Some strange fanboy news afoot on this day of Sith: Avi Arad announces Kelsey Grammer will play Beast in X3. Also, Angel and Kitty Pryde have yet to be cast, although Maggie Grace of Lost is apparently in the running for the latter. (On the villain side, we already knew Vinnie Jones is Juggernaut.) That’s…weird. But y’know, I could actually see it working.
Category: Marvel
A Simple Plan.
Sam Raimi declares he’s up for directing a whopping six Spiderman movies in total. That’s a bold statement. I mean, has he seen Superman IV: The Quest for Peace? (And speaking of the Big Guy, Blue Tights has posted an intriguing behind-the-scenes look at Supes’ three-axis flying rig.)
Ghost Riders in the Sky.
Two superheroes made their first public appearance today. First up, and more importantly, is Brandon Routh in full Superman regalia. He looks…ok, I suppose. To be honest, I’m getting a fanboy conventioner vibe from this pic, but I think I’d probably feel that way about anybody but Christopher Reeve in the Big Red Boots. Meanwhile, our first shot of Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze has also popped up, although there’s not much to see quite yet, and unfortunately his head isn’t on fire.
Mean Machine.
Word is ex-footballer Vinnie Jones, also of Lock Stock and Snatch, may suit up as one of the X3 villains, namely Juggernaut. That’s a right good fit, innit?
Rogues’ Gallery.
In Marvel film news, the Fantastic Four trailer from ShoWest makes it online (nope, still not feeling it), and there’s more talk of the villains for X3 and Spidey 3: Dark Phoenix and (as I guessed…booyah) The Sandman respectively.
Spider in a Bottle.
Sideways sidekick Thomas Haden Church is cast as one of the villains in the next Spidey, although they haven’t announced which one yet. My guess is The Sandman.
Fanboy Cornucopia.
Thanks to ShoWest and otherwise, there’s been quite a bit of fanboy news to come down the pike in the past few days…
- In the casting department, Parker Posey joined the legion of Superman as “Kitty Koslowski,” one of Lex Luthor’s minions. Hopefully, it’s a better villainess turn than in Blade: Trinity.
- Not to be outdone by the son of Krypton, a spiffy new Batman Begins poster premieres online.
- Rounding out the DC trifecta, Buffy mastermind Joss Whedon is signed to write and direct Wonder Woman.
- On the Marvel end, AICN uncovers the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters’ new additions for X3…this time around will include Beast, Gambit, and a female Angel.
- In the midst of the press junket for Woody Allen’s Melinda & Melinda, Chloe Sevigny inadvertently lets on that the Black Cat will likely complicate Peter Parker’s life in the next Spiderman.
- Looking for direction (and cash flow) in the upcoming post-prequel era, George Lucas announces he’ll be re-releasing the OT in Cameron-style 3-D.
- Ang Lee prepares to go back to the well with a prequel to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (I’ll take it over another Hulk.)
- Among the recent new trailers is our first look at Michael Bay’s The Island, with Ewan MacGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi, and Michael Clarke Duncan. I generally can’t stand Michael Bay films, but it is sci-fi and the cast isn’t bad.
- The new Hitchhiker’s Guide site goes live, which includes this splendid shot of Arthur and Marvin enjoying (as much possible, given the terrible pain in all his diodes down his left side) an intergalactic sunset.
- Finally, the very Independence Day-ish full trailer for War of the Worlds is out-and-about, which involves a lot of Tom Cruise running, Dakota Fanning crying, and random things detonating. Is Spielberg trying to out-Bay Bay?
Have your cake and eat it too.
Big doings for the cast and crew of Layer Cake, a Guy Ritchie-like London crime film coming out this summer. Its director, Matthew Vaughn, will take Bryan Singer’s place in the X3 director’s chair, and its star, Daniel Craig, is apparently on the short list for the new Bond (along with Nip/Tuck‘s Julian McMahon.) Of those two, I’d go with Craig.
Trip the Light Fantastic.
A set of new Fantastic Four images materialize online, along with the new teaser poster. Hmmm, ok…Johnny Storm’s “flame-on” doesn’t look half-bad, I suppose.
I am the Resurrection.
By way of the new-look DYFL, the X-Men try to figure out what it takes to die for good in the Marvel universe in the flash film Death Becomes Them. Claremont, like nature, always finds a way.