Hello and welcome!
I have a lot I'd like to cover since I've been gone for quite some time.
First..... Lots of different news items in the last couple of months about WB's big "Superman v. Batman: Dawn of Justice". Jason Momoa was cast as the trident wielding Aquaman which makes for an interesting choice just from the basic look. While Arthur has typically been a blonde fella Momoa is definitively not that with a more exotic look. I'm excited for the casting, but I hope that they do not take too many liberties with the core story of the character. There have also been recent set shots of Henry Cavill in Clark Kent garb, and a studio shot of him in front of what appears to be Gotham city. Lot of little tidbits, but no main encore at this point. Newsworthy, to this blogger at least, is that director Zach Snyder has stated he has no interest in delving into Batman's origins. I'm happy that someone has finally had the courage to say "hey everybody knows the story of the god damned Batman if not they have the internet". While I have my concerns about this project I'm excited to see what a polished, grizzled, war-worn Batman looks like. The additions of the Bat-family will really open up the WB cinematic universe to ample opportunities for new film ventures.
Second.... The scoundrels over at Latino Review have a juicy rumor about the finale of "Avengers: Age of Ultron" with regards to Mark Ruffalo's Hulk. I won't go in to spoiler territory, but suffice to say it would make for a very interesting Hulk solo film. I quite enjoyed "The Incredible Hulk" and I think it is criminally underrated in it's place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I attribute this to the fact that Edward Norton was shown the door and the role was recast for the first team-up masterstroke. As with all Latino Review news I wouldn't put money on it's voracity, but it makes for interesting conversation.
Third... A short time ago on a movie set not so far away Harrison Ford broke his leg while filming the highly anticipated "Star Wars: Episode VII: The Search for more Money." I'm clearly a Ford fan from my "Indiana Jones" hero worship, but I have to say I think the poor guy is snake bit (pun so not intended). Seems like every movie that requires action ends up with the poor guy in traction, or he gets sick on location during the filming. The early word was that the injury would possibly delay the project again, but it appears that JJ Abrams and crew are going to try to work around and get some other things done while Ford is out. Early reports are that Han Solo will be a main focus in this first entry into the new trilogy.
Fourth..... On the page there are a lot of interesting things going on. At Marvel the big hit, in this blogger's opinion, is "Original Sin". Written by Jason Aaron this epic focuses on the impacts on the Marvel universe after the Watcher is murdered and someone uses his eye to release a plethora of deep, dark secrets. After several big event outings with Brian Michael Bendis Marvel gave the keys to Aaron and so far he has hit a home run. He has introduced new and unheard of pairings (Doctor Strange and the Punisher for example) and put them in otherworldly settings to investigate the Watcher's death. Aaron's wit and respect for the history of the Marvel library comes through in his work. For instance, during one tense interrogation scene (with Hulk & Wolverine as the interrogators) the subject asks "what is this the good cop bad cop routine?" To which Logan replies "More like the Stab Cop Smash Cop routine". Lots of good nuggets like that and other new editions to the canon make it a totally worthwhile read.
A lot more hit and miss with DC as production issues delayed the "Nightwing" and "Forever Evil" finales to the point that they started spoiling the ending to their own event in a sneak preview of the stellar first issue of the Johns/Romita Jr./Janson "Superman". Bleeding Cool ran the original edition of the final "Nightwing" in an art only form and I found it to be superior to the finale they ended up going with even with no dialogue. As I said "Superman" was pretty awesome out of the gate, but I always have to approach the big, blue, boyscout with cautious optimism because his success doesn't seem to last. Scott Snyder is winding down his "Zero Year" opus before Batman is kicked five years into the future in conjunction with "Future's End". I'd like to read "Batman Eternal" and "Future's End" but there is no way I'm buying a weekly comic. It would be really awesome to see Snyder add on to another Frank Miller work with a supplement to the "Dark Knight Returns" (much like "Zero Year" is an addition to the phenomenal "Batman: Year One"), but I imagine that is wishful thinking at this point.
Finally..... Lot of great things going on now for comic fans! Pretty soon "Arrow" will return to the small screen along with "Constantine", "Flash", "iZombie", and "Gotham". Not to mention "Marvel Agents of SHIELD" season two, and the first season of "Agent Carter" as well. We also have two more summer blockbuster releases with "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and "Guardians of the Galaxy" set for August releases. We are living in an unprecedented era for comics and related media and I encourage you dear reader to live it up to the fullest.
Thanks for reading and I will catch you next time at The Comic Shop!
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