Marvel moving forward with The Inhumans

After achieving a very unexpected success with Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel has announced they are moving forward with a screenplay for The Inhumans.

The last we heard about this project was back in 2012 when Marvel President Kevin Feige discussed the possibility of more unexpected heroes appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe after The Avengers. There is already a screenplay that has been developed by Joe Robert Cole and Marvel is evidently ready to shop it around to filmmakers. The project is being approached similar to how Guardians of the Galaxy was in terms of having a screenplay and letting filmmakers revise and make changes.
A brief history on The Inhumans: Basically, this group of heroes are the result of alien experimentation. The Kree (sound familiar?) abandoned the experiments and their subjects, so the group moved on and formed a society on Attilan made up of their own and led by king Black Bolt and his family. They made their first appearance in a Fantastic Four comic back in 1965.

Toby Kebbell joins Fantastic Four

We know who the superhero team is. Now we know who will be their nemesis.

British actor Toby Kebbell has been cast to play the iconic Marvel villain, Doctor Doom, in the upcoming reboot of Fantastic Four. Doctor Doom (aka, Victor von Doom) was previously portrayed by Julian McMahon in the 2005 version. He joins Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, and Kate Mara.

Kebbell is recognizable to me as I recently saw him in The East. He can be seen in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes this July and in Warcraft set for March 2016.

Stan Lee will not appear in X-Men: Days of Future Past

Stan Lee, the comic legend, has made somewhat of a regular expectation of having a cameo in Marvel films. They're nothing substantial but when you see a Marvel movie you expect to see Stan Lee at least once. Lee has actually made 17 cameos in the past 13 years. However, Lee will not have a cameo in Bryan Singer's X-Men: Days of Future Past.

This isn't too surprising as he did not appear in X2, X-Men: First Class, and The Wolverine. It seems that X-Men films are where he is missing the most. Some are guessing his age has something to do with it because the man will turn 91 this year, but he insists that he is simply choosing what he wants and doesn't want to do.

The complete list of Stan Lee cameos include:

X-Men
X-Men: The Last Stand
Spider-Man
Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 3
The Amazing Spider-Man
Daredevil
Hulk
The Incredible Hulk
Iron Man
Iron Man 2
Iron Man 3
Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Captain America: The First Avenger
Thor
The Avengers 

Now, keep in mind that just because he passed up Days of Future Past doesn't mean he won't appear in any more Marvel films. I have no doubt he's somewhere to be found in the Phase Two movies and/or The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Sony confirms The Amazing Spider-Man 3 & 4

Sony is rolling along with their recent, and rather successful, reboot of Spider-Man. Seeing that The Amazing Spider-Man raked in over $750 million in 2012 and the is sequel currently in production, they have announced the release dates for The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and 4. We will get the third installment on June 10, 2016 and the fourth on May 4, 2018.

The details for each movie are non-existent and the sequel is still being filmed in NYC, so I wouldn't expect any more information for quite sometime. However, certain cast and crew members (specifically Andrew Garfield) have signed multi-year deals so it's pretty obvious that they will be sticking around until 2018. This also pretty much confirms that Sony is clinging onto the rights to Spider-Man, so those wishing for the Spidey cameo in a future Avengers movie can stop holding their breath.

We also have some new characters that are rather important to the Spider-Man story that will be introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 such as Mary Jane Watson (played by Shailene Woodley) and Harry Osborne (played by Dane DeHaan). I have no doubt one or both of them will have a major part in the future Spider-Man movies Sony has just announced. 
My only concern with this is Andrew Garfield's age. He's already 29 and is portraying a 17-year old. By the time 2018 hits he will be pushing 35. That is a bit ridiculous.

Denver Comic-Con 2013 announcement

Not only did Denver's 1st annual Comic-Con set a record for the most in attendance for a first year con, just behind NYC's, but they have already started planning their 2013 sequel. It will again be at the Colorado Convention Center from May 31st to June 2nd.

This is the big news... they have announced their guest of honor already and it is none other than the most iconic man in the comic book world. Ladies and gentlemen... the former head of Marvel Comics, Mr. Stan Lee.


I can't believe this. I am so fucking there.

[Update] Mikkelson will not be in Thor 2

It was previously confirmed that Mads Mikkelson was set to play a villain in the upcoming Marvel film, Thor 2. However, new news has surfaced that Mikkelson will not be in Thor 2 after all. Mikkelson was nabbed for Hannibal Lecter so he unfortunately had to drop out of the project. He has also dropped out of the upcoming Daredevil reboot.

Oh well.

Venom tied to The Amazing Spiderman?

New questions and information have arose for one of the most popular Marvel villains, Venom, in regards to the upcoming reboot The Amazing Spiderman. We have learned that it is possible for Venom to have a tie in to the film starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone.

Seeing that previous news has surfaced of Chronicle director Josh Trank taking the lead of a movie based solely on Venom people were wondering how you can have Venom without involving him with Spiderman at some point. At a recent press conference for The Amazing Spiderman, producer Matt Tolmach mentioned:

“I’m trying to say to you without giving anything away is hopefully all these worlds will live together in peace someday… look for the worlds to make sense with one another.”

Collider suggests that they are trying to follow an Avengers-like universe where you introduce the characters and then tie them all together into one movie later on. This idea works for different superheroes fighting one main villain, like in The Avengers, but I don't know if it will work with one movie about a villain (aka, Venom) and one movie about a superhero fighting a completely different villain (aka, Spiderman and The Lizard). Unless there is a third factor thrown in I don't see how it will work smoothly.

Patty Jenkins confirmed to direct Thor 2

http://www.hitfix.com/articles/the-killings-patty-jenkins-confirmed-to-direct-thor-2

Patty Jenkins has directed episodes of Arrested Development, The Killing, and the film Monster. That's pretty much about it. I appreciate the fact that Paramount and Marvel is trying to give directors a chance but at the same time I don't understand why they are taking that risk with these superhero movies. Especially given how popular and genuinely good they are.

But with that said... I loved Monster so I think Thor 2 might just be alright. We'll have to wait and see.



Oh and speaking of Thor 2, the release date got pushed back to November 15th, 2013 instead of July 16th. Has to be based on projected box office stats. Production hasn't even started so it can't be because of that. At least I don't think so.