Networks Pass on ‘Punisher’ and ‘Jessica Jones’ TV Shows, but ‘Hulk’ Still in Play

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Graeme McMillan

You might think, after successfully reinventing the superhero movie genre with a series that has just hit a high point with the multiple-record-breaking The Avengers movie, that television networks would be eager for a piece of the Marvel superhero pie. Turns out, you’d be partially wrong: Of the most recent flurry of Marvel properties vying for live action television adaptations, currently only one is showing much strength. But then, we already knew that Hulk is the strongest of them all.

During a conversation with reporters ahead of the official upfront presentation to advertisers, ABC entertainment president Paul Lee revealed that, while the network was still developing a Hulk TV series with Marvel TV and Guillermo Del Toro, the network had passed on a series based on Brian Michael Bendis’ cult favorite detective series Alias. Telling reporters that, despite the latter show stalling, he’d like to “see some Marvel projects come to television,” Lee confirmed that Hulk is still a go, if a somewhat delayed one. “It wasn’t going to be ready this season but we hope it’s going to be ready for next season,” he explained.

AKA Jessica Jones — renamed from Alias to avoid confusion with the ABC series starring Jennifer Garner — had been in the works since December 2010, with Twilight and Dexter veteran Melissa Rosenberg producing and writing the pilot script. Hulk has been in preparation a couple of months longer, with Del Toro and Battlestar Galactica‘s David Eick in place as executive producers. According to Del Toro, despite the character’s prominence in Avengers, the television series would take place in a different continuity – something that may ultimately doom the project if Disney decides to move ahead with a full-scale movie spin-off for the character from the hit Joss Whedon flick.

While ABC is keeping the familial synergy alive (The network, like Marvel, is owned by Walt Disney Co.), Fox seems to be closing the door on its partnership with Marvel TV with the news that its potential Punisher television series – co-created with Criminal Minds‘ Ed Bernero – has also met an untimely end with the network not picking up the pilot. Unlike the promising AKA Jessica Jones, however, this one might be considered a mercy killing; according to sources, the series would have recast Frank Castle as an NYPD cop who went after those who slipped through the fingers of the system by himself after clocking out every night. Somehow, I don’t think that would’ve really appealed to fans of the merciless, messed-up character as written by Greg Rucka, Garth Ennis or Jason Aaron…

[Via THR, The Wrap]

Tags: ABC – AKA Jessica Jones – AkaJessicaJones – Disney – Hulk – Marvel TV – MarvelTv – The Punisher – ThePunisher

What We’ve All Been Waiting For — Dynamic Forces Unveils the ‘Watchmen’ Toaster – LOL

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Graeme McMillan

To everyone who thought that Before Watchmen was as crass as Warner Bros would get in terms of strip-mining the legacy of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen, bless you for your optimism and belief in the inherent goodness of humanity. However, you might want to look away before we tell everyone else about the official Watchmen toaster.

No, it’s not a joke (well, not in that sense, anyway): There really is going to be an official Watchmen toaster that will not only heat bread and bagels to your desired level of tasty, crunchy brownness, but will do so while also imprinting said bread or bagels with iconic artwork from the classic comic – because you demanded it!

To be fair to DC Comics, this actually doesn’t have too much to do with them; it’s part of a line of Warner Bros. television and movie merchandise toasters coming out in September from Dynamic Forces, alongside toasters branded with logos and artwork from The Wizard of Oz, Friends, The Goonies and various other favorites. “Once the timer dings, it’s all fun with your Warner Bros. favorites right in the middle of your morning slice of toast,” according to the official PR from Dynamic Forces. Yes, because if Watchmen‘s Rorschach was anything, it was “all fun.”

There’s really only one response to the existence of this product. Walter?

Tags: Alan Moore – AlanMoore – Dave Gibbons – DaveGibbons – Dynamic Forces – DynamicForces – Oh God – OhGod – toasters – Watchmen – Watchmen Toaster – WatchmenToaster

Mountain Dew – Dark Knight Rises – Tie-In ….

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Chris Sims

As you may already be aware, there’s a movie about Batman called The Dark Knight Rises coming out this summer, and as is the case with any big-budget super-hero flick, that means we’re going to get some product tie-ins. Who can forget how Dominos Pizza reflected the complex themes of morality and sacrifice in 2008′s The Dark Knight by offering a pizza with double the pepperoni?! I assure you, my arteries will never forget.

This time around, it’s Mountain Dew, and not only is there a new flavor that’s allegedly inspired by Batman, there’s also a website and, more importantly, an in-store display that looks like the Saddest Batman Ever. Check out more info, and my theories on how this just might tie into the film, after the cut!

The centerpiece of the promotion is undoubtedly the life-sized Batman display that’s sure to be protecting your local gas station from thematic crime:

This is just a computer-generated mock-up of the actual product — which explains why, as CA’s Caleb Goellner put it, “it looks worse than those Taiwanese news cartoons” — but I sincerely hope that the version we actually get in real life looks exactly like this. Batman’s gaunt glumness and unblinking, shell-shocked eyes are pretty much exactly what I think the World’s Greatest Detective would look like if he woke up to find that his legs had been replaced with a barrel of Mountain Dew that he had to wheel around selling to impressionable teens.

The promotion also involves a website that you can go to where you are invited to “Rule the Streets With Dew,” which actually sounds like a pretty pleasant thing to do:

As for the products themselves, they’re rolling out Batman-themed cans, as well as a new flavor called Dark Berry, because apparently “Caped Crusadew” didn’t test well:

Now, this is where things get interesting. The reference to ruling the streets, and the fact that the Mountain Dew campaign seems to be selling itself on providing access to information about the movie itself gives me the idea that maybe, just maybe, this stuff might actually be part of the plot.

After all, Christopher Nolan’s films have nudged a few elements of the Batman mythos to be slightly more realistic. So what if, what if, Bane didn’t get his powers from the super-steroid Venom, but instead was just a big tough dude who was jacked up on Mountain Dew?

If nothing else, it’s something the audience could relate to.

[Via SuperHeroHype]

Tags: Batman – Mountain Dew – MountainDew – Sad Batman – SadBatman – The Dark Knight Rises – TheDarkKnightRises

Azrael, Ra’s Al Ghul and More Coming in DC Direct’s Third ‘Batman: Arkham City’ Series

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Caleb Goellner

DC Direct Collectibles will expand its line of Batman: Arkham City action figures on September 19, with brand new versions of Azrael, Ra’s al Ghul, the Penguin, two clown thugs (one with a knife, the other with a baseball bat) and Batman himself. As usual, the toys will stand around 6.75″, with the diminutive Penguin keeping in scale at just 5.25″ tall, as seen during NYCC this past fall. Interestingly, the line features the most basic of the Arkham City Batman figures from DCC thus far, following an unmasked version and a “Detective Mode” outfit. Series three is also the first not to feature any female figures (Talia al Ghul and Oracle are possibilities), with Harley Quinn and Catwoman included in previous rollouts. Accessory information is a little light right now, but product images indicate clown thugs will be armed and Ra’s will come equipped with a sword and Azrael probably will too if that scabbard is any indication. You can check out more images of Batman: Arkham City series three action figures after the jump.

[Via TNI]

Tags: action figures – ActionFigures – Azrael – Batman – Batman Arkham City – BatmanArkhamCity – DC Direct – DcDirect – Penguin – Ras Al Ghul – RasAlGhul

YES!!!! The CW Orders a Full Season of ‘Arrow’ Based on DC Comics’ Emerald Archer !!!

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Graeme McMillan

Someone at the CW must really, really like Oliver Queen. After a multi-year stint as a supporting character on the long-running Smallville, the television network has promoted Green Arrow to star status with the announcement of a series order for the hour-long show Arrow.

Despite spending five years in Clark Kent’s shadow during the sixth to tenth seasons of the surprisingly long-lived Superman-in-training series, Arrow isn’t a spin-off of Justin Hartley’s Smallville superhero. Instead, it’s a reboot of the character developed by Green Lantern screenwriters Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim — along with Fringe co-executive producer (and one-time Green Arrow and Black Canary comic writer) Andrew Kreisberg — that’ll star The Vampire Diaries‘ Stephen Amell as “billionaire playboy Oliver Queen,” who returns to Starling City after five years of life on a remote island in the Pacific a changed man. From the CW’s official description of the project:

While Oliver hides the truth about the man he’s become, he desperately wants to make amends for the actions he took as the boy he was. Most particularly, he seeks reconciliation with his former girlfriend, Laurel Lance. As Oliver reconnects with those closest to him, he secretly creates the persona of Arrow – a vigilante – to right the wrongs of his family, fight the ills of society, and restore Starling City to its former glory. By day, Oliver plays the role of a wealthy, carefree and careless philanderer he used to be – flanked by his devoted chauffeur/bodyguard, John Diggle – while carefully concealing the secret identity he turns to under cover of darkness. However, Laurel’s father, Detective Quentin Lance, is determined to arrest the vigilante operating in his city. Meanwhile, Oliver’s own mother, Moira, knows much more about the deadly shipwreck than she has let on – and is more ruthless than he could ever imagine.

Given the name of Queen’s own Alfred (Apparently, like Smallville, Arrow likes to play up the Batman-like qualities in the character’s backstory), it looks like Andy Diggle and Jock’s 2007 retelling of the character’s origin in Green Arrow: Year One may be an influence on this particular version of the character.

Alongside Amell, the cast for Arrow includes Supernatural‘s Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance, The OC‘s Willa Holland as Oliver’s sister Thea and genre veteran Susanna Thompson as the Queen matriarch, Moira.

The series will debut on the CW this fall with a pilot scripted by Kreisberg and Guggenheim and directed by Game of Thrones director David Nutter.

[Via CBR]

Tags: Arrow – Fringe – Green Arrow – GreenArrow – Smallville – TV

FAN-tastic Cosplay Including Iron Man, Ms Marvel, Nightcrawler, Magik and More !

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Bethany Fong

Although cosplay has been present for decades within the comics, anime, and sci-fi/fantasy fandoms, social media has played an integral role in the thriving community of costuming that exists today and cosplay communities such as Cosplay.com and the Superhero Costuming Forum. In honor of the many fans who’ve displayed excellence in the mastery of homemade disguise, craftsmanship, and sartorial superheroics, ComicsAlliance has created Best Cosplay Ever (This Week), a weekly collection of some of the most impeccable, creative, and clever costumes that we’ve discovered and assembled into our own super-showcase of pure fan-devoted talent.

Iron Man, cosplayed by baden3, photographed by KuroSeirei

San, cosplayed by lovelyyorange, photographed by fallingfeathers

Rachel Summers, cosplayed by thatDJSpider

Jason Todd, cosplayed by testsubjectb

Wonder Woman, cosplayed by fairyporchqueen, photographed by Darren Rowley

Ysera, cosplayed by Mandine83

Ms. Marvel, cosplayed by bettiebloodshed, photographed by LJinto

Black Alice, cosplayed by blackalice

Jack & Sally, cosplayed by ex-shadow & cupcake-rufflebutt, photographed by fenyxdesign

Nightcrawler, cosplayed by twinfools, photographed by weatherstone

Mistress of Pain (Diablo III), cosplayed by CalipsoCosplay, photographed by Michele Albrigo

Magik, photographed by greyloch

Saiyaman 2/Videl, cosplayed by maiabest93, photographed by Dee Jocson

Poison Ivy, cosplayed by drummerina, photographed by Edoardo del Gaudio

Do you have a stellar costume that you would like to share with ComicsAlliance? Submit your photos HERE!

Tags: Best Cosplay Ever – BestCosplayEver – cosplay

FAN-tastic ArtWork Including Silver Age Avengers and Justice League, Rock’em Sock’em Robots and More !!!

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Andy Khouri

We make a regular practice at ComicsAlliance of spotlighting particular artists or specific bodies of work, but because cartoonists, illustrators and their fans share countless numbers of great images on sites like like Flickr, Tumblr, DeviantArt and seemingly infinite art blogs that we’ve created Best Art Ever (This Week), a weekly depository for just some of the pieces of especially compelling artwork that we come across in our regular travels across the Web. Some of it’s new, some of it’s old, some of it’s created by working professionals, some of it’s created by future stars, some of it’s created by talented fans, and some of it’s endearingly silly. All of it’s awesome.

WANT TO CONTRIBUTE?We’re very much interested to see what you’ve dug up and think should be featured here in Best Art Ever (This Week). Please submit any great art links to andykhouri-at-comicsalliance.com. Artists, feel free to send in your own work or to request that your work be removed.

Batman vs. Guy Gardner by Kevin Maguire
Game of Thrones by Roberto Flores

The Spirit by Will Eisner

Phil Coulson by Megan

Jonah Hex starring John Wayne by Chris McDonald

RanXerox by Tanino Liberatore

Tori Amos by Dustin Nguyen

Batman by Jim Lee and Travis Charest

Sin City by Frank Candiloro

The Virgile by Laurent Durieux

Art by Virgil Finlay

Moth City by Tim Gibson

Batman by Midnightride

Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots/Muhammed Ali/Sonny Liston mashup by Eric Joyner

James McAvoy as Professor X by Tran Nguyen

“The Demon Wolf” by Logan Faerber and Greg Ruth

The Wizard of Oz by Helen Huang

Star Wars by Paul Pope

Maurice Sendak tribute by Dan Hipp

The Question by Glenn Turner (our first photographic art?)

Uncanny X-Force by Matteo Scalera

Lovecraft by David Hartman

Spider-Man by Travis Charest

Huntress by Lily’s Factory

Art by Eric Canete

Art by OneQ

Maurice Sendak tribute by Joe Hunter

Star Wars Millennium Falcon by Ryan Bodenheim (click the link)

Marvel Comics heroes by Michael Golden

Maurice Sendak tribute by Henry Bonsu

The Sandman by Andrew Mar

Black Bat Cassandra Cain by Phil Noto from the collection of Steve Pieper

“Unfadeable” by Jim Mahfood

Tank Girl by Stephanie Buscema

Where The Wild Things Are by Mike Maihack for Terrible Yellow Eyes

The Spirit by Chris Samnee for Comic Twart

The Shadow by Michael Kaluta

Lois Lane by Ramon Villalobos

Batman by Dan Davis

Silver Age Avengers and Justice League by Elena Casagrande

Tags: best art ever – BestArtEver

For The Super-Mom in Their Life. Mother’s Day Cards From Your Favorite Super-Heroes

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Chris Sims

This Sunday is Mother’s Day, that time of year when we come together to celebrate those lovely ladies who gave us life. But while many of us here in the real world will be ordering flowers or taking our moms out for a nice dinner, things in the world of super-heroes are probably going to get a little more awkward.

After all, parents in general and mothers in particular don’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to super-heroes. Still, everybody deserves something nice every once in a while, which is why today, your pals at ComicsAlliance are taking a look at a few Mother’s Day Cards From Your Favorite Super-Heroes!

For Wonder Woman’s mother, Queen Hippolyta:

For Dr. Doom’s Mom, Cynthia Von Doom:

For Daredevil’s Mom, Sister Maggie:

For Batman’s Mom, Martha Wayne:

For Damian Wayne’s Mom, Talia al-Ghul:

For Orion’s Mother Box, Mother Box:

For CA’s Favorite Bad Mother, Shaft:

And finally, for Marcus’s Mom, Carol Danvers:

Yeah. That’s… that’s probably for the best. Happy Mother’s Day, everyone!

Tags: Mothers Day – MothersDay

Clark Gregg’s Five Favorite Agent Coulson Scenes ….

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Andy Khouri

Firstly, be assured the following video contains no spoilers for The Avengers. In fact, it contains no spoilers for any of the Marvel Studios films in which actor Clark Gregg appears as Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D., Secondly, that is because for some reason Next Movie only include about two seconds per scene. Which is a bummer, because Gregg’s performances are often everyone’s favorite parts of these films, but there’s a lot of the guy just hanging out and being funny in this video and getting a glimpse at his experience making them, so check it out.

Get More:

For more from NextMovie: Trailers | Movies | DVD & Blu-Ray

You can see Gregg now in The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon and based on the superhero team first assembled by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee in the pages of Marvel Comics. The film has been embraced by superhero comics fans and critics, but some industry professionals like Golem’s Mighty Swing cartoonist James Sturm have called for a boycott in protest of Marvel and its parent company Disney’s treatment of the late Kirby and his heirs, who recently lost a court battle to reclaim rights to the lucrative characters. Mindful of the ethical conflict some people feel about the situation, cartoonist Jon Morris proposed an option whereby movie-goers can match the cost of their tickets with donations to The Hero Initiative, the not-for-profit group dedicated to assisting comics industry professionals in dire financial straits.

[Via Topless Robot]

Tags: Agent Coulson – AgentCoulson – avengers – avengers movie – AvengersMovie – clark gregg – ClarkGregg – the avengers – The Avengers movie – TheAvengers – TheAvengersMovie

Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield Discuss Playing ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Graeme McMillan

It’s not just a meeting of minds, it’s the kind of thing that Marvel would’ve once called “When Titans Clash!” But former movie Spider-Man Tobey Maguire and his cinematic successor Andrew Garfield are foregoing the traditional “fight, then team-up” routine in the upcoming issue of VMan magazine.

It turns out the star of Sony’s upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man film and the actor who portrayed Spidey through three previous films share plenty of common ground. From audition to opening day and beyond, it seems both actors take living up to the legend of Peter Parker for Spider-Man fans worldwide pretty seriously. Fortunately, it seems Maguire is firmly in Garfield’s corner as he takes on the mantle of the Webslinger at the movies.

In a short conversation for VMan magazine, Maguire and Garfield compared notes on how they ended up playing comics’ most famous teenage science nerd, with Garfield saying that his audition process was “a weird kind of cattle call”:

I’m friends with a few of the guys who were up for it, and I actually had dinner with Jamie [Bell] the night of my screen test and his screen test. We compared notes and war stories, and we kind of got past the ridiculousness of it all and thought it would be a nice idea to get everyone together and kind of interview each other about how messed up the process is, being against each other, and remember that we’re all in it together, knowing that when you take off that bodysuit someone else is going to be stepping into your sweat immediately after… But Marc [Webb] was great. He was very open and encouraging. You have the monitoring area with literally about 30 people judging you, looking at your face and whispering to each other-it’s one of the most disconcerting and kind of humiliating things to go through, if you’re aware of it, you know what I mean?

While Maguire talked about the lack of expectation before his first Spider-Man movie – “People didn’t anticipate [2002's Spider-Man] to be like that. leading up to it you start to get reactions and people tell you, you know, what the tracking is and what ranger your opening weekend box-office is likely to be, but for me it was kind of unexpected. So much shifted in my life the weekend the movie came out” — Garfield seems much more aware of what’s about to happen to him:

The main thing I’m thinking about and worrying about is what happens after this movie comes out. What was your experience when you became Spider-Man in people’s eyes? I’m interested to hear what you have to say about the whole life change that it brings. Because right now I have a host of fears that I’m contending with on a minute-to-minute basis. I’m not in the reality of it yet, so I’m sure I’m imagining it will be much worse than it is.

Oh, Andrew. Just wait until July 4. Then you’ll know just how bad it can actually be…

Tags: Amazing Spider-Man – AmazingSpider-man – Andrew Garfield – AndrewGarfield – Spider-Man – The Amazing Spider-Man – The Amazing Spider-Man movie – TheAmazingSpider-man – TheAmazingSpider-manMovie – Tobey Maguire – TobeyMaguire

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