James Spader to be Avengers Sequel's Ultron

The next instalment of the Avengers cinematic series is 2015's "Avengers: Age of Ultron", there's been a lot of talk about the upcoming addition to the Marvel cinematic universe recently, such as new characters ( with the possibility of the Wasp making an appearance ), a possible death of one of the lead characters, and now Marvel have revealed the actor set to play the robotic villain of the film, Ultron, that actor is James Spader.

Now, I'm assuming Spader will only be voicing the character in the film. I'm not familiar with any of the actor's work, but if he was chosen by Joss Whedon ( who did a pretty good job with the first film ), he's probably a good choice for the job.

The Avengers: Age of Ultron is directed by Joss Whedon and supposedly stars the main cast of the first movie; Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Scarlet Johhanson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson; along with new additions including James Spader and more. It's due to be released on May 1st 2015.

(Source: Marvel)

SDCC 2013: Marvel show off new images of Lego, Skottie Young and Deadpool variants, Infinity covers and more!

Here are some more images that Marvel have put out from the Retailer meeting at San Diego Comic-Con 2013 earlier today, they seem to be teasing some interesting stuff here!

(Source: Bleeding Cool)

SDCC 2013: Marvel announce plans for Marvel NOW! two

Today, during the retail meeting at San-Diego Comic-Con 2013, Marvel talked about their plans to launch a second phase of Marvel NOW!. This means that several Marvel series still running from before the Marvel NOW! initiative was launched will be getting renumbered and several new ones will be released.

As well as this news, Marvel also showed the reception that the first batch of Marvel NOW! books got:

(Source: Bleeding Cool)

Comics Catch-up: Avenging Spider-Man #21 ( What you need to know )

Welcome to Comics Catch-up! This feature is where I help to get you up to speed for some of the biggest books out this week. This edition, Avenging Spider-Man! Here's what you need to know before reading #21...

Avenging Spider-Man 21

I'm sure you all already know what's going on with Spider-Man's head right now, but just in case, Doctor Octopus is inside Peter Parker/Spider-Man's head. Basically, Doc Ock is now Spider-Man. Ock has been collecting members of the Sinister Six, he currently is holding Sandman and Electro and is now after the Chameleon. There are a few problems here though, since the Chameleon is being held by S.H.I.E.L.D., in their Helicarrier, a mile above the earth. Oh, and the Chameleon is being targeted the KGB and wanted dead. Not too hard to get to him then....

After taking out an A.I.M. cell, Ock is taken aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier by Nick Fury Jr. , where he meets Agent Coulson, Hawkeye and Black Widow who, after Spider-Man's recent "odd" behaviour ( and by odd I mean killing one of his enemies and brutalising many other ), aren't too happy to see him on the helicarrier.

Ock sent his Spider-bots throughout the entire helicarrier and tired to track down what he was looking for, The Chameleon.

Then, everything went wrong. Otto had turned off all of the helicarrier's power ( But kept it in the air ), this allowed a group of armed attackers to board the ship and kill a large number of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. As well as this, the Chameleon escaped from his cell, murdered his guard and stole the face of his doctor. The two attackers attempted to kill Spider-Man while he was overcome with guilt but he managed to escape, while trying to track down the Chameleon, Spider-Man ended up coming into contact with Bruce Banner A.K.A. the not very happy Hulk.

So Spider-Man, Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Nick Fury Jr., Agent Phil Coulson, Maria Hill and the surviving S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are trapped on a powerless helicarrier a mile above the Earth with a group of trained and armed killers coming after them. Oh, and one of Spider-Man's oldest enemies is walking around the helicarrier wearing the face of his murdered doctor. Not much to worry about then...

Avenging Spider-Man #21 is released today, Wednesday the 29th of May, written by Chris Yost with interior pencils by Marco Checchetto.

Review: Age of Ultron #8

Cover to Age of Ultron #8

You may remember that my review of the last issue of this series wasn't very positive, I found it a bit dull and was annoyed that they'd just erased most of the story and a lot of the characters I was looking forward to seeing more of in this series. I think this issue was quite a big improvement.

Although you don't get to see the heroes of the old universe again, I do think they did a good job of making you care about the characters in the alternate universe, and I actually enjoyed seeing the changes between the old universe and this one, and it was interesting to see what the Marvel Universe turned out like without Hank Pym, one of the founding avengers and the creaor of Ultron.

Bendis has come up with interesting consequences of Hank Pym dying years ago, including the most of Avengers and X-Men being completely different to their regular counterparts, and the personalities of some so different they feel like completely new characters. He wrote the tension of the heroes of this universe when  they found out that there were alternate versions of Wolverine and Sue Storm really well and seeing the team argue and fight about the alternate heroes was actually quite a good read.

The art in this issue by Brandon Peterson is brilliant, I wasn't keen on the series' art change at first because I loved Bryan Hitch's work on the first issues of the series, but Peterson has done a great job on the issue, and   the page showing (SPOILERS) the Helicarrier crashing into the city below was amazing.

I had two problems with this issue, first off, there was no appearance of Ultron in this issue, which is always a bit disappointing when buying a series called "Age of Ultron", hopefully the character is back in a big way in the final two issues of the series. The second is that I think there was a lot of unused opportunities to show what became of a lot of the other heroes in this universe, such as Spider-Man or Hawkeye, instead it focused on a group of Avengers and X-Men (along with the Thing, Ben Grimm).

Overall, an interesting issue, but I think it could've used the idea of this alternate timeline more to show different characters.

Rating: 7/10

Interview: Joshua Hale Fialkov talks Alpha: Big Time, I Vampire, Ultimates and more!

CrimsonSquire: First off, Hi, Josh! Thanks for doing the interview!

We’re going to start off with some questions about one of your current books, I Vampire,

Now, the lead in your book, Andrew Bennet, isn’t an extremely well known character, does it feel more difficult to write a book about a character who’s not a household name?

I, vampire #19, the final issue in the series.

Joshua Hale Fialkov: It has it's pros and cons.  The mainstream superhero comic market is always somewhat resistant to books that don't have Bats or Spiders or Avengers on the covers, and I think that a mainstream superhero horror book is something that hasn't really broken through in thirty years or so, with the exception of maybe the Marvel Zombies stuff.  So from that standpoint it was a bit of an uphill battle.  But, the benefit is that people know less about these characters and their expectations are much less set in stone.

CS: With the series coming to a close soon, do you feel you’ve accomplished what you wanted to with these characters, or do you feel there are more stories you’d want to tell?

JHF: To some degree.  Once we knew we were cancelled, we'd already started a storyline that I didn't want to abandon, but, at the same time, didn't really have room for it and the ending.  But, y'know, even having any forknowledge at all is a lucky thing, and, I'm certainly proud of what we did in these last few issues, particularly in the final one.

CS: Do you feel more of a sense of creative freedom when writing a book like I vampire, considering there’s more to explore in that corner of the DCU?

JFH: Work for Hire comics are always that, work made for hire.  So, it's DC's book, just like Alpha is Marvel's book, or Echoes is my book.  So, there's going to be restrictions and guidelines you are expected to follow.  I think I, Vampire certainly flew under the radar frequently, but, there was still editorial oversight, like there always is.  Again, I think considering all of the things the book had against it from the jump, DC did stand by it, and we got to do a comic that at the very least is completely different from anything else in the New 52. 

CS: Josh, in a few months you’ll be taking on the writing duties on the Ultimates, is this an intimidating task, considering the history this title has?

Ultimate Comics Ultimates #25,
Fialkov's first issue.

JHF: I love being challenged, and Ultimates has definitely been one.  It's certainly the most iconic of the Ultimate books other than Spider-Man, and has a pretty rich history of great creators.  But, I can't really think about that.  I get to tell stories with some of my favorite versions of some of my favorite characters on a canvas that's far bigger than anything I could ever have hoped for.  Almost nothing is off the table, and in my first couple of issues, the status quo of both the team AND the Universe as a whole get tossed on their ear.

CS: Do you feel like you have more control over the Ultimates than other Marvel characters since they’re not part of the 616 universe?

JHF: Oh yeah, we get to have semi-regular conversations with EVERY one of the creators working in the universe, for a start.  So, we all know what each other are doing in far more detail than I think is even possible in the 616.  I like to think of the Ultimate Universe as a bit of the test kitchen for Marvel characters, too.  We get to really experiment and upend expectations in a way that's really liberating and exciting.  Honestly, it's been better than I ever could have dreamed.

CS: Do you take a different approach to writing characters that are household names like Thor compared to someone like Andrew Bennet?

JHF: To some degree, because established characters have more clearly established wants and goals driving them.  With Andrew, I pretty much kept the bulk of what JM DeMatteis had established, but, had a free hand to write the character from scratch.  Here, people know what Ultimate Thor or Ultimate Hulk or Ultimate Cap sound like, and how they think, so, you have to be true to that.

Hulk. With two Infinity Gauntlets.

CS: Is there anything you’re aloud to tease about your run on Ultimates?

JHF: Well, if Hulk with two infinity gauntlets isn't enough to bring you, I don't know what is.

CS: Onto some questions about one of your current books, Alpha: Big Time (which I’m really enjoying By the way!)

JHF: Thank you!

CS: Alpha started off his comic book life as a bit of a jerk, by the end of the series do you think Andy’ll become less jerky?

JHF: I dunno, the path from being a teenage jerk to being an adult not-jerk (or adult less-of-a-jerk) is a pretty long one.  I hope people understand him more by the end of the miniseries.

CS: Alpha: Big Time is over half way through it’s run, when it’s done do you think Alpha will still have a lot of story potential, any more that you’d like to write?

Alpha, Big time #5, the final issue.

JHF: Both Nuno and I are heartbroken that it's ending.  It's bar none the most fun I've had writing a book in so long.  He's so brash and foolish and self-centered, that it taps into all the worst parts of my personality (or, some would say, personality problem), so getting to exorcise that part of me is liberating in a very big way. 

CS: Andy’s obviously still learning to be a good superhero, how does it feel to tell the story of his journey?

JHF: My real background is in coming of age stories... If you look at, for example, ELK'S RUN or ECHOES, those are both stories about people growing up by the force of the circumstances around them.  This is very much in that vein.  And again, I spend so much of my time writing dark, twisted stories, that getting to tell something that's light and fun is really, really exciting.  Although, it gets pretty twisted before it's over. 

CS: In the last issue of the book, Andy developed a new power, or powers, Super senses. Can we expect this change to play a big part in the last two issues, and for Andy’s future?

Alpha, Big time #4. Guest starring Thor.

JHF: Oh yeah.  One of the big things Thomas Brennan and Steve Wacker tasked us with was really clearing up his powers and his purpose in the Marvel Universe.  So, the idea of giving him super senses to go with his other powers just seemed right for where he's going. 

CS: Can we expect anymore established Marvel characters in the book?

JHF: We've got more Superior Spider-Man, obviously, and, issue 4 has Thor show up to give Alpha some 'God to God-like powered teenager' advice.  It's awesome.  Verily awesome. 

CS: What can you tell us about the final two issues of the series? 

JHF: They're a really, really fun ride, and Nuno Plati is doing the work of his career on the book.  I really hope folks give it a look, cause, it's honestly one of my favorite things I've ever worked on

CS: Thanks, Josh!


I, Vampire #19 is out in stores now, Alpha: Big Time #4 is released May 8th and Josh Fialkov's run on Ultimate comics Ultimates starts with #25 in June.
You can also catch Josh on his website, thefialkov.com , and his twitter, @JoshFialkov .

Thor: The Dark World trailer released.

Today, Marvel released the first Trailer for the second Thor film, "Thor: The Dark World". This movie comes after last year's Avengers movie, and, judging by what we've seen today, it looks pretty good.

So, what we can see from the trailer is Thor has returned to Earth, we're not too sure if his main montive was to see Jane Foster, or because he knew about the threat which I guess for now we'll call, "Darkness". He then goes back to Asgard, with Jane and we see a few battles, and Odin.

The end of trailer is the best part, I think, with the return of Loki, being recruited by Thor to fight this threat.

But did anybody else see BRITISH poilce at 0:42?

Thor: The Dark World is released later this year, starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christopher Eccleston and Tom Hiddleston.

Guardians of the Galaxy, set in the future of a different dimension?

Guardians of the Galaxy concept art.

Today, Bleeding Cool reported on a casting call for the upcoming Guardians of Galaxy movie, Reading through the list of requests including Amputees and Bald people, I noticed something interesting. Every description included a line reading "For new Marvel superhero film about a team of super heroes who protect the galaxy in the future of an alternate dimension".

Now, I know this was the case with the original Guardians of the Galaxy comics created in 1969, but I think a lot of people were under the impression this'd be set in the same time and universe as the Avengers films (also, pretty sure the current comics are set in the current 616 timeline ). Well, I guess it's not the case for the film.

I'm wondering if there's still anyway to get any Avengers involved, since that seems to be one of Marvel's biggest selling points for most of their films. But to be honest, if it's got an Avenger, most people WILL go and see it.

Here's the Bleeding Cool article I spotted it in: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/04/19/who-wants-to-be-in-guardians-of-the-galaxy-it-helps-if-youre-an-albino-bald-or-missing-a-limb/

By the way, didn't notice the bit at the bottom of their article, so it could be known news by now.