Thor: The Dark World

THOR 2 is ANOTHER MAGNIFICENT SUPERHERO MOVIE
by Reymundo Salao

In THOR: THE DARK WORLD, the Dark Elf Malekith sought to return the universe to a state of pure darkness. To do this, Malekith has to wield the power of the force called the Aether, which has embedded itself within the body of Jane Foster. Thor has to do everything to protect Jane Foster, preserve the peace of Asgard, and ensure that the universe does not fall into sheer darkness, and to do this, he must seek the help of his brother Loki. [hit the jump to continue]

The Wolverine

An Excellent Hardcore Noir Movie
by Reymundo Salao

THE WOLVERINE seeks to revitalize the comic book character Wolverine with a treatment designed to correct the wrongs of the previous movie, one that will render it "done right this time" And yes, it does accomplish that job.

The movie has various plots and subplots, in such a way that still has some sense of order; you have a family at the crossroads of betrayal, a character who is interested in Logan's mutant abilities, Logan himself trying to survive the fact that he can be mortally wounded, even be killed. He is also facing a haunting past that frequently visits his dreams. All its subplots are layered one over the other in a way that is not confusing and manages to let the story run in a fluid consistent manner. [continue after the jump]

Iron Man 3

The Trials of the Man, Not the Armor
by Reymundo Salao

The problem with many superhero movies is that they are too conscious of what they are; too conscious of being a superhero movie. And although it is oftentimes best if a superhero movie is faithful to the comics, it should also be noted that it would be far more greater if its priority is making a great movie, period.

More recently, the thing that has made superhero movies and sci-fi-fantasy movies fail is that they (the producers) seem to be too concerned about how they can make extra money out of a single movie; from the merchandising, to the toys, to the potential sequels, and spin-offs. The best example of this failure is the 2011 movie Green Lantern, which did all that. Iron Man 3 seems like the kind of movie that prioritizes the main movie and its storyline first, and put all the eye-candy, and all the fancy garbage on the background as just an additional flavoring.

The Amazing Spider-man

Not-So-Amazing
by Reymundo Salao

The Amazing Spider-man is designed to be a reboot of the Spider-man franchise, to erase off and disregard the previous one. This should have been probably be expected to be a better take on the Spider-man franchise. Unfortunately, it's barely good, just a tiny bit above satisfactory. No; it's not a bad movie... It was just not good enough.

The movie has a vast playing field for nitpickers picking on little negative details of the movie; such as the lack of real motivation on the villain's part, or something as insignificant as Peter's distracting hair looking like a birdnest helmet. But aside from nitpicks, the film has several serious flaws.

The AVENGERS (2012)

THE AVENGERS IS BETTER THAN SEX
by Reymundo Salao

When we talk about superhero movies, the finest ones that come to mind are the ones that have been taking the superhero concept seriously; the ones that have been open-minded enough to takes such concepts and use serious cinematic styles upon them. Movies like Spider-man 2, and the first two X-men movies have taken superheroes as real people, that is why they have been really great superhero adaptations. But I think cinema in general has already gone past the maturity and open-mindedness to take superheroes seriously. It is time to do way much better than just merely making superheroes realistic. Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight has always been the best superhero movie. It succeeds not only in the sense of being a superhero movie, but succeeds in being one of the finest movies ever made in Hollywood cinema. The degree of Dark Knight is very much off the scales, that I cannot imagine if any movie can even stand equal to it. Not until The Avengers.

Captain America: The First Avenger

AN INSPIRING TALE OF HEROISM
by Reymundo Salao

Captain America was one of those comic book franchises that would seem so difficult to translate on to the cinematic silver screen, what with a character in such a colorful costume and was originally a figure of American propaganda during World War II. One way, I thought, would maybe to portray it in a very stylized and an artistic surreal setting that could be cartoony or probably seem like Tim Burton’s Batman movies. That, I imagine, would be one way of translating such a comic book into movie format. On the other hand, to translate it in a version which is a bit more grounded in reality, and would aim to blend well with the previously recent Marvel movies like Iron Man and Thor, now that would seem like an Herculean task. The film project was given to director Joe Johnston whose previous works on The Wolfman, Jurassic Park III, and The Rocketeer (which feels like its closest to this project in terms of concept, as it is also about a superhero in the World War II setting) were merely moderately good movies; nothing all too impressive about them. And the screenplay was written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely who both wrote screenplays for the Narnia movies.

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS

X-MEN IS INDEED FIRST CLASS
by Reymundo Salao

It was the 1960's and it was a time of Cold War. It was also a time when genetic mutation has began to manifest its existence among the population of mankind. A group of mutants led by Sebastian Shaw are planning a diabolical plot to start World War 3, and CIA operative Dr. Moira MacTaggert sought out the help of a mutant named Charles Xavier to aid them in the capture of the mutant criminals. Along the way, Xavier & MacTaggert meet Erik Lensherr and several other mutants who would aid them to bring Sebastian Shaw and his mutant criminals to justice and prevent World War 3.

This movie serves not just a prequel to the X-Men series, but may very well be a restart of the franchise to set things right. And yes, I do indeed wish for X-Men to have a fresh start or maybe at least do a storyline in the similar vein with JJ Abram's Star Trek movie which weaves the old movie continuity with this new continuity.

I initially thought that this was going to be indeed a prequel because the movie starts out with the same flashback to the Nazi concentration camp scene, as is in the first X-Men movie. But I say that this is a new continuity because of its inconsistencies as well; In X-Men part 1, Xavier says he met Erik (Magneto) when he was 17 and they built Cerebro together; that is untrue according to this new movie. In X-Men 3, there is a flashback of Xavier (who is not yet disabled) and Magneto in their late 30s/early 40s meeting Jean Grey as a kid; but in the end of X-Men First Class, Erik & Xavier have already become enemies, not to mention, Xavier has at that point become disabled. With those things considered, it would be unwise to treat X-Men First Class as a prequel to the first three X-Men movies.

X-Men: First Class is its own movie. And I love the hell out of it. There were more than several moments wherein both the storyline and the script gave me positive chills. This movie achieved what the Star Wars prequels failed at, which is originally attempting to tell a story of two iconic heroes who became close friends and the breakdown of that friendship because of a clash of beliefs. The friendship between Xavier and Erik are well translated onscreen, that you do feel their genuine care for each other, that when they finally must choose to oppose each other at the end, the pain of that is evident emotionally.

X-Men First Class is a superhero movie that is not afraid to show onscreen villains utilize their powers in realistically evil ways. What Azazel does to his victims, or what even Magneto does to his victims is ruthlessly violent; the kind that may not have been easily acceptable at least 5 years ago in superhero movies. But now is the right time to give an appropriate approach to movies like this in an almost perfectly equal level with what the mature comics really portray in terms of how dense their character arcs are, how creatively complex the stories are told, and realistically ruthless some scenes can be.

There is a whole lot of action in this movie; but that which is not your typical action. I am not talking about elaborate fist-fights martial arts and gunfights. The action here is super-power based. The cleverly conceived action is done by whatever superhuman abilities are being used. I would even dare to say that this movie is more daring than the first X-Men movie because this one has little to almost zero standard action scene. The height of the action is whatever kind of power they will use to fight each other, and there is a whole lot of outwitting the other opponent.

The film was set in the 1960s and I adored the entire look of the film; from the costumes to the set designs; I felt like I was watching one of those Sean Connery James Bond movies. But there is a degree of simplicity and does not go so far to exaggerate or even call upon itself as having a retro feel. It just simply is, and feels like a 60's movie. And most especially that they used Rose Byrne playing Moira Mactaggert, who I think has that 1960s film star beauty, she looks like a Bond girl. Although on the other hand, I could not say the same for January Jones playing Emma Frost; The White Queen, who is not as pretty as the role originally suggests, but does look like a Bond movie villainess. Although she seems to fit the atmosphere, her acting felt bland.

There is a very brief scene of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) in the movie wherein Professor X and Magneto try to approach him, and as they were just introducing themselves, Wolverine simply told them: "Fuck off" This was a brilliant cameo appearance which, in its less than a minute of appearance, is the most accurate portrayal of the anti-hero comicbook character, and it seems that they are bent on portraying Wolverine properly from now on hopefully.

For me, the movie was so close to perfect except for a few minor ignorable scenes at the final 15 minutes of the movie. One was right after Xavier got shot, and when Magneto was delivering his final farewell to Charles as a friend, as he bid his final words of goodbye, we see Magneto and the mutants who would rally by his side line up in formation and just suddenly, without any initiating dialogue, they held hands as if they were about to sing Kumbaya or the People Power theme song. Yes, we all know of course that they needed to do this so that Azazel could teleport them out of that place. But the sequence seemed silly with that pose of them holding hands.

Another funny thing about the last 15 minutes of the movie is Magneto's red costume at the end and how he customized the helmet. Sure, it is a combination of the classic Magneto costume and the Magneto costume from the previous X-men movies. But this one seemed to have a loose fit. It looked like he was wearing a pajama. And his helmet; sure it's nice that they were faithful in depicting Magneto's actual original helmet, but I think it does not translate in real-life movie format all too well. It also didn’t help that his pose was a bit awkward and without any little stretch of "comicbook macho" poise.

The best scenes of the movie show us how imaginative and how simply creative Matthew Vaughn's style is. One simple scene that blew me away was in Shaw's room where he is forcing young Erik Lensherr to manifest his skills, and the camera shows us the other side of the room which reveals a laboratory filled with what could possibly be torture devices as well. Another scene is when the young mutants hear crashing noises and they later realize that the teleporting mutant Azazel is one-by-one killing off government agents by teleporting them up in the air and having them crash down. This was such a unique kind of a killing spree scene. It was also refreshing to find that this movie does not shy away from showing such a ruthless scene, it shows proof that comicbook-based movies like this are now given more or less the equal mature treatment it has in the comicbooks as well.

Aside from other minor errors of the movie, such as the special effects in some scenes, the movie is superb. Almost flawless and almost reaching the level of "Dark Knight Excellence" I can easily say that this is the best X-Men movie I have ever seen. And I hope this is the start of a better X-Men series.

Extra Scene at the end of the credits of THOR

Yes, THOR was indeed an awesome movie, and I'm sure that many of you are so pumped up with excitement for the next Marvel comics movie that will lead up to The Avengers movie.

As many of you know, Marvel movies have this knack of inserting an extra scene after the end credits. Examples of that are at the end of Incredible Hulk, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) appears and talks to General Ross (William Hurt) about "putting up a team" (obviously referring to the Avengers), and in Iron Man 2, a scene where we find SHIELD Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) heading to a site where Thor's hammer (The Mjolnir) landed (a similar scene within the Thor movie). At the recent Thor movie, it should already be expected by Marvel fans that there is an extra scene at the end of the credits.

Many of you may have left the movie theater without seeing that extra scene. Well, here it is...



...If we take the context of what is already in the Marvel comics universe, the Cube in the scene may be the Cosmic Cube, which is actually a containment device created by various civilizations throughout the Marvel Universe at various times, including the alien race the Skrulls, and various other, unnamed civilizations (whose Cubes were gathered/stolen by unknown means by The Magus in the Infinity War story arc and The Goddess in the Infinity Crusade story arc). This Cube has the power to change reality, a god-like power, obviously. And most probably play a huge role in the coming Avengers movie. If this cube is in the storyline, then it would mean the involvement of massive degree Marvel characters such as Thanos, who is an alien warlord. If that is so, then the coming Avengers movie will indeed be something beyond fantastic and mindblowingly epic. Let's just hope that our optimisms are at the right track.

THOR is Beyond Mighty

The film adaptation of the Marvel comics character based on Norse Mythology, entitled THOR may seem like a movie that has a heavy degree of fragility to be translated onscreen. The slightest mistake could have made this project look silly or awful. But Branagh and his team have succeeded in overcoming that incredible obstacle and proved that THOR is an excellently-made, and a cleverly-conceived movie. Expectations have been exceeded with this movie.

READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE

Aronofsky not doing Wolverine anymore

Extremely bad news for those who are looking forward to the hopeful redemption of the Wolverine movie franchise under director Darren Aronofsky. It seems that the Black Swan director will not be around to direct the next Wolverine movie anymore.

Deadline has heard that his withdrawal has to do with his breakup with actress Rachel Weisz, and custody issues involving their son. All but two weeks of the film will be shot in Japan (a few scenes are being shot in Canada). His withdrawal had nothing to do with the script, because I'm told that Chris McQuarrie delivered. Or even the current crisis in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami. Aronofsky simply couldn't be out of the country that long. There hadn't been a firm start date. There was once an intention to start in the spring, but the situation in Japan and Hugh Jackman's Real Steel promotional schedule pushed things back a bit.

Aronofsky released this statement:
"As I talked more about the film with my collaborators at Fox, it became clear that the production of ‘The Wolverine’ would keep me out of the country for almost a year. I was not comfortable being away from my family for that length of time. I am sad that I won't be able to see the project through, as it is a terrific script and I was very much looking forward to working with my friend, Hugh Jackman, again."

Twentieth Century Fox also issued this statement:
“While we are of course disappointed that Darren can’t do ‘The Wolverine’, we also understand and respect his reasons. Having done both ‘The Wrestler’ and ‘Black Swan’ with Darren, we know he is an extraordinary talent and we look forward to working with him on other projects in the future. Hugh Jackman and Fox both remain fully committed to making ‘The Wolverine’. We will regroup and move forward aggressively.”

Many fans including myself were looking forward to Arronofsky's style (appropriately) applied to the brooding mood of Wolverine universe. It should be noted that the previous movie X-men Origins: Wolverine which starred Hugh Jackman was a very unfaithful interpretation of the Wolverine comicbook character, and is considered by most critics as one of the worse comicbook/superhero movies ever made, second only to Joel Schumacher's "Batman and Robin"

In addition, this take on Wolverine was immensely watered down to please a more kid-friendly audience. In the comics, Wolverine has a more violent nature, and is simply a ruthless unflinching killer.

Aronofsky's history of extremely dark and depressing movies such as "The Wrestler" and the classic "Requiem for a Dream" is a perfect fit for the actual story/history of Wolverine, a Marvel comics character who, in the actual comic book references, has actually had experienced countless traumatic tragedies in his life.

It is tragically funny to note that Aronofsky's career with movies in production purgatory is such that he has teased on big genre projects, only to be dis-attached to them at the last minute. Years ago, before Chris Nolan was chosen to direct Batman Begins, it was Aronofsky who was initially picked to revive the once-dead Batman franchise. Just a couple of years ago, he was also attached to the planned Robocop sequel/franchise relaunch but that did not push through. Now, maybe production with Aronofsky should have begun this season. But now, we are left to dream of a better director to redeem the Wolverine film franchise from its current awful image.

Info on the upcoming X-MEN: First Class

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS is the fifth installment of the X-Men film series and will probably be best understood by general audiences as a prequel to the first three movies. The film, set during the 1960s, will focus on the relationship between Professor X and Magneto and the origin of their groups, the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants.

"Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men."

The film stars James McAvoy as Professor X (you will remember him as the main character in the movie WANTED) and Michael Fassbender as Magneto (many of us saw him in the movie 300 as one of the spartan warriors). Other cast members include Kevin Bacon, January Jones, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence and Lucas Till. The film is mostly being shot in England and parts of the United States. Fox envisions this film as the first in a new trilogy. X-Men: First Class is scheduled for release on June 3, 2011.

To those familiar with the comic books, when you say "X-Men First Class", it refers to the original first X-men characters; the first mutant class that went under the tutelage of Professor Xavier; namely, Scott Summers (Cyclops), Jean Grey (Marvel Girl), Bobby Drake (Iceman), Warren Worthington (Angel), and Hank McCoy (Beast). But this upcoming movie "X-men; First Class" appears that it will not focus mainly on these characters, rather it will focus on the characters of Professor Xavier and his once best friend Erik Lensherr (Magneto) when they first sought out to save mutants from the prejudices of mankind. The First Class referred in this movie will refer to characters such as Sean Cassidy a.k.a. Banshee, Alex Summers a.k.a. Havok, Raven Darkholme a.k.a. Mystique, & Hank McCoy a.k.a. Beast, as well as lesser known characters such as Riptide, Darwin, and Azazel. The villains in this movie will be the aristocratic mutant group The Hellfire Club.

The X-Men Universe have a rich history, and it is actually a good thing that this new "reboot" of the franchise goes back to its roots in order to tell its great stories properly and with a hopefully decent continuity and faith to the source material. 

In April 2006, one month before the release of X-Men: The Last Stand, writer Zak Penn revealed he was contracted to write and direct a spin-off. He later explained in 2007 that "the original idea was to have me do a young X-Men spin-off, a spin-off of the young X-Men characters. But someone came up with a pretty interesting idea; it was this guy who worked with me named Mike Chamoy, he worked a lot with me on X3. He came up with how to do a young X-Men movie which is not what you'd expect." Penn compared the idea to the comic book series X-Men: First Class, and Josh Schwartz was writing the screenplay in May 2008. Schwartz's writing assignment also included the possibility of directing of X-Men: First Class, but Fox approached Bryan Singer, director of X-Men and X2, in October 2009. The original idea was to green-light the film depending on the success of X-Men Origins: Magneto, but Singer added elements of the Magneto spin-off, merged into a new script by Jamie Moss. In addition to Moss, Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz were hired to rewrite the script. Miller compared it tonally to Singer's work on the first two X-Men films. Singer dropped out of the director's position in March 2010 due to his commitment to a Jack the Giant Killer adaptation. He formalized his duties from director to producer. Matthew Vaughn signed on as Singer's replacement in May 2010. With his hiring, Fox announced a June 3, 2011 release date, and Jane Goldman was hired for another rewrite. Vaughn wanted to model X-Men: First Class after the 2009 Star Trek film, taking the franchise in a new direction with a fresh, young cast. An action scene that was to have been set in a dream sequence with revolving rooms was scrapped after the release of Inception. The 1960s setting of X-Men: First Class will be technologically inspired by the James Bond films of that era, also adding to the international feel of the characters. The X-Men costumes will look much more as they did in the original comics compared with the first three films.

Fox envisions X-Men: First Class as the first film of a new trilogy. Donner compared the franchise plans to the darker, more mature content of the Harry Potter film series. X-Men: First Class is scheduled for release on June 3, 2011.

HERE IS THE TRAILER:

Jon Favreau is NOT directing IRON MAN Anymore

After Sam Raimi, Terrence Howard, and Edward Norton had their untimely and somewhat unpleasant severance of ties with Marvel, it looks like this time, it's Jon Favreau who is having an untimely divorce from Marvel, with his announcement that he will not be directing IRON MAN 3.

When Favreau did the first IRON MAN movie, he was pretty much in high spirits, he loved the Iron Man comics, and the excellent movie he made was an evidence of how much he loved it. Part 2 was, well, okay. Fun when I first watched it, but taking a step back and taking a while to let the hype cool down, many of us realized that it was just a little bit above satisfactory. Regardless of which, we would have thought that Favreau would continue his run on this series for up until at least the third movie. But it looks like its not gonna be that way.

According to various reliable sources, Favreau has just informed Marvel Studios that he won't direct a third Iron Man film. It's unclear whether the impasse was financial or creative or both. One informed source hears that he was frustrated with Marvel's urge to stuff more of their in-house heroes into the next film in the wake of The Avengers. In a recent interview with MTV News, Favreau explained that based on his conversations with Marvel Studios executives, he had no clarity as to what a third Iron Man film would even be about. “In theory, Iron Man 3 is going to be a sequel or continuation of Thor, Hulk, Captain America and Avengers,” said Favreau at the time, “This whole world … I have no idea what it is. I don’t think they do either, from conversations I’ve had with those guys.”

Favreau's next project will be the studio's Magic Kingdom, about a family trapped in Disneyland and their magical encounters with all sorts of Disney attractions and rides. Marvel currently has no script for a third Iron Man, and while it has no plans to shoot the film until 2012 at the earliest, Marvel execs hope to put a director on the project to guide its development as soon as possible.

Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, & the Lizard on the new Spider-man movie

Casting news for the new Spider-man (reboot) movie. Emma Stone is cast to play Gwen Stacy in the Spider-man reboot, which is kind of a dumb choice for the role because Emma Stone, with the kind of aura she evokes, is perfect for Mary Jane Watson, not only that; she's also a redhead, as Mary Jane is! Yes, many also share this opinion; and the producers should reconsider; Emma Stone would not look as cute as a blonde, and would also not probably work as a serious character such as Gwen Stacy (Spider-man geeks out there know the fate of Gwen). Emma Stone for Mary Jane Watson!

As for the villain, Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill, Little Nicky) will play Dr. Curt Connors, better known as The Lizard. There had been rumors across the blogosphere that Sony was thinking of bringing back Venom for the franchise reboot, but that character will not be featured in the movie.

Andrew Garfield stars as Peter Parker, while Emma Stone will play Gwen Stacy, who rivals Mary Jane Watson for Spidey's affection. Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin are producing the movie, which begins production in December. If you can recall, Dylan Baker played Connors in Sam Raimi's two "Spider-Man" sequels.

"Spider-Man" will hit theaters in 3D on July 3, 2012.

Marvel will be creating Iron Fist

An Iron Fist film is moving into the scripting stage, says a report at Deadline.
Marvel Studios has brought aboard Rich Wilkes (the "XXX" film series) to write the screenplay, which will adapt the story of Danny Rand, the Marvel martial arts superhero created in the 1970's.

In the Marvel Universe, Rand is the son of a wealthy explorer who trains in the mystical arts and eventually gains the power of the legendary Iron Fist, a magical fighting power that gives him indestructible fists.  First using the power after his father's death, Rand continued to bear the mantle in the fight against evil. Later, Iron Fist popularly teamed with Luke Cage (Power Man), who allegedly has his own film in development.

The idea of making an IRON FIST movie is actually a really old one, I guess it's as far as the same year the first Blade movie was released. During that time, the rumor goes that Ray Park (who was Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I, and Toad in the X-Men movie) was going to star as Iron Fist. But almost a decade has passed and still no Iron Fist movie. It is only now that news about this project emerges, hopefully, this project will finally be made.

Will Robert Rodriguez direct Deadpool?

Is the director of Sin City ready for Ryan Reynolds' "Merc with a Mouth"?

The rumors have been bubbling under for the past few weeks about whether director Robert Rodriguez (Sin City) might be called upon to direct Deadpool, the planned spin-off from last year's X-Men Origins: Wolverine with Ryan Reynolds reprising the role of the "Merc with a Mouth" he played in that movie.

Last week at Comic-Con, Rodriguez was asked by MTV about the project and he confirmed he had received the script by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (Zombieland) but wasn't sure if he would direct or not.

Just one week later and the L.A. Times is reporting that Rodriguez is now in active negotiations to direct the movie and that it would likely happen after he finishes Spy Kids 4: Armageddon, which he's currently shooting for release next year. Rodriguez does have a lot on his plate right now with Predators still in theaters and Machete coming out later this summer, and he has a few other original ideas he's been developing.

One presumes that one way to stay in the public eye and maintain his relationship with 20th Century Fox would be to take on a high-profile superhero movie like Deadpool, which combines humor and violence, two things Rodriguez has made his specialty. The question is whether he could make the movie PG-13 or 20th Century Fox might allow Rodriguez to do what he does best when not having to soften things up for a younger audience. (Of course, having made four PG movies and working on a fifth, it's not like Rodriguez would have problem making a movie that falls somewhere in between.)

source: SuperHeroHype

Avengers Cast Officially Revealed!

Online buddies were able to pick up this video clip which officially announces the cast of Marvel's The AVENGERS and its director Joss Whedon at the recent 2010 San Diego Comic Convention

Yes, the main cast list of the upcoming movie that unites a number of Marvel Superheroes into one team, known as The AVENGERS. The main cast list are Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury, Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson, Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America, Robert Downey, Jr. as the Iron Man, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk-haunted Bruce Banner, and the film will be directed by the geek god Joss Whedon.

The AVENGERS is scheduled for a May 4, 2012 release. 

Edward Norton will not be changing into the Incredible Hulk anymore

As far as the Incredible Hulk is concerned, the tale of making the Avengers movie looks to be a sad one, in my opinion. For many fans, including myself, Edward Norton was the best (perfect) choice to play the role of Bruce Banner, the man haunted by the alter-ego of the menacing Hulk. Sadly, Edward Norton will not be reprising his role as Dr. Bruce Banner for the Avengers movie, and that Marvel Studios plan to cast a new actor in the part. Marvel Studios is planning a May 4, 2012 release for The Avengers.

Several Weeks ago, Hitfix reported that a deal could not be made, despite Edward Norton wanting to join the ensemble cast that will include Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Chris Evans as Captain America.

Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige confirmed the report with the following statement he sent to the site: 

"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."

If you ask me, that's one heck of an insulting statement that is obviously unprofessional. Brian Swardstrom of WME, which represents Norton, made his reply also via HitFix:

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.

And then EDWARD NORTON himself made his own reply via Facebook with this statement:

Depressing, isnt it? Well, we'll have to adjust to yet another new Bruce Banner now. I would have wanted David Duchovny to play the role coz he seems to be also perfectly fit for the role of the nerdy, angsty Banner. But then, over the past days, there has been announcements that Marvel already has somebody in mind; and that is Mark Ruffalo, who is said to be in the final stages of negotiations to play the role. My reaction? Meh :( How about you? What do you think? Hit the comments for your reactions...

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is on the works; Nicolas Cage & Crank directors onboard

"Crank" directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor are in early negotiations to direct Columbia’s “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance,” the sequel to the studio’s 2007 supernatural action movie starring the Marvel Comics character.

Nicolas Cage is also in early negotiations to reprise his role as Johnny Blaze, a stunt motorcyclist who, in order to save the life of a loved one, makes a deal with the devil. His soul is twinned with that of a demon, and he becomes a flaming-skulled figure driving a motorcycle from hell.

While the dealmaking is in the preliminary stages, the studio hopes to get principal photography going by late fall. Plot details are under wraps, and it is not known if any other character from the previous movie will return.

The first movie which was released 2007 had excruciatingly poor reviews and did not do well in the box office. But the studio was facing a ticking clock scenario that if it didn't act on a sequel soon, the rights to the franchise would have reverted to Marvel. It even considered the possibility of going ahead without Cage.

David Goyer wrote the story. Neveldine and Taylor are writers as well as directors, and the duo may do a rewrite, although that has not been determined at this stage. Avi Arad, Ari Arad, Michael De Luca and Steven Paul are producing. Goyer and Mark Steven Johnson are exec producing.

Personally, I had high hopes for the first movie when it opened. But the film really was an utter disappointment. Ghost Rider is one of the darkest characters in the Marvel Universe, and to treat it in a light, campy, or friendlier approach would be to weaken the strength of a movie adaptation. Duh!!!---It's a dark hero with a flaming skull... chains, spikes, and a bad-ass bike... that should give you a hint that this should have more or less the same treatment as movies like The Crow or Blade. The sequel should re-imagine its treatment and make it dark, or else they'll get another "missed the opportunity" failure.

THOR is Coming

Those who have already watched IRON MAN 2 may have already noticed the teases it makes on the Avengers movie (which is set for a 2012 release) and Captain America also. But Iron Man 2 specifically teases on one particular superhero movie. And that is THOR. Well, the teaser comes in the form of an additional scene at the end of the end-credits. It is not much, but it goes like this:

It is New Mexico, and in the middle of the desert, we see Agent Coulson driving towards what appears to be a site where SHIELD operatives seem to be studying something in the area. There is a wide crater. And in the middle of the crater, we see what appears to be the hammer Mjolnir. Thor's Hammer.

It is not really something for regular audiences to be thrilled with, not unless one is a comicbook fanatic or is familiar with this super-hero universe. But for us geeks, it is indeed something to be thrilled with. But what was upsetting is that we heard reports that there was one cinema here in Iloilo that had abruptly cut off the scene, the result is that the people who were awaiting the additional scene were not able to see the said teaser. Yes, this is upsetting because that scene is part of the movie.

On the topic of THOR, yes indeed, THOR is coming and is about to be released on May 6, 2011. To those who have no diea yet, THOR is the Marvel comics character who is also based on the Norse mythology god of thunder. The movie is directed by Kenneth Branagh (the Shakespearean actor & director, whose popular works include Hamlet (1996) and an adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), and will star Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Anthony Hopkins as Odin, and Tom Hiddleston as Loki.

With what appears to be initial stages of generating hype for the THOR movie, the first image of Chris Hemsworth in costume as Thor has already been released online; it's such a teaser photo since the picture is cropped in a way that it does not give out the full details of that the costume would look like.

IN MY OPINION, I am not liking the way the costume covers up his arms, like a chain mail sleeve that actually kinda looks rubbery in this picture. Im not too much of a purist as to how a movie adaptation should look like the source material, but in this case, the original comicbook costume, in my opinion, should be preferred. His muscle arms should show because this adds to the Norse god feel to it. ANYWAY, this is just a minor reaction and I'm sure that if the movie turns out to be great, then minor nitpicks like this will just simply disappear in the process.

Iron Man 2

IRON MAN 2: ENERGETICALLY SPECTACULAR!
By Reymundo Salao

I thoroughly enjoyed IRON MAN 2. But there are some very minor stuff that sort of bothered me. First off, I did like the character played by Mickey Rourke, which is Ivan Vanko (which seems to be a combination of the comic book characters Whiplash & Crimson Dynamo). But I felt that the details of the character were too underdeveloped. We got to see his some of his quirks and a little bit of back story which we thought was going to be spotlighted later on in the movie. Only to realize that the backstory which felt like a teaser was not fully satisfied in the end anyway, and we walk off the movie not really having a full grasp what his character was all about. If the story wanted him to be a mysterious "force of nature" villain, the film should not have heavily teased on a backstory in the first place, and should have gone with the fully mysterious psycho all the way. Basically his character was out to have vengeance on Stark, accusing his family of stealing an idea his (Vanko's) father pioneered. But in the end, it really was not clear what that "stealing of idea" was all about, or how Vanko's father was allegedly betrayed by the Stark family.

There is a fantastic use of various rock n' roll soundtracks. The popularity, massive budget and the power of this movie probably made it easy for the film to acquire rights to various songs that were smartly placed in the film. Sometimes to a point that you could tell that this is merchandising at work because it subliminally entices you to go get the movie's soundtrack album.

It should also be noted that the movie also builds up to an anticipated AVENGERS movie. To those who do not know what I am talking about, AVENGERS is a superhero group in the Marvel comics universe where characters like IRON MAN, CAPTAIN AMERICA, THOR, and many others are organized into one group - THE AVENGERS - in order to fight greater threats from more lethal super villains.

You cannot dismiss the movie as just a superhero movie because like any good superhero movie, the story focuses on the characters rather than on just the superhero. The film does not solely rely on action, but much on humor. There were moments in the middle of the movie that made me forget I was watching a superhero movie, or an action movie. Much of IRON MAN 2 centers its focus on Tony Stark's relationship with his friend Rhodes, his assistant Pepper Potts, and his rival Justin Hammer. Also, the chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow is very sparklingly attractive and fun to watch.

Don Cheadle was fine as Rhodes, Tony Stark's friend. But the fact that he is not muc of a physical match with Terence Howard, the actor he replaced for the role, messes up what should have been a fluid consistency with the previous Iron Man movie. In the end, though, you will forget and disregard this minor detail (and he is, in comparison, as good as a replacement as Maggie Gyllenhal was in replacing Katie Holmes in the Dark Knight movie).

Scarlett Johansson was sleek and sexy as Natalia Romanova, Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer was indeed supposed to be annoying and corny, which made him such an opposite of Stark (on the other hand, I would also have wanted to see a faithful portrayal of Justin Hammer as he was in the comics, which is that he is supposed to be an old guy and supposed to be scary, but that format of character has become such a cliché in superhero movies at this point in time)

Robert Downey Jr. is magnificent in his role. His Tony Stark is like the ultimate new role model; girls throw themselves at him and guys wanna be like him. His humor is always on the spot and his charms are flawless. His screen presence and how he makes a scene come alive is the major battery that makes this an enjoyable film.

And then there's Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury. Which reminds me of the other nitpick detail that hated about the movie, and that is Nick Fury's first appearance in the movie. For a character which is supposed to have some degree of importance, his first scene looked like it lacked impact. Fury, appearing and having a conversation with Stark, in morning daylight, while wearing that shiny coat, made him look like a joke. And then we see the first costume appearance of Black Widow in the same scene, which also made her appearance have no impact at all. In fact, it was a scene that awkwardly made Nick Fury and Black Widow look silly and indeed looked like two people wearing costumes for some Halloween party. Even though the first line of Fury was indeed very funny, I still stand by the opinion that it was one scene that was just poorly conceptualized.

Comedian Garry Shandling also appears in the movie, and although his role is not a major one, I consider him to be a highlight of the movie. He plays a Senator who is very skeptical and critical of Tony Stark and seems to have a shady background. His role was deadpan serious and almost villainous that he instantly feels like an unignorable beloved "other villain". From the moment he appears you can tell that he's supposed to be a big A-hole, and he does a great job with it.

Jon Favreau who is both a great actor, comedian, and is also the director of the movie did a great job in making this sequel spectacular and continuously fun to watch. Despite its flaws, the movie was very enjoyable. It was well-paced, and designed never to bore its audience. The dialogues are very witty. And its performers did a marvelous job with their lines. It also had interesting non-cliché comedy gold moments. One of the funniest scenes that I enjoyed involve Robert Downey Jr. and one of those office decorations (you will know by the time you watch the movie). Although I felt that there would have been many interesting stunts or refreshingly new action tricks that can be made with the new villains (especially one wielding a super-powered whip), I cannot disregard the fact that it was a good thing that the film invested more on the storyline aspect so to not make this movie just a mere “dumb action flick” and eventually achieves to appeal to all audience demographics.

All in all, IRON MAN 2 is a High Matinee movie. Although greatly flawed, these flaws are only noticeable from a critical point of view. Even I came out of it with a full-bar fun movie satisfaction, and only realizing its flaws hours later. If you love a movie with witty characters and some cool heavy metal robot action, then this movie is definitely for you. And let me remind you that there is an ADDITIONAL SCENE AFTER THE END CREDITS, so if you don't wanna miss it then you might wanna stay awhile for it.