Tag Archives: san diego comic con

Thomas Jane Made A Punisher Fan Film, And It’s Awesome

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After this year’s San Diego Comic Con, I’m convinced that Thomas Jane is a very dedicated fan & actor.  Over the weekend he debuted a short film “Dirty Laundry”, which revisits his entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you haven’t picked up on the hint, wait until the very end, the payoff is worth it.

Did Thomas Jane just make a Punisher fan-film with Ron Perlman? Holy shit snacks! I enjoyed Jane’s spin on The Punisher (2004) but I think there were greater problems with the film specifically setting it in Tampa, FL instead of New York City and casting John Travolta as your villain (with a terrible hair piece).

In that time Jane has been attached to various comic franchises.  Back in 2008 Jane went so far as to do a make up test of Jonah Hex when he was vying for that role (thank God that didn’t happen).

The interesting tidbit here via SlashFilm is that Marvel quietly got the rights to The Punisher back.  Could Janes’ fan film spark another entry into film or possibly television? Or could Marvel look at rolling at short films in front of their coming features as a way of expanding their universe? Only time and nerd derision will tell.

via [Bleeding Cool & SlashFilm]

The Mark VIII Armor All But Confirms Extremis For Iron Man 3, Right?

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One of the biggest reveals (so far) was the unveiling of the Mark VIII armor for Iron Man 3.  It bears an uncanny resemblance to the Bleeding Edge Armor that we’ve seen in the comics of late.

Thoughts? Concerns? With the caliber of villains we will be seeing in Iron Man 3, it makes sense to see a change in Tony Stark’s weapon of choice.  According to Wikipedia, the Bleeding Edge armor is an upgrade to the Extremis where, the armor exists within Stark himself.

A more detailed description from Wikipedia follows:

The neurokinetic user-controlled morphologic nanoparticle bundles that form the suit reside in Stark’s body, and form a fibrous wetweb of iron and platinum, that can be commanded to form any type of structure upon Stark’s skin, such as large boxing gloves,or weapons, including large guns extending from his armsor a lightsaber-like energy sword with which Iron Man was actually able to harm one of the Worthy during the 2011 “Fear Itself” storyline. The nano-machines can even mimic the appearance of clothes, and then dissociate to transform into the Iron Man armor whenever Stark wishes. The suit adds less than twenty-five pounds to Stark’s body mass, and can stop a howitzer shell.

via [Bleeding Cool]

 

Like I Needed Another Reason To Buy The Avengers on Blu Ray

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When The Avengers hits Blu Ray this September Marvel will be including another one of their live-action shorts as a special feature.  The plot summary via Ain’t It Cool News:

“Item 47″, follows SHIELD Agents as they to track down a pair of humans who have taken to robbing banks after they stumble upon an extraterrestrial weapon left behind by the invading Chitauri.

Oh and get this.  It stars Lizzy Caplan.  I’m thoroughly enamored of her, and to quote  AICN Talkbacker green gargantua, “she is on my short list as is Kat Dennings and Scarjoe , Marvel films thinks like my penis.”

The 12 minute short is set to premiere next week at San Diego Comic Con.  I think if Marvel might be on to something, as this could be a way to test the waters by introducing characters to the movie going audience at large.  How great would it be to have a Dr. Strange or Luke Cage short film before Captain America 2?

Credit: [Ain't It Cool News]

ThunderCats Minimates Are On The Move To SDCC

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ThunderCats have been enjoying a pretty good run of late, due to the truly excellent cartoon currently running on Cartoon Network.  Several companies have been putting out “classic” ThunderCats merchandise with the latest being Diamond Select Toys.  They recently are infusing their venerable Minimates line with a ThunderCats flavor.

As an exclusive to Action Figure Xpress for San Diego Comic Con, the ThunderCats Minimates line will debut with a special boxed set with Lion-O, Panthro, Jaga, Mumm-Ra, and Snarf.

According to the ThunderCatsNow blog:

Lion-O will come with and extra angry head, the Sword of Omens in both a fully extended and a smaller dagger version, and a claw shield that can replace his hand or attach to his hip.

 

Jaga, Mumm-Ra, Panthro, Lion-O, and Snarf will indeed be sold as a set at the the Action Figure Xpress booth – #3345 at Comic Con and in limited quantites on http://www.shopafx.com for those unable to attend SDCC starting July 16th for $20.

Traditionally, Action Figure Xpress exclusives have been easy to get post-Con and I hope that the same holds true this year.  Because I truly must have this set, no matter the cost.

Credit: [ ThunderCats Now via 16bit ]

Coming Soon: “Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope”

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I’ve had the opportunity to attend comic book conventions both as a fan and as a credential member of the press (crazy I know).  Despite the poor hygiene, over priced action figures, and dingy long boxes … there is something intangibly cool about a large group of people gathered in the interest of fandom.

Director Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) put together Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope during the 2010 edition of San Diego Comic Con and from the trailer looks to be an fun take on the largest fan convention in the United States.

Unfortunately for me, this movie looks like the closest I’ll get to SDCC for the foreseeable future.  Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope will get a limited theatrical release on April 6t h 2012.  There will also be a mini tour which will feature “Con” related activities.

[H/T] Cool & Collected & Comics Beat

Masterpiece Grimlock Is Finally Mine

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Of all the items in my Transformers collection there is one thing figure that I love above all others, my original G1 Grimlock. For a kid, Grimlock was just about the coolest thing ever in that he was a robot that turned into a dinosaur. Over twenty years I’ve held onto Grimlock through several house moves, high school, college, graduate school, and even marriage. I even have gotten my wife to engage in the “Cesium Salami/Beryllium Bologna” dialogue from Transformers: The Movie.

A year ago rumors were swirling that Hasbro has deemed the United States worthy of an American release of the Takara Tomy MP-8 Grimlock. This was huge news due to the fact that the Japanese version ran upwards of $150 and was very hard to come by. Over that year there were further rumors of cancellations and who would exactly be carrying this new Masterpiece Grimlock, as Toys R Us were initially slated to carry it. It wasn’t until earlier this month that we had confirmation that it would be a and that it would be a Toys R Us Exclusive and sold through Entertainment Earth during San Diego Comic Con.

My patience paid of late last week as I was finally able to pre-order Masterpiece Grimlock through TRU.com. Unfortunately he will take anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks to arrive in my Den of Nerdery.

By Thor’s Hammer!

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Marvel Studios really is priming the lead up to Comic Con with yet another production still from the set of Thor. Here we see Thor in the midst of retrieving Mjolnir from its resting spot in the New Mexico desert (as we saw at the end of Iron Man 2).

thorrain

Image Credit: [AICN]

Here are a couple general observations:

  • Chris Hemsworth got fucking huge. It’s hard to believe that this guy was George Kirk a year ago.
  • Like many other comic book experts, I too believe that Thor will not have an alter ego. In the comics, his Earthly form was that of Dr. Donald Blake who was sickly and required a cane to get around. I think I read an interview with Kenneth Branaugh where he said that there would just be Thor … and I’m okay with this
  • Marvel Studios is doing a pretty good job generating buzz, and I really am hoping we’ll see the full cast of The Avengers on stage this week at San Diego Comic Con.

Superhero Costume Faceoff: Asgardian Gods vs. Green Lantern

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While I fully expected the movie studios to bait the frothing nerd masses in the lead up to Comic Con; I was not expecting big reveals from two of next year’s blockbusters, Thor and Green Lantern. The aesthetic for both of these films are very important because they are drastic departures from the superhero movies we’ve seen so far.

thorvsgl

With movies like Iron Man, The Dark Knight, The X-Men Films, and Spider-Man there is a certain grounding in reality. Now Thor and his family are Asgardian Gods and as Green Lantern, Hal Jordan is part of an intergalactic police force which is based on the alien planet of Oa. These costumes should look different, because they aren’t of this world. Even though both pictures have been reposted everywhere I’ll leave them underneath the jump in case anyone wishes to remain spoiler free (that is if you consider costumes to be a spoiler)

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The SDCC ’10 Exclusives That Will Drain My Bank Account

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Every year at San Diego Comic Con there is a slew of retailer exclusive action figures, variant comic books, and shiny metal that sends fanboys into a froth covering every franchise from Twilight to Ghostbusters. For people like me, they have to rely on the secondary market or on the retailers themselves after the convention to secure the exclusives of their choice.

Unfortunately for my bank account there are some very strong showing from my three favorite properties:

  • GI Joe: Sgt. Slaughter 3 3/4″ – $9.99
  • Transformers: G1 Prowl Mighty Mugg – $15.99
  • Marvel: Ultimate WWII Captain America 3 3/4″ $9.99 & Iron Man 2 Mark VI Mighty Mugg – $15.99

The greatest difficulty in obtaining these exclusives is that when they go up on Monday on Hasbro’s consumer site … things get ugly real fast. There is never a set time for them to be released so if this year is anything like the last two years I will spend half of my day hitting the F5 key.

It’s like triage in a disaster zone, you have to pick what you want the most and make the difficult decision and cut your losses. Not that I want to jinx myself, but I have a pretty strong record … let’s hope for a good day on July 26th. For a more in depth look, io9 put up a decent rundown of their top 25 picks for SDCC ’10 Exclusives.

And Now, Captain America on Captain America’s Costume

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When Chris Evans was announced as Captain America a tsunami of nerd rage swept across the Internet. Frothing talkbackers claimed that he lacked the command presence that America’s Super Soldier is known for. At the time, I didn’t feel up to weighing in on the subject but I have to say that I was satisfied with the casting decision. I loved Evans in Sunshine and I think that he captured the cocky swagger of Johnny Storm and was arguably the best part of the Fantastic Four films.

In an interview with Empire Magazine, which I picked up through /Film, Evans weighed in on Captain America’s costume and made light of some of the controversy when he was cast in the role:

It’s an amazing costume. Given the fact that his costume is red, white and blue, and it’s tight, and it could be kind of flash and over the top – and given the fact that the movie takes place in the ‘40s and ‘50s – they’ve done a really good job of making it look really cool. I think everyone that’s going to see it is going to say, ‘Okay, well done. Well done. I think they got the costume right. The casting they completely ruined, but the costume they nailed!’”

While he may not have been the fanboys ideal candidate (I would actually have liked to see John Krasinski’s take on Cap), but I have to admit I’m very anxious to see how he does. Of course most of us has seen the leaked concept art for the Captain America costume, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a glimpse of Evans in full patriotic garb later this month at San Diego Comic Con.