Director Zack Snyder Unites Superman and Batman in One Explosive New Film

BURBANK, CA, July 20, 2013 – On the heels of the worldwide success of “Man of Steel,” director Zack Snyder is bringing together the two greatest Super Heroes of all time—Batman and Superman—for the first time on the big screen. The announcement was made today by Greg Silverman, President, Creative Development and Worldwide Production, and Sue Kroll, President, Worldwide Marketing and International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

The current hit, “Man of Steel,” has taken in more than $630 million at the worldwide box office to date, and climbing. Along with its star, Henry Cavill, the upcoming film brings back Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane. The new Batman has yet to be cast.

Snyder is co-writing the story with David S. Goyer, who will then pen the screenplay. Production is expected to begin in 2014, with an anticipated release date in Summer 2015.

Silverman stated, “Zack Snyder is an incredibly talented filmmaker, but beyond that, he’s a fan first and he utterly gets this genre. We could not think of anyone better suited to the task of bringing these iconic Super Heroes to the screen in his own way.” Kroll added, “We are thrilled to be back in business with Zack and his team on this next movie. The success of ‘Man of Steel’ is a wonderful testament to the love and support that both fans and new audiences, worldwide, have for these characters. We are very excited to see what Zack has in store for all of us.”

Diane Nelson, President, DC Entertainment, noted, “Superman and Batman together on the big screen is a dream come true for DC fans everywhere. All of us at DC Entertainment could not be more excited for Zack’s continuing vision for the DC Universe.”

Zack Snyder, who made a surprise appearance at Comic-Con today, breaking the news to audiences there, later said, “I’m so excited to begin working again with Henry Cavill in the world we created, and I can’t wait to expand the DC Universe in this next chapter. Let’s face it, it’s beyond mythological to have Superman and our new Batman facing off, since they are the greatest Super Heroes in the world.”

The new film brings back Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder as producers. This time, Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas are serving as executive producers, along with Benjamin Melniker and Michael E. Uslan.

Thomas offered, “Whilst our ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy is complete, we have every confidence that Zack’s fresh interpretation will take the character in a new and exciting direction. His vision for Superman opened the door to a whole new universe and we can’t wait to see what Zack does with these characters.”

The film is based on Superman characters created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, and Batman characters created by Bob Kane, published by DC Entertainment.

Guardians of the Galaxy Roles for Del Torro, Pace and Gillian Revealed

Den of Geeks is fighting the currents with their daring confirmation for the roles of three stars attached to Marvel Studios' "Guardians of the Galaxy" namely Benicio Del Toro, Lee Pace and Karen Gillian.

The long retracted/ redacted role of the Collector (Taneleer Tivan) is given to Benicio Del Toro and if you look at the photo below, you'd see why this is a perfect fit.

If that's not a perfect fit then I don't know what is. My only concern is that Del Toro has this slurred speech. It's not an impediment but it does ruin some great dialogue (assuming we get good lines from this villain).

Here's a bit of info about the character from Wikipedia: "Taneleer Tivan is one of the Elders of the Universe and is close to his fellow Elder En Dwi Gast (the Grandmaster). He apparently came to self-awareness billions of years ago, on the planet Cygnus X-1. He is an enormously powerful being who wielded the Power Primordial and, though at first he took the appearance of an old human, his true form is a powerful alien."

Former Dr. Who star Karen Gillian's role has also been revealed as being the alleged granddaughter of Thanos, the intergalactic terrorist Nebula.

Here's her stat card from way back when Marvel still pushed trading cards...

This of course debunks the previous rumor I posted about the redheaded beauty being cast as Angela. Which kinda sucks because with her auburn locks, she could've been perfect as the angelic Spawn-hunter.

My favorite 'confirmation' however happens to be what actor Lee Pace will be playing. According to the news that Den of Geeks broke, the former star of "Pushing Daisies" will be playing the role of Kree accuser and frequent Fantastic Four foe Ronan the Accuser.

OK, I'm not 100% sure about how he's going to bulk up considering that Ronan is a pretty physical character but I do know that Pace has the acting skills needed to deliver meatier, statesmanly lines. You see Ronan's not just an alien brawler with a big-ass hammer, he's also what we could see as a judge in Kree society. He needs to be eloquent when he talks and I can see why Marvel Studios picked Pace for the role. For all we know this appearance of the Accuser will be all talk. One thing though, the character in the 616 Universe has faced off against both Gamorra (Zoe Saldana) and Drax the Destroyer (Batista) so it's highly unlikely that he'll be given a 'desk job'.

This confirmation might have some meat and truth to it, but until Marvel confirms this, I'm taking it with a grain of salt. We don't have to wait that long though since SDCC 2013 is around the corner, the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) might have a surprise treat for us.

Watch out for the Skottie Young Avengers Movie Poster in SDCC 2013

If  you're planning to bring home a poster from Comic Con International aka SDCC 2013, then it should definitely this cutesy poster drawn by Skottie Young. Below is the poster in it's entirety.

And if you do have the extra money, do buy me as well. :)

Source: Skottieyoung.com

Marvel Legends Brings Out the Thunderbolts for SDCC 2013

One of my favorite iterations of the Thunderbolts aside from the classic team as well as the Civil War era one was the Luke Cage led version. That team was the best looking team not to mention had a variety of skill sets. Now Hasbro is bringing that version of the THUNDERBOLTS to their MARVEL LEGENDS line for SDCC 2013. 

This team will be composed of the following members:

The Hobbit Gets a Comic-Con 2012 Poster

Just sharing a cool looking poster for New Line's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" which will be exclusive to San Diego Comic-Con 2012.

SDCC 2012 Exclusive Alpha Flight Minimates

I was wrong. The other Marvel minimates set that will be sold exclusively for SDCC 2012 wasn't the Avengers side of the AvX set but is Canada's finest heroes - Alpha Flight.

The set will feature the following characters:

• Guardian
• Northstar
• Puck
• Marina 

BTW this would be available under the Action Figure XPress Booth... Check out the other photos after the cut.

SDCC 2012 Exclusives AvX Minimates Round 1

Fans of Marvel's AvX (that's Avengers vs X-Men to you) should better plan a trip to SDCC 2012 due to the exclusive sale of the AvX Minimates

The hottest comics crossover of the summer is now the coolest con-exclusive Minimate 4-pack! Hope Summers may be humanity’s destroyer or mutantkind’s savior, but whichever it is, three of the most powerful mutants in the X-Men army have united to protect her from Captain America and the Avengers. Hope’s first-ever Minimate 2-inch minifigure is joined by three brand-new Minimates of Cyclops, Emma Frost, and Colossus in his new Juggernaut-inspired look. Available from Diamond Comic Distributors (Booth #2401) and Diamond Select Toys (#2607).