Noteworthy Marvel Minimates Toys R Us Wave 18 Figures

Totally skipped the Marvel Now minimate figures being sold at TRU for the reason that they're overpriced and hard to come by. The next wave of Toys R Us exclusives however, I might not pass on as its got Wolverine (again) and another Winter Soldier.

credit: Marvel Toy News

No photo has been released yet but here's the rundown of characters getting the Marvel Minimates treatment.

Marvel NOW! Thor & Absorbing Man
Age of Ultron Wolverine & Gold Ultron
Captain America & Red Skull/Arnim Zola
Falcon & Winter Soldier

credit: Marvel Toy News

My obvious pick from this set would be the Age of Ultron Wolverine and Golden Ultron plus the two-pack featuring Sam Wilson aka The Falcon and the good guy version of The Winter Soldier aka Bucky Barnes. The rest I'll probably sell, that's if I ever get to order this from the States given that these figures sell like hotcakes.

Source: Marveltoynews.com

Bad Ass Ultron Minimate Fig Coming AGE OF ULTRON Minimates Box Set

OK let's all admit that AGE OF ULTRON was a huge disappointment and was just Marvel's greedy way of selling more books and releasing Angela on the 616 but they it also did create one of the most terrifying designs for the robotic villain ULTRON and now it's crossing over to the Marvel Minimates toy line.

Thank you ART ASYLUM and DIAMOND SELECT TOYS for making this figure see the light of day. It's even more impressive once you see how everything just snaps on the base figure. Check out the design sheet for this nifty figure.



Then there's also that equally badass ANGELA minimate figure which would probably make her creator Neil Gaiman very, very happy.





Oh and they also have grizzled Nick Fury (who was never de-aged because there was no Nick Fury Jr. running around).





And to round up the set, oh goody, another Iron Man/ Tony Stark figure (like we really need another one).





And here's a group shot for the set which will be coming out next year...



And if you're looking for a Wolverine figure, you should be happy to note that they will have one based on the Canuck's appearance in AOU. However, the sad part is that it will be an exclusive for Toys R Us. And it'll come with the army builder which happens to be the gold Ultron drone.

Boston Legal Star James Spader Cast as ULTRON for AVENGERS 2

The villain for the second AVENGERS movie has been officially cast. Marvel announced today that Boston Legal and The Secretary star James Spader has been chosen to play the role of the mad robot Ultron for Joss Whedon's follow up to Marvel's The Avengers.

The actor starred in notable films like "The Secretary" opposite Maggie Gylenhaal, "Stargate" and he was also from Less than Zero.

Personally, I think this guy can pull it off. After all he's that guy from STARGATE and the same sleavy, conniving guy who spanked looked at Maggie Gylenhaal's bottom in The Secretary all wrapped in Adamantium exoskeleton goodness/ evilness.

Concept art for Ultron for AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON by Mattias Fahlberg

Marvel's The Avengers: Age of Ultron hits theaters 2015. 

Marvel Unlimited Baits Collectors with Limited Ed ROML Ultron from AGE OF ULTRON

Gotta hand it to Marvel to bait fanboys/ collectors to sign up to their new "Marvel Unlimited" digital comics initiative by offering a rare ROML (Return of Marvel Legends) Ultron action figure from AGE OF ULTRON.

This bad boy comes along with the MU welcome pack, which is now following the AGE OF ULTRON storyline in terms of giveaways. Aside from getting this figure (which really looks like a repainted version of the Ultron figure from the Iron Man ML wave) subscribers will also get a digital copy of AGE OF ULTRON # 10, a print of AU done by Salvador Larroca a membership card and an AGE OF ULTRON inspired comic box.



To know more about this check out the official website's details HERE

Could Vin Diesel Voice Groot from GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY?

Vin Diesel teased that he was in talks with Marvel for something. Speculations run wild that he was either going to be a baddie, or voice Ultron or become The Vision for the next Avengers movie, Avengers: Age of Ultron. However there's a new rumor swirling. 

The new rumor suggests that Diesel is in talks with Disney/Marvel to lend his voice to the Tree Alien Warrior GROOT for next year's GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. 

AVENGERS 2 Officially Titled AVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON

Not to be outdone by the Superman/Batman announcement, Marvel Studios took to the stage at SDCC 2013 and revealed details regarding the next installment on their wildly popular AVENGERS franchise.

Here's a description of how things panned out in the Marvel panel in SDCC 2013 from Collider:

"Marvel President Kevin Feige is about to leave the stage in Hall H following the panels for Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Guardians of the Galaxy. An amped up crowd is shouting “More!” Feige returns, takes a seat, and says “There’s only one more person here. He wanted to say, ‘Hi.’ Joss Whedon!” Whedon takes the stage. “Hi. I know it’s time to go,” he says, “and I don’t have a lot to say, but I have something to add.” We cut to a trailer of quotes from The Avengers over something metal being hammered. The metal has a strange red glow. The last quote we hear is what Nick Fury told Maria Hill about the group coming back together when they world will need them. The camera then pulls out to reveal Ultron’s helmet. We then get the title for the highly-anticipated sequel: The Avengers: Age of Ultron."

Now the countdown begins for May 1,2015, to be distributed locally by Walt Disney Studios Philippines. 

One more thing, being that this is going to be AGE OF ULTRON, should we expect to see ANGELA at the end? 

Update: People think I was serious with the question. Obviously they just borrowed the title because it sounded cool.  C'mon guys. Seriously???

Avengers A.I. # 1 Review

Reviewing Avengers A.I. # 1 by Sam Humphries and Andre Lima Araujo for Marvel Comics.

Soooooo. another Avengers book eh. Well color me delighted with this one. It actually spins from the ending of Age of Ultron #10 and #10AI (which was a retrofitted history lesson about Hank Pym). And though I failed to review 10AI I can certainly say that I loved that one.

In this issue, the same madcap capers and A.I. hijinks that Pym is very much used to is still present. In fact it triples during the middle and if the cover (and ending) is any indicator, it's going to quadruple next issue. So what's the lowdown in this book. SHIELD drones go missing Hank Pym is the primary suspect. He assembles a new team of 'Avengers' to combat this threat specifically. He includes Runaways member Victor Mancha, a newly rebooted Vision and a refurbished Doombot as his main team. 

On Hank Pym: I love the current Hank Pym. We sort of admit that he's crazy and that it's usually good crazy. We also know that he's partly responsible for the evolution of the anti-ultron virus and it's also his goal to eradicate that task. I love that he's kooky and brash and that he's decided to forgo using any alias. 

On the Avengers roster for A.I.: The team is a nice pairing.We have Victor Mancha working together with his 'brother' Vision or Vizh (which I prefer to calling him because it's so ghetto). They work well and complement each other a hundred percent. Plus I like how they're not fighting unlike other comic book stories where when one brother shows up, you can bet that the next issue would be a dragged out, 22 page fight. This one is better and simpler. And they get along. 

On Doombot: Damn, Doombot was the almost star of this issue. From belittling his 'teammates' to showing the drones who's boss, this version of the Doombot spells badass with a capital letter B.

Verdict: 10/10 

Age of Ultron # 10 Spoiler Heavy Review - How Angela Came to the 616 Marvel Universe

The question half of the Marvel fans are asking now that Age of Ultron # 10 has been released is how did Spawn character Angela reach the Marvel Universe. Here's a simple explanation. Be warned though, spoilers from Age of Ultron # 10 as well as a few other issues.

Read more after the cut.

AGE OF ULTRON # 3 SPOILERS

Wow! Twist ending that was. Here's some major spoilers for Age of Ultron # 3 by Brian Michael Bendis and Bryan Hitch.

In the third issue for the Age of Ultron, the heroes have started their move to learn more about Ultron and hopefully gain a foothold over their robotic enemy. During the discussion of what to do, the collected heroes list down some of the more powerful heroes who have fallen during Ultron's blitzkrieg attack...

We also find out what the plan is, which will revolve on Luke Cage and She-Hulk...

The heroes plan would be to 'trade-off' She-Hulk to Ultron for additional information and intel. This of course would be done with the help of Cage who also revealed that Jessica Jones Cage and their baby Danielle has also been casualties of Ultron's attack. Meanwhile in Chicago, we find out that Taskmaster, Black Panther and the Red Hulk have teamed up to get more intel about Ultron's cyborg army.

Rulk attacks a lone cybory and beheads said cyborg with T'Challa hoping to skim off data from the severed head. The plan runs afoul and Rulk is forced to fight dozens of Ultrons covering the escape of Taskmaster and Black Panther.

Too bad for T'Challa as he slips and dies during the escape.

Back in New York, Luke enters Ultron's citadel and finds out who's really running things and its none other than their teammate the Vision...

Looks nasty.

Guess the Character in this Age of Ultron Cover Plus some Neat Teasers

I could be wrong but that 'superhero' looks a lot like DC's Scarlet Speedster. So what's he doing in a cover for an upcoming issue of Marvel's "Age of Ultron"?

In all actuality that's Hank Pym aka Giant Man aka Yellow Jacket aka Ant-Man and the man responsible for the creation of this android killer.

Age of Ultron # 1 (Review) - Shooting Women with a Crossbow Aint Cool Bendis

Age of Ultron # 1 came out this week with (what I assume) is very lukewarm reception. I mean nobody's talking about it too much and certainly even news sites like CBR and Newsarama are absent in hyping this new event book from Marvel Comics. Regardless of that, I still liked it. Nothing over the top, a bit confusing in terms of story but it's still bearable. Thanks a bunch Brian Michael Bendis and Bryan Hitch.

Age of Ultron has been getting a mix and I can see why. It hasn't been long since AVX ended and we got all these relaunches. The Cyclops story/ saga hasn't even settled down, it's only three issues since the relaunch of Uncanny X-Men and here we are again looking at another threat and the Avengers once again badly beaten. Secondly, this arc/thread/plot/storyline has been branded as 'dated' especially since this was already teased way,way back in Avengers # 5 (with the Marvel Timeline and all that jazz).

The first issue looked gorgeous thanks in no small part to Bryan Hitch's line art. There's really no lack of eye candy here in Age of Ultron # 1 from fallen SHIELD hellicarriers to a headless Statue of Liberty, you'll get your fix.

What is the Age of Ultron?

Marvel teases something related to one of the Avengers' greatest enemy - Ultron.

We have to wait for next week before we get to find out what Age of Ultron really means although I'd like to believe that this was the "Ultron War" which was supposedly Bendis' last Avengers major arc together with Bryan Hitch.

Marvel Select Soon to Release Nightcrawler, Storm and Ultron Figures

Toy Fair 2012 yields some great looking figures from DST (Diamond Select Toys) including the MS classic Nightcrawler, Storm and Ultron.

These figures looks really great and while we really haven't seen what part of the Danger Room will be added into the mix, it's pretty clear that the Danger Room diorama is going to immense!