San Diego Comic Con news- preview night

Last night was preview night and the San Diego Comic Con is already in full swing.

The anime version of Supernatural looks to deliver the same high quality of stories with more gore and action than can be shown on TV.

JJ Abrams’ Person of Interest starring Jim Caviezel, Kevin Chapman, Michael Emerson and Taraji P. Henson was a big hit with viewers. “Person of Interest is a crime drama centered on an ex-CIA agent played by James Caviezel (The Prisoner). Presumed dead, he teams up with a mysterious billionaire (Lost‘s Michael Emerson) to prevent violent crimes in New York City.”

Person of Interest

Early reaction to JJ Abrams’ Alcatraz is extremely positive, boasting that it is the ‘new Lost.’

When San Francisco Police Department DET. REBECCA MADSEN (Sarah Jones, “Sons of Anarchy”) is assigned to a grisly homicide case, a fingerprint leads her to a shocking suspect: JACK SYLVANE (guest star Jeffrey Pierce, “The Nine”), a former Alcatraz inmate who died decades ago. Given her family history – both her grandfather and surrogate uncle, RAY ARCHER (Robert Forster, “Jackie Brown”), were guards at the prison – Madsen’s interest is immediately piqued, and once the enigmatic, knows-everything-but-tells-nothing government agent EMERSON HAUSER (Sam Neill, “Jurassic Park”) tries to impede her investigation, she’s doggedly committed. Madsen turns to Alcatraz expert and comic book enthusiast, DR. DIEGO “DOC” SOTO (Jorge Garcia, “Lost”), to piece together the inexplicable sequence of events.

Alcatraz

But what about the big sci-fi and comic book movies of 2012? Batman, Superman and the Avengers are mostly absent, but this morning Cinema Blend has plenty of images from the San Diego International Comic Con floor. The rumor was that there would be a pull back from promoting motion pictures, but from the gallery below it looks like there’s a wealth of new movies on display.

Eagle eyed readers will notice a plethora of promotion for the upcoming Ghost Rider sequel, Spirits of Vengeance, the first in a trilogy of Hunger Games adaptations, a Spider-Man-aquin and more.

Check it out!

The exhibit hall has officially opened for Preview Night of Comic Con 2011, which means we’ve gotten our first look at the booths and exclusives set up by various movie studios and TV networks. Of course the exhibition hall is huge, featuring everything from life-size C3PO replicas to– gasp!– actual comic books. But we’re a movie and TV site, so we went through the exhibition floor with a laser-like focus on all the movie and TV exclusives, which ranged from the new bike featured in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance to an exact replica of the mockingjay pin worn by Katniss in The Hunger Games (Katey will be sporting that one around San Diego if you happen to see her). In the picture of the bike below it says MIB3 behind it, but we have it on good authority that the bike belongs to Johnny Blaze, not Will Smith. Sony was promoting Men In Black 3 as well– you can also see a picture of the neuralizer from the movie in the gallery.

Take a look at our initial gallery below, and keep coming back as we add more of the sights and sounds of Comic Con Preview Night.

Ghost Rider’s motorcycle

Marvel Comics booth

Amazing Spider-Man

Ghost Rider poster

Ghost Rider banner

Another Ghost Rider poster?

Hunger Games promo

MIB3 motorcycle

The Joker’s cards from Batman: the Dark Knight

LOTS more here

Doctor Who -San Diego Comic Con Dreaming

The San Diego Comic Con is just a short time away and that means lots of announcements for future films and TV programs as well as exclusive toys! As a Doctor Who fan, I have been enjoying the Character Options line of action figures released throughout the year and look forward to discovering what their special release will be just for this event.

In the past we have had the Sixth Doctor Regeneration figure, the Real Time Sixth Doctor variant, the Fifth Doctor and the Master and from the new series a shirtsleeves version of the Eleventh Doctor packed with an exclusive colored Dalek. The San Diego Comic Con is the ideal opportunity for fans to wave their freak flags high, spending loads of dough on plastic collectibles or even dressing up as their favorite characters.

Get ready, because it's almost time

As the pop culture/retro market has blossomed, so has the market for high end items designed to meet the needs of fandom obsessed with purchasing that special something that represents their love for the favorite program. It’s not known what Character Options has up their sleeves this year, but I have a few dreams guesses that I’d like to share:

The Destroyer –We are in dire need of monsters from the Seventh Doctor’s era and along with the Ancient One, the Destroyer from 1989’s Battlefield is one of the most impressive creations of the classic program. A massive inter-dimensional demon capable of ripping universes apart, his appearance brought plenty of spectacle to the 26th series opener.

The Destroyer (Battlefield- 1989)

The Yeti –Already confirmed as being in the works, perhaps the Abominable Snowmen from the 60’s will make a surprise appearance in sunny San Diego along with a new Second Doctor variant? A fan favorite from the 60’s of Doctor Who, the Yeti are counted amongst the most popular of the classic monsters.

Character Options Yeti Prototype

The Emperor Dalek- From arguably the best Dalek story, the massive Dalek model housed into a static structure has been on the want list of fans since the new line of classic figures debuted. Is it finally time?

The Brigadier and ?-After Nicholas Courtney’s sadly recent demise, perhaps it is the perfect time to pay home to the Brig with a special two set consisting of the leader of U.N.I.T. and a classic monster, maybe Bok from the Daemons or an Auton?

Nicholas Courtney

Modern Sea Devils/Silurians –We have gotten excellent figures based on the Sea Devils from their first appearance, but what about their return engagement in 1984? Possibly packaged with an armored Silurian, this would make for an amazing set!

Silurians and Sea Devils (Warriors of the Deep- 1984)

The new Eight Doctor-We have all seen the image of Paul McGann in his newly designed costume complete with steampunk sonic screwdriver, but it has yet to grace any publicity material or CD covers. Maybe they have been waiting for the right moment to reveal the new look in style?

The Doctor (Paul McGann) in his new costume

What do you think? Do you have a most wanted character or monster that you’d like to see released by Character Options at the San Diego Comic Con? I want to hear from readers.

For any ‘other’ suggestions, please leave a comment.

You never know, maybe the folks from CO are reading!

Robert E Howard’s Solomon Kane adapted for the big screen

Straight from the pen of Robert E Howard (creator of Conan the Barbarian) comes Solomon Kane, an adventurer from a different era… the 16th Century.

Despite the setting, the film will be as much sword and supernatural content as Kane’s barbarian counterpart, Conan, pitting the puritan adventurer against zombies with only a flintlock and rapier in his defense.

Starring James Purefoy as the title character and Max von Sydow in a supporting role, the film is sure to appeal to fans of the comic book movie genre and horror/fantasy alike.

To those not already familiar with Solomon Kane, he is a cool yet grizzled hero with a bit of Batman and ‘The Man With No Name’ mixed together in his persona.

Check out this film for an idea (and sampler of Howard’s prose)

The film’s trailer premiered at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con and has already generated some love from Ain’t It Cool News reporter Harry Knowles.

Currently the movie is without an American distributer, so fans may have to wait for the DVD unless the SDCC09 viewing convinced any backers of the film’s potential.

For more on Solomon Kane, click here.

War Machine confirmed in Iron Man 2

Director John Favreau startled fans of the San Diego Comic Con today with an exclusive first look at Iron Man 2. Without an official release, we’ll have to rely on a transcript provided by ComicBookResources.com:

Spoilers abound, so stop here if you’d like to remain in the dark regarding cast members and revelations of plot details.

War Machine concept drawing by Iron Man movie artist Phil Saunders

The 5-minute long clip starts off with Tony Stark in the Iron Man armor, sans helmet, eating a donut. The camera pans back and reveals that he’s sitting in the “Randy’s Donuts” sign. Samuel L. Jackson then walks into the scene as Nick Fury, shouting at Tony Stark to come down from the donut.

The two then have donuts and coffee together. Fury asks Stark to join a superhero group, Stark insists that he is a loner.

The scene then switches to CNN coverage of a trial. Gary Shandling portrays Senator Stern, and is grilling Stark about owning a high-tech weapon. Shandling demands Stark turn the Iron Man armor over to the U.S. government. Stark insists he won’t, then utters his famous, “I am Iron Man.” He says that turning the armor in would be akin to prostitution.

Don Cheadle makes his first appearance as James Rhodes in this scene. Stark and Rhodes have a cool exchange, and then Rhodes sits down at the trial. Tony Stark tells Senator Stern that he’s “welcome” for protecting the U.S. He then turns to the reporters and shouts, “I’ve successfully privatized world peace!”

Senator Stern, not happy with Stark’s antics, drops two “fuck you!”s on Stark, both bleeped out.

UPDATED with details from Slashfilm:

A montage begins with shots of newspapers and magazines with Stark on the cover. Voice over in a Russian accent “You come from a family of thieves and butchers…” Shots of Rourke putting together his whiplash suit. A bunch of random shots, including a bunch of girls dancing in front of a display with the American flag, and Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, kicking ass. Rourke arrives at the race car track in his Whiplash suit. He activates it and the wires light up with electricity as he whips them around. Stark is bloody, in his racing suit, down on the concrete.  We see a close-up of Rourke laughing.

Cut to:  Iron Man flying through the night air, dodging missiles which explode behind him, as he blasts towards Earth.

The Iron Man 2 logo appears on the screen, along with the music.

Then we get an extra sequence. Rhodey in a air plane hanger. Justin Hammer walks over and asks what this is about and Rhodey says it’s classified. Hammer looks down at a suit, which appears to be Stark’s old Mark II armor. “Is that what I think it is?” “What can you do for us?” Hammer shows Rhodey a bunch of different weaponry. Rhodey tells Hammer “I think i’ll take it.” “Which one?” “All of it.”

Cut to: A shot of War Machine blasting off his guns.

War Machine tackles Iron Man

Ask any Iron Man comic book fan what they would like to see in a sequel and you will find War Machine in that list.

For my full article on who War Machine is, follow this link.

The addition of Don Cheadle as Jim Rhodes working with Justin Hammer as War Machine against Robert Downey Jr’s suave and collected Tony Stark should raise the bar but… how much is going on in this movie?? The only negative I can mention attached to this news is that I fear the sequel will try and cram too much into the film and end up a convoluted mess.

Or it might not, making it the sequel that we all want it to be.

Director John Favreau really hit it out of the park with his superhero debut Iron Man and it is looking like he will be repeating that success next Summer when Iron Man 2 arrives. Additionally, Favreau had little to say about the Avengers project waiting at the end of the next Iron Man 2 – Thor -Captain America movies but did say that the design work on Thor is exceptional.

Like many of you reading this, I dearly wish that I was in San Diego today.

UPDATED:

Here is a still image of War Machine from the 5 minute preview:

Marvelman Returns!

This just in via the streaming live blog coverage of the San Diego Comic Con, Marvel Comics now owns the rights to the ground-breaking UK superhero series by Alan Moore and later Neil Gaimian… Marvel Man (AKA Miracle Man).

Marvelman (AKA Miracle Man)

Almost unknown in the US, Marvelman was a British answer to Captain Marvel of Fawcett Comics fame (and was even initially named Captain Marvel!) published by Mick Anglo.  Young Micky Moran received atomic powers from a strange physicist (but aren’t they all?). By reciting the magical word ‘Kimota!’ he would transform into the superpowered being called Marvelman. Later teaming up with Young Marvelman and Kid Marvelman (you can see why they got sued by Fawcett), the series ran with some success but is known today thanks to the intervention of the king of post-modern comics.

Brought back to life for Warrior Magazine by Alan Moore  (who would later gain critical acclaim for writing V for Vendetta, the Watchmen, From Hell and Swamp Thing), the new version of  the superhero was a more sophisticated take on the genre than readers had ever seen before. Finding new meaning in the original ideas the new Marvelman comics used the fusion of alien and human biology as the basis of its hero rather than magic or atomic energy. Utilizing the innocent original comics as a fake memory implanted in Micky Moran’s mind, the hero discovered the truth and even encountered a socipoathic killer Kid Marvelman as a nemesis. On the flipside of things, the comic also featured the first graphic depiction of childbirth I have ever seen as the first superhuman baby was born.

After Alan Moore left the character, relative newcomer Neil Gaiman took the reigns with artist Mark Buckingham. Reprinted in the US as Miracleman by Pacific and Eclipse Comics, the series fell out of print as the many publishers that held these adventures went out of business.

The rights of the material have kept these hard-to-find comics from seeing the light of day. A brutal legal battle errupted in 1996 between Neil Gaiman (who owned a ‘portion’ of the character through a gentleman’s agreement with the publisher) and Todd McFarlane who had visions of action figures and battles with Spawn in his head. Nothing much came of it and the Marvelman comics remained a kind of cult comic book that only a select few had read… until now.

At the 2009 San Diego Comiccon today, Editor-in-chief Joe Quesada revealed a hidden Marvelman T-Shirt and announced that Marvel now had the rights to Marvelman. Marvel Comics has apparently come to an agreement with Mick Anglo and are planning some earth shattering comic books, hopefully including the reprints of these classic comics.

Make no mistake, this is huge news that has been coming for many years.