There you have it. Though anything can still go wrong, The Hollywood Reporter has gone on the record saying that Chris Evans will don the winged helmet of Captain America in the film set to be released next year.
If it turns out that this works, I’ll be happy.
Evans is old enough to be able to age up to play the venerated hero we all know and love, but young enough to play down the age so he can be a skinny geek fresh from the draft.
This hasn’t been confirmed by Marvel, and Evans’ agent has declined to comment to Hollywood Reporter.
For my two cents, as soon as I heard his name in the ring I was sold. He was the one thing worth watching in the Fantastic Four movies and his turn in Danny Boyle’s Sunshine was tremendous.
Be sure to check back with Big Shiny Robot! for more reports on further updates as they happen or as we find them.
If you ask me though, I think this would be a good move and I’d buy it completely. He has the look, he’s a good actor and I don’t think he’s incredibly well-known in the mainstream. (Unless I’m wrong.) I think he can stand up as an actor next to Robert Downey, Jr. and Edward Norton and he simply looks the part.
More than anything, though, if this turns out to be true, I’ll just be glad to be done with all of the speculation.
Captain America is set to be directed by Joe Johnston and is supposedly to start shooting sometime this month or next. It’s scheduled for a July 2011 release date and I think I speak for just about all of us when I say that it doesn’t really matter who they put in the role, we’ll all be there to see the film on opening day. And if you don’t plan on being there, you’re only lying to yourself.
Once again Clang! Boom! Steam! returns to the pages of IN Magazine with Big Shiny Robot!s weekly column. This week, he set his sights on Derek Hunter’s Pirate Club.
For the online version of the story click here.
If you’re in the Salt Lake or Park City areas, you can pick up a copy of the magazine in person. Otherwise, check out the fully laid out version below.
Earlier today over at The Hollywood Reporter it was reported that Channing Tatum has been added to the growing list of actors being considered to play Steve Rogers in the Captain America Movie. As of now now he has only been approached and has yet to see a script.
It is also rumored that Keira Knightley has been approached to play Captain America’s love interest, Betsy Ross. However she isn’t the only actress being considered for the role.
UPDATE: Swank here. I just want to say that I’m not exactly keen on either of these choices and I don’t really think anyone is. These are just more names that are being thrown out. And so many are being thrown out there so quickly, I’ve decided not to worry at all until an actual announcement is made. Though I’ve heard from Jerk-Bot, a source on deep background, that the reason they’re having so many actors read for the part is because no one likes the script and the pay and commitment isn’t that worth it.
So, we’ll see what’s up.
UPDATE 2: Jerk Bot informs me that the Hollywood Reporter failed to mention that Twilight’s Kellan Lutz tested for the part as well.
UPDATE 3: HitFix is reporting that Ryan Phillipe is up for the part now, too. I think we should revise this method of reporting news and only report when someone ISN’T up for the part.
In the lead-up to Kick-Ass, we were able to score an interview with the writer, Mark Millar. While we don’t have the full interview ready yet, we thought we’d transcribe this little bit of news from the Ultimate Avengers front that came out during the interview.
Check back later in the week for the story about Kick-Ass.
“For Ultimate Avengers I’m revamping Blade which is a character I’ve loved since I was a little kid. And I’m revamping The Punisher and so on. So it’s all characters that we’ve never really seen in the Ultimates and I’m having a lot of fun doing that. The next story line…the one that’s running just now is all about Captain America and his son, The Red Skull, and the second story arc is called “Crime and Punishment” and it’s where the Punisher is captured, has an implant put in him and is forced to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. And you see Ghost Rider. I’ve done this with Ultimate Ghost Rider, Punisher, and I’ve got the African-American Hulk who was Bruce Banner’s mentor and the first Hulk, the guy who taught him everything he knows and he’s probably the character I’m most excited about.”
Then he said something in his accent that seems unintelligible about Blade and something called Vampire X. We asked him about the artists on the Ultimate Avengers books, too.
“The first arc is Carlos Pachecho’s thing and that story is called The Next Generation. The next one was called Ultimates Black, but I changed it to Crime and Punishment and the guy who’s doing that is Leinil Francis Yu. Above that, I’m not sure. I’ve written four of the six issues, but I haven’t decided upon an artist yet, because the guy who I originally was gonna use I’ve ended up pulling away and using on a creator owned property, you know? So, I’m meeting Marvel next week and I’ll finalize that next week. And we’re thinking about Steve McNiven for the final arc. We’ll see the Hulks versus, and see Punisher versus Captain America, you know the African-American Hulk versus the regular Hulk and so on.”
Check back soon for the full interview to talk about the future of Kick-Ass, the Kick-Ass movie and why Mark Millar would ever pour whiskey into his eyes on purpose.
We did an interview with John Romita, Jr. last week as part of the new blitz for Kick-Ass and he let drop a few juicy tidbits about his involvement with the new Avengers book launching this May. This will be the first time the triumvirate of Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America will be reunited on The Avengers since Brian Michael Bendis’ “Avenger’s Disassembled” Arc from almost 10 years ago.
Romita is a superstar in the Marvel world and one of my favorite artists. When he let slip a few things about the book, I was incredibly excited. It might not be much, but it gets me going, for sure.
“I can’t tell you a whole lot about [the Heroic Age] because I’m not really privy to a lot of it. And second I’m kind of jumping onto Avengers without a lot of advanced notice even on my part. It was a last second thing. It’s kind of like trying to hop onto a causeway with a tricycle. I’m catching up. So I don’t know much about the Heroic age other than what’s in the Avengers book I’m working on, and it’s a very contentious story line. Brian Bendis is brilliant and I know where he’s going with it and it’s amazing. As far as how it’s connected to the other stories I don’t know, but what I’m doing with the Avengers and every character in the world is in it, I’m sure it has a lot to do with what I’m doing right now.“
When asked about keeping up with things in the Marvel U, he dropped this tidbit:
“But because of Brian and the advent of doing this, right after I was supposed to be doing Thor, and I did the Free Comic Book Day issue with Iron Man and Thor, I started reading some side issues and paying attention and I’m really loving it. Now they have a time travel story line involved here and the Hulk is involved here. It’s amazing. It’s incredible and it’s a testament to Brian, a testament to all the writers, but I don’t read enough to give you guys any insight.”
So come back later today or tomorrow for the full interview with John Romita, Jr. as well as another interview with Mark Millar, and a bigger look at Kick-Ass and the future of the Millar’s work in the Ultimate Marvel U.
Once again we’ve been given a space in the Salt Lake weekly paper IN This Week, and once again Swank tells you what comics you should buy.
This list was made for readers of the magazine who might want introductions to various sorts of comics or comic heroes that might not know where they should start.
You can read the full, unabridged version of the article online here.
To buy the comics listed in the article check out Amazon or your local comic book store.
This episode features: Zombietron, Kill-Tacular-Tron, Arse-Bot, Mexicus Prime, Proletaria-tron, and special guest and Founding Contributor, Clang! Boom! Steam!
The the February edition of the Big Shiny Podcast we give you a run-down of the piles and piles of television and movie news including Cap casting, reboots, LOST, and The Walking Dead! Zombietron gives us the skinny on recent video game releases – including one game he is already calling “Game of the Year” – while Arse-bot calls out all the pussy cheaters on Call of Duty. Clang! Boom! Steam! shows up to class this whole cluster-fuck up and give us all a great run down of what’s been going on, currently going on, and going to… go… on… in Marvel comics!
Hooray for Internets and their unrelenting fan bases! Ghostbusters got two kick-ass wins this week. The first involving a much needed patch (plus possible DLC) for Ghostbusters: The Video Game’s online play. The second is IDW addressing why Schoening and Eatock’s comic wasn’t picked up.
Jame Eatock posted this earlier this week:
IDW explained to Schoening and Eatock why they turned down their 10-page pitch, as well as IDW’s plans for the franchise. Apparently these plans also involve the two of them working on a Ghostbusters related project. Which is pretty awesome.
IDW Editor, Tom Waltz explained where they were coming from on the GBFans Forum. I’m very surprised how out of their way IDW has gone to keep the Ghostbusters fan community happy. Included below is what Tom posted:
Hello, everyone.
First of all, let me thank every GB fan on this board for your dedicated support to this great franchise. It’s great to see fans interacting so passionately, no matter what the debate may be, or what side you happen to take. Just shows there is still a lot of Ghostbusters love in this world, and I’m happy for it.
Secondly, please know that we at IDW — starting with myself as the GB editor, and all the way through the editorial ranks and beyond — also love the Ghostbusters. We would never have taken on the license if we didn’t. We are passionate fans, too, first and foremost, and we want to do big, exciting things with the property and its beloved characters.
That said, we’ve been catching a bit of heat lately about Dan and James’ rejected pitch, and not always fairly. The truth is this — the pitch was rejected for many reasons that I won’t go into here, other than to say none of it had to do with quality. Dan and James put together a professional, high-quality pitch, and we did take notice. Matter of fact, I’ve been talking recently with both gents about doing some GB stuff for IDW in the near future — I love their work, as does the movie studio.
No, it won’t be their 10-issue story — right now, the direct market is not a viable avenue for a maxi-series of that sort. Sad but true. The direct market simply is what it is, and as much as we’d like to do a long series like the one James and Dan pitched, or even an ongoing series (and, trust me, I’d LOVE to be editing a GB ongoing), it isn’t feasible at this point in time. GB sales would have to jump dramatically for us to even consider it — and, again, it’s purely a business decision and has nothing to do with James’ or Dan’s creative talent, nor IDW’s perceived lack of love for the property. Comic books, though nobody likes to admit it, are a business, and we publishers are at the will of retailers and comics buyers — and right now, as popular as it is with folks on this forum, Ghostbusters is not getting the kind of direct market pre-orders/orders or interest that would justify anything beyond one-shots and/or four-issue mini-series. The numbers are good, but we need them to be great.
Furthermore, I have to admit to being offended by some who, because our previous offerings haven’t been to their tastes, are saying our past creators and editorial teams didn’t possess true love or understanding of the franchise. One, that is blatantly false — every creator we’ve worked with sought us out because they love GB and genuinely wanted to be a part of the universe. Two, everything we publish is first scrutinized and approved by the movie studio, and nothing goes to the printer until they bless it front to back, top to bottom — and, yes, we do rewrites and redraws all the time. I’d like to think that, after all this, if the studio gives it the thumbs up, then you as fans are, indeed, getting bonafide Ghostbusters stories, duly approved by the very people who brought you Ghostbusters in the first place. Does that mean you have to like what you get? No… you don’t, and we acknowledge and respect that not everyone will be happy with our output. But please never think we’re just doing these things on our own without any passion for the property, or any input from the studio, because that is just not true.
All this being said, I, like all of you, want more Ghostbusters. My goal as the editor of the property at IDW is to build our numbers to the point where we can do an ongoing series — and with your help, I might just be able to do that. How can you help? By letting your retailers know you want more Ghostbusters comics ordered and stocked in their stores, by positively supporting the books that have come before and are yet to be published (and we’ve got some good ones coming), and by making sure the next GB movie is a huge hit, which will carry over into comics sales, I have no doubt.
We are all on the same team, folks. Flame wars and in-fighting do nothing for the cause but weaken it. Instead, let’s get fired up and get the world thinking and talking about the Ghostbusters again in nothing but good ways!
I know I want that to happen… what about you?
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I really do appreciate it.
I’ll see all of you in the funny books.
Tom Waltz
Editor
IDW Publishing
Thanks to Proton Charging for keeping up on GB news.
First and foremost, I’ll say this review will have “spoilers”. If you’ve read the comic, you have some surprises in store for you. But, for the most part it is a very loyal rendition of the comic.
I’m going to assume those of you reading this review, are familiar with Kick-Ass. Average teenage kid decided he’d rather not be so average, dawns a wet suit and tries to fight crime. Doesn’t work out so well, but he inspired a few others to rock their own super hero alter egos. Because of this he gets thrown in the middle of a mafia shit-storm.
Enough recap. You’re all here to see how it holds up to the book, some side by side comparison, right? First, I think it’s worth noting how perfect the casting for this movie was. And yes, Nick Cage is awesome and Big Daddy. Similar to Christian Bale growling when he’s Batman, Cage makes a transformation of his own when he’s Big Daddy. Although its a little more Adam West than growly Bale. McLovin’ was an awesome choice for Red Mist. And the rest being no-names worked out in the movies favor.
Kick-Ass the movie had a lot more back story on the Red Mist and his mafia father, as well as Big Daddy and Hit Girl. John Romita Jr. even helped create an animated comic book origin for Big Daddy and Hit Girl. Which, in my opinion, was a great addition. I feel like this will help the general audience not familiar with the comic to really enjoy the film. As a matter of fact, I think all of the changes will help this movie be enjoyed by a wider audience.
Most of the changes from the comic to the film are in the last act of the movie. The confrontation between Big Daddy, Kick-Ass and the mafia. How Big Daddy bites the big one. As well as the climax with mafia boss Frank D’Amico. Certain additions to the final fight I will leave as a surprise for you. They had me literally laughing out loud at the awesomeness on screen.
Some of the other movie patrons scoffed at the “unrealistic” new ending. Because they felt the comic was completely based in reality. I would call bull shit on this criticism. As much as I love the comic, no eleven-year-old girl could be turned into a mercenary like Hit Girl (Who gets an laugh out loud first person shooter sequence. No joke, and it’s totally awesome.).
To wrap this all up, hands down this is one of my favorite super hero movies. It would make the top five with no problem. I also feel that the movie rendition was better than the comic. It had better pacing and I think that my concerns about a wider audience enjoying the film were put to rest. Word of mouth will hopefully make this a box office hit.
Also stay tuned for some exclusive interviews with Mark Millar and John Romita Jr!