Preparing for War

It appears that the cast for The Avengers sequel is set to get even bigger.

Seems like The Avengers will have to make room for one more in their upcoming film as it appears Don Cheadle could be reprising his role of Colonel James Rhodes, AKA War Machine, in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Originally mentioned in passing at USA Today, Bleeding Cool reported the story as a rumor followed by a "confirmation" from HitFix on the actor's return for the film.

In addition, Bleeding Cool reports that British actor Simon McBurney is in line for a role in the film that they are hearing will be the "new Jarvis," which isn't a replacement computer but the actual butler named Jarvis.

This all remains unconfirmed by Marvel Studios, but check back here for official confirmation on the matter as we learn it.

Avengers: Age of Ultron will bring the Marvel Universe's biggest heroes together again to face one of their biggest villains, with Marvel's The Avengers director Joss Whedon returning to write and direct the sequel. The film is set to open May 1, 2015.

Hammer envy

Check out what happens when Loki tries to do some market research to find out who the better superhero is.

New Fall TV Review: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

This was probably the show I most anticipated coming in to this fall season and thus far it has no disappointed. Thus far, they've done a nice job of scaling back the story and production to be able to bring the Marvel universe to the small screen. The Marvel name is also not just being slapped on here to draw in viewers. I am loving all of the references to previous Marvel films that have been used within just the first two episodes. This show, however, cannot succeed if it merely makes references to other popular work. It has to be able to stand on its own. While there are some solid components here, I am not fully sold on everyone in the cast. Clark Gregg is great in the role of Agent Coulson and provides some excellent stability. I also like Ming Na Wen as the reluctant enforcer. The two British tech agents known collectively as Fitzsimmons are also a lot of fun. The actors playing Skye and Agent Ward are the weak links thus far, but hopefully they will improve over time. I like that they are already establishing some mysteries that will likely unfold as the season progresses. Already here are the key questions that they are teasing us with:
1)How did Agent Coulson survive and why does he not know what actually happened to him? 2)What happened to Melinda May that made her reluctant to go back out into the field? 3)Can Skye be trusted or is she using SHIELD in order to help her Rising Tide cause? 4)Who is responsible for Project Centipede?

This seems like it should be a very fun show that I am highly looking forward to watching each week. Verdict: Earns a season pass on the DVR

Bad robot

We've got some cool Avengers 2 casting news today, courtesy of EW.com:

Avengers: Age of Ultron has its psycho robot.

James Spader has signed on to play the villain in writer-director Joss Whedon’s upcoming superhero sequel, Marvel announced today.

The film is set to open May 1, 2015.

Marvel’s announcement didn’t specify whether the three-time Emmy winner Spader (Boston Legal, The Practice) will perform motion-capture to play the mechanical being (as Mark Ruffalo does for his scenes as The Hulk), or simply provide the character’s voice.

Smart money says Spader’s commitment won’t be too intense. He’s starring in the NBC series The Blacklist this Fall, as an ex-government fugitive now helping the FBI track down the world’s most wanted criminals. That probably won’t give him a lot of time to go galavanting in a robot suit.

Whedon recently told EW’s James Hibberd about his plans for the character, an artificial intelligence with a heavy-duty god-complex, overwhelmed with rage toward his creators and longing to overtake the planet with his own spawn.

Think of him as a droid with one hell of a set of daddy issues. “As a character I love [Ultron],” Whedon says, “because he’s so pissed off.”

“I knew right away what I wanted to do with him,” Whedon added. “He’s always trying to destroy the Avengers, goddamn it, he’s got a bee in his bonnet. He’s not a happy guy, which means he’s an interesting guy. He’s got pain. And the way that manifests is not going to be standard robot stuff. So we’ll take away some of those powers because at some point everybody becomes magic, and I already have someone [a new character, Scarlet Witch] who’s a witch.”

In Marvel comics lore, Ultron is the creation of scientist Hank Pym, a.k.a. Ant-Man, a hero who has a suit that allows him to shrink to tiny proportions and a transmitter that can manipulate insects to do his bidding. Pym is a genius R&D guy, and Ultron is one of his greatest creations. But since the machine is designed to be self-aware and self-teaching, it quickly develops a narcissistic quirk in its programing that sends it off the rails into murder and mayhem.

Ultron begins rebuilding himself into more and more powerful iterations and seeks to create artificial life on his own in a twisted desire to become a parent — especially important since he feels betrayed by his own builder, Pym, when he doesn’t support his programming’s new murderous bent.

But Ant-Man, a film being co-written and directed by The World’s End filmmaker Edgar Wright, won’t be out until after the Avengers sequel. So there is a question about whether Ultron’s origin story will be changed, or if Pym will show up a little early. (Whedon has told Annalee Newitz of io9.com that he won’t.)

In footage shown at Comic-Con in July to announce the title and reveal Ultron as the new villain, it begins with a close-up of what appears to be Iron Man’s mask. We hear various lines from the assorted Avengers that were spoken in previous Marvel movies. As they bicker, the Iron Man helmet revolves and is pulverized by an unseen force.

At the end, we see the title reveal — and Iron Man’s mask has become Ultron’s grinning, fang-like metallic skull.

That has led to a lot of speculation that Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark, no slouch in the Research & Development field for new technology, may be rewritten as the creator of Ultron, whose mission is to eradicate organic life from Earth and replace it with his own mechanical offspring.

Right now, we can only guess. But one thing is for certain — this pairing of ’80s Brat Packers Downey Jr. and Spader is the most unlikely Less Than Zero reunion anyone could have imagined.

Maybe Ultron just wants Stark to give him his 50K?

UPDATE: Even Whedon has gotten in on the action, tweeting this out to his followers…

All these old Spader & Spader/Downey references and NO LOVE FOR “TUFF TURF”?!?!?! Step up your game, people! #madthrilledbtw

Getting hammered

Some people have been having some fun with the new Thor trailer that came out last week. First up we have Conan reprising a bit where he shows us why he doesn't think Chris Hemsworth is the right guy to be playing Thor.



Then someone thought it would be a good idea to smash up the new trailer with the world of Arrested Development. You can check out that end result, called 'Thorested Developement' below.

Dark matter

With The Wolverine still fresh in theaters, we already begin to shift gears and get ready for the next Marvel entry. Here's the newest trailer for Thor: The Dark World

The Sum of All Cheers

With The Avengers blowing out box office records left and right, it may be a little pointless to do a review for the film now. But given that I haven't done a full movie review in a long time and the fact that everyone still wants to talk about this movie, I don't think anyone will mind.

There were certainly a lot of high expectations going into this film. You have the rabid fans of the comics, eager to see this super team on the big screen. But you also have all of the movie fans who have sat through several individual comic book movies that primarily served to set up this film. The good news is that despite those high expectations and the task of juggling such a large cast of characters, this film is a success
Credit to director Joss Whedon for taking on such a difficult task. He has shown though that he was more than capable of the job. He does a great job of not only giving each of the main characters sufficient screen time, but gives them individual opportunities to shine. Whedon's presence is also felt throughout the film as he peppers the script with several humorous one-liners and moments that are a trademark of his work. Despite a story that deals with the possible destruction of our planet, he finds plenty of chances to keep the feel of the film light and fun.

I will say that while this movie is a pure blockbuster thrill ride, it's not a perfect film. In many ways the creation of this film mirrors the path The Avengers take themselves to come together. The first half of the film feels a bit disjointed. Like the titular team, it consists of several individually great scenes that don't really build on each other. I began to get anxious waiting for something to happen and it felt like the plot was treading water - something I did not expect given how much time was spent with character development in the heroes' individual films.

However, things finally start to gel once we move into the final battle featuring the Avengers taking on Loki (brother of Thor) and the evil alien race that is set on destroying Earth in hopes of obtaining the Tesseract, the cosmic cube containing immense energy. This final act is just pure geek heaven as you watch each of these superheroes that you have come to love and enjoy team up and kick ass in a collective effort. Finally, we get the payoff that we've all waiting for and it delivers in spades.

Yes, this movie is all about being a team, but I would be remiss if I did not take time to point some indivually great performances in the film. Of course, Robert Downey Jr. is once again terrific as the brilliant, pompous, and sarcastic Tony Stark/Iron Man. He manages to be a star without upstaging anybody else in the movie, which is no easy feat. However, the true MVP of this film may be Mark Ruffalo, who steps in to play the Hulk/Bruce Banner. In the past, Marvel has failed at trying to find someone to play the green giant, but they finally got it right here. Ruffalo gives a nuanced performance as Banner and Whedon and co. do the rest in making the Hulk the awesome, destructive force that fans want him to be. Some of the best moments in The Avengers come from watching "Hulk Smash".

Again, no one is waiting on my recommendation to see this film, but I heartily endorse it nonetheless. This is what the summer movie season is all about. This film manages to blend humor and action seemlessly and create a movie that anyone can enjoy, despite the fact that it features a guy in a metal suit, a giant green monster, and the God of Thunder. So if you're the one guy on this planet who hasn't seen it yet, go out and do so. And for the rest of you, check it out again and catch the things you may have missed (especially the two post-credit scenes - one which happens after the main credits and the other which comes after all of the credits. Each are interesting in their own unique way). Just as the Avengers assemble here united in a common goal, we too can put aside our differences and unite in support of such an enjoyable film. Grade: B+

How the Mighty have risen

While everyone waits for The Avengers to come out in a little over a month, we don't have to wait as long for the new season of The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. I caught all of the first season of this excellent cartoon through Netflix, but the new episodes will be airing in April on Disney XD. If you haven't caught this show and you're a fan of the Marvel comic, they're still available to watch on Instant Viewing through Netflix. And if you have seen the first season, here's a trailer to get you excited for Season 2.

A thing to Marvel

I'm in nerd-vana over here checking out this latest trailer for The Avengers. If you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, do so now below.

Hero squad

I'm sure everyone's seen this by now, but if not, here's the first full trailer for the highly anticipated Avengers film, set to open in theaters next May.