy the rights to the show. The internet went crazy with this news and finally the day has come, the 20 million that was needed to buy the rights to Firefly was raised and Fillion purchased the series from FOX.

Joss Whedon posted this message on his twitter page (@Josswhedon) “Fillion is the man, give me a couple months and season 2 will get started.”

Two of the actors of the show also sent in tweets, @Adambaldwin wrote: “I will make time for both Chuck and Firefly” and @Summerglau said, “The Cape is getting canceled so I am there.”

This is pretty much the biggest news in the Wheadonverse, season 2 will be in pre-production within the next couple of months and before we know we’ll have more episodes of Firefly. Fillion made sure to state his appreciation to the fans and said on his website: “There’s no way it’ll be canceled twice!”

In a stunning press release this morning, 20th Century Fox announced that the tiny Texas town of Andrews, home to a new nuclear waste dump owned by Waste Control Specialists, will hold a gala event to premiere one of this summer’s blockbusters, X-men: First Class.  For those not familiar with the WCS facility, please read previous posts on the TexasVox blog here, here, here, and here. From Fox’s press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

APRIL 1, 2011

HOLLYWOOD, CA — X-men are “gone to Texas” for their premiere, which will take place on the grounds of the country’s newest and potentially largest nuclear waste dump.

Fox executive Tom Rothman said, “The X-men have been referred to as ‘The Children of the Atom’- so we decided to showcase that in our premiere”

Harold Simmons

While the site, owned by Waste Control Specialists and Dallas supervillain billionaire Harold Simmons, only contains so-called “low level” radioactive waste, the waste site will house all of the radioactive waste created by a nuclear reactor except for spent fuel rods, meaning there is plenty of radiation emitted by some waste products to have its desired effect:

“We’d really like to cut costs for future sequels by creating actual super-powered mutants,” said Rothman. “Who better to start irradiating than our actual cast?”

Rothman also noted that the proximity of the waste site to the Ogalalla Aquifer, which provides water to 11 states, is also ideal. “There’s how many million people who might drink this water? Surely some of them will have to get superpowers!” Several Texas environmental regulators quit their jobs in protest of the waste dump possibly leaking into the water.

Executive Producer Bryan Singer and Director Matthew Vaughn also added this statement, “We love the idea. This is the type of groundbreaking marketing we ought to do more of, and will allow us to use more practical effects in future… no, stop! They have guns to our heads and have kidnapped our families. We’re being forced to say this.This is a &#$%ing TERRIBLE IDEA. Don’t believe anything…” They were unavailable for further comment.

In an unprecedented display of corporate synergy, this will further tighten the bonds between billionaires, campaign finance spending, and Fox.  Simmons, who is known for his political contributions to Republican candidates, will donate the use of his site rather than making more ad buys attacking Barack Obama on Fox News, a sister company of  20th Century Fox. “It’s all Rupert [Murdoch]’s  money anyway, so who cares? We billionaires have to stick together. We thought we’d help out our team indirectly this time instead of giving more campaign bribes, err donations to politicians, as those usually have to be disclosed, ” a spokesperson for Simmons stated.

###

As much as I like the idea of giving some of the people behind this movie and the missteps taken with the X-men franchise cancer, this is just beyond the pale. We hope you got the humor intended here, but also like to point out that some of the issues here are no joke.

Thanks to the folks at TexasVox who covered this and pointed it out to us.

In the same interview in which the LA Times spoke to Warner Bros. executive Jeff Robinov about the future of a Justice League movie, there was also a bit of talk about the future of the Batman franchise beyond Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, due out next year.

Robinov knows that the most bankable part of his superhero empire has been Nolan and his Gotham City films – the studio has yet to deliver a 21st century superhero blockbuster hit without Nolan in the director’s seat. Batman will continue to be a centerpiece property beyond next year’s “The Dark Knight Rises” and Nolan’s departure from the franchise. “We have the third Batman, but then we’ll have to reinvent Batman…Chris Nolan and [producing partner and wife] Emma Thomas will be producing it, so it will be a conversation with them about what the next phase is.”

I can only assume that “reinventing” means something close to “rebooting”, which I doubt comes as a surprise to anyone out there. Nolan has always stated he’s telling a story that will span 3 films, and then be done with the Batman universe – at least as far as directing goes. It is interesting that he and his wife will continue to be involed in producer roles however.

I would rather have Nolan tell his story, and then pass the torch. We all saw what happens when multiple directors and a studio try to take a continuous Batman franshise beyond what it should have gone. While it’s nice that Nolan will stick around as a producer, it will be exciting to see another director take the reigns and put his own vision into a new Batman story arc. My only hope is that it’s not a “full reboot” in that we have to sit through Batman’s origin story . . . again.

Marvel and Paramount have released a clip from the upcoming Thor movie. This short clip shows Thor right after he gets banished from Asgard and ends up on Earth.

Directed by Kenneth Branagh, Thor opens in theaters on May 6th and stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgard and Kat Dennings. Thor also stars Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Colm Feore, Joshua Dallas, Tadanobu Asano, Ray Stevenson, and Jaimie Alexander. It will also be available in 3D.

In an interview with the LA Times published on Tuesday, WB Exectutive Jeff Robinov spoke a bit about the future of DC superhero properties in film, including future Wonder Woman and Flash films, the future of the Batman franchise, and a Justice League movie.

In the interview, Robinov notes that a Justice League movie is one of the top priorities at Warner Bros. and a new script is currently in development. If you remember, in early 2008 a Justice League movie was close to starting production, casting had even been done, but was then killed by the writer’s strike as well as some Australian tax issues. Robinov also mentioned they are looking at a 2013 release date and that the film may serve as a spin-off to other superhero films for Wonder Woman and the Flash.

Robinov said a new Justice League script is in the works. Also being written for Warner are scripts featuring the Flash and Wonder Woman, who could be spun off into their own movies after Justice League. Though Wonder Woman is also in the works as a television pilot for NBC produced by Warner, Robinov dismissed that as a sticking point. “Wonder Woman could be a film as well, the same way that ‘Superman Returns’ came out while ‘Smallville’ was on,” he said, referring to the 2006 film that put Brandon Routh in the cape and the television show starring Tom Welling that is now in its 10th and final season.

The following day, heyuguys.co.uk had the chance to speak with Snyder at the London premier for Sucker Punch, and he noted that this Justice League movie that’s in the works will have nothing to do with Nolan’s Batman, or his Superman.

It doesn’t. Like what Chris Nolan is doing and what I’m doing with Superman, what they’ll do with Justice League will be it’s own thing with it’s own Batman and own Superman. We’ll be over here with our movie and they’ll kinda get to do it twice which is kinda cool.

So it looks like we may still get a Justice League movie afterall and DC and WB are approaching it quite a bit different than how Marvel is approaching their superhero ensemble film, The Avengers. Marvel has obviously set up many of the main characters for their film by having them in their stand-alone films prior to The Avengers. WB looks to be taking the approach of developing a stand-alone Justice League movie and then using that to launch a few new film franchises. In my opinion, Marvel has the right approach – not to say that DC/WB’s is “wrong”. It may be confusing to fans to have more than one iteration of say, Superman, on the big screen at the same time. That being said though, it’s not really different from a comics point of view in reading two unrelated Superman titles like Superman and All-Star Superman and enjoying them both. The only problem is, much of the general population that will see these films aren’t comic book readers and may have a hard time getting that Snyder’s Superman film and this upcoming Justice League film will essentially exist in seperate universes.

This Justice League movie is in the very early stages it sounds like, so a lot could change. While Warner Bros. may decide to cast their own Superman for the Justice League film, they may still decide to fold in whatever continuity Snyder portrays in his Superman film for a little continuity. We will just have to, as always, wait and see!

What do you think of Warner Bros. approach to a Justice League movie by making it it’s own movie outside Nolan’s and Snyder’s Batman and Superman universes? What about the approach opposite to Marvel of launching the ensemble film first, using it as the vehicle to launch Wonder Woman and the Flash stand-alone films?
Sound off in the comments below!