X-Ray Vision

Well you have probably noticed a lack of posts this week. I have had some job interviews, other work to do, and most time consuming of all, I have been cataloging my entire comic collection. I am having to sell off big chunks to not only fund an apartment, but also make sure there is room for me to live in said apartment. Do not worry though, I will be back with regular updates soon! For the meantime I ask you to bear with me and keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times.

I must admit that selling my comics is making me a sad Hulk.

There have been a lot of rumors circulating about which villains will be in Spider-Man 4 and who will play them. Will the Lizard be the only villain? Will Bruce Campbell play Mysterio? Will Tobey Maguire ever stop looking like a sissy? One of the rumors I was hoping would have some truth behind it has, alas, let me down. Rachel McAdams was widely said to be a virtual lock for the role of Felicia Hardy AKA Black Cat. That was of course assuming Black Cat would actually be in Spider-Man 4.

Well, these rumors finally reached Rachel McAdams herself, and she wasted no time in squashing them. I don’t know who started this particular rumor, but it is not nice to play with my emotions like that. Rachel McAdams would have made a good Black Cat, she definitely can pull off a sassy attitude, and we all know she looks good. I would skip out on Kirsten Dunst any day to be with McAdams. Now we can only wonder at what could have been, as we continue to speculate on who will be in Spider-Man 4.

Since I don’t know how the Rachel McAdams rumor got started, I have decided to give starting rumors a shot. If anybody asks you about Spider-Man 4 tell them Sean Connery has been cast as the Vulture. His costume will look like this:

I don’t know how many of you watch the show Chuck, but if you don’t I think you should. First off, it has Yvonne Strahovski, who is extremely attractive. Secondly, it has Zachary Levy in the titular role of Chuck. He is a good actor, funny, and fits the nerd mold very well.

It also turns out that Levi was cast in the upcoming Thor movie! Unfortunately he had to back out because NBC ordered 6 more episodes of Chuck, but I figure that is a fair trade-off. Perhaps the best part of this is the extra information learned from Levi’s original casting. He was cast as Fandral of the Warriors Three. While Levi might not be in Thor, I have decided that he has made a wonderful contribution by being the first official announcer that the Warriors Three will be in Thor. I am pumped to see Volstagg and Hogun the Grim make the big screen debuts. In return for this favor Zachary Levi has done for this, we should all watch Chuck so it doesn’t get cancelled. As a bonus incentive, Yvonne Strahovski will be in every episode.

Ryan Reynolds is currently playing two superheroes in movies, Green Lantern for DC and Deadpool for Marvel. There were also rumors swirling around him possibly playing the Flash, but that looks unlikely to highly doubtful considering his Green Lantern role. Now news has come out that he was also being considered for the lead role in the Shazam movie. Shazam writer Bill Birch had Ryan Reynolds as his first choice to play Captain Marvel. Hell, they probably could have used some CGI to make him Billy Batson too.

Apparently Ryan Reynolds is as close to a superhero as an actual man can get. He has been considered for all these roles because of his quick wit and dashing good looks. The guy could have been born for the single purpose of starring in comic book movies. I mean he was even in Blade Trinity as Hannibal King. He was hilarious in that. By now you should all know that I have a man crush on Reynolds, but even putting that aside, I would like to nominate him for MVP of the comic book to movie scene. Sure his Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine was pretty bad, but that’s not his fault. His Wade Wilson scenes were by far the best parts of that movie. Today I salute you Ryan Reynolds.

Also, a happy Veteran’s Day to everyone and thanks to all those who have served the country. That makes you every bit as cool as Ryan Reynolds and even Batman.

I have recently gotten into the show Mad Men. I had no idea that the world of 60’s advertising could be so interesting, or a salesman as thug as Don Draper. Seriously, Draper is just the epitome of a man’s man. Kind of reminds you of another fictional manly man who was alive and sporting a great hairdo in the 60’s. Wolverine.

MadAtoms writer Geoffrey Golden and artist Jordan Monsell have compared the two characters and made a mash-up I like to call WolverDon. Okay, the name needs work. I absolutely love this idea, they not only draw the amalgamated character, but give a description of the similar traits between the X-Men character and the Mad Men character. In WolverDon’s case, both Wolverine and Don Draper get women and basically do whatever they feel like. I am looking forward to seeing more characters they come up with, and possibly relationships between other comics and shows as well. Maybe an Entourage/Fantastic Four mash-up? E would totally be the Invisible Woman. Check out the first four Mad Men X-Men mash-ups at MadAtoms .

Happy Guy Fawkes Day everybody! For those of you who aren’t history buffs, Guy Fawkes planned the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He wanted to blow up the Houses of Parliament and get rid of the Protestants. He is now widely known as a symbol of anarchy.

Of course this isn’t a history blog, this is a comic blog. It is more likely that you remember the 5th of November from V for Vendetta. The exact lines were:

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

So go get your anarchist on tonight if you feel the need, but I will be celebrating by watching Natalie Portman and her shaved head. If you haven’t seen the movie I highly recommend it. I haven’t read the comic, I recommend it even more. I think both of those are better options for celebrating than trying to overthrow your local government.

I think one of the main things that draws pretty much everybody into comics is the artwork. There is such a wide range of styles, from goofy to extra realistic, that there is something to be found for everyone. That is one of the reasons why I like real artistic looks into comic characters.

One of the coolest things I’ve seen in a while is a series of drawings over at Abduzeedo. This guy by the name of Enymy has taken a Marvel character for each letter of the alphabet and done some really great drawings. I especially like the Captain America and Punisher drawings. There’s really not much I can say about these except that they are fantastic. I think it would be better to let the drawings speak for themselves, so hurry up and check them out.

Nickelodeon has bought the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for about $60 million. That’s a good amount of cash, I’ll bet Peter Laird is happy. Now the Ninja Turtles will get the type of marketing and resources a large corporation can provide just like the Marvel and Disney deal.

Unfortunately this deal didn’t work out like that. Mirage Studios will be closed down, Nickelodeon will make a new Ninja Turtles cartoon, and no more trade paperbacks will be made. That blows. Basically Nickelodeon has entirely shut down all forms of the classic Ninja Turtles series, allowing 18 more comics a year that can’t be collected into a trade paperback, and taking the turtles in a new direction. I grew up with the Ninja Turtles, both the comic versions and the old cartoons. This is like watching a little piece of my childhood die. I have officially decided that Disney should destroy Nickelodeon and save Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, and Leonardo.

According to the blog MarketSaw The Lizard will be the villain in Spider-Man 4. Not only that, but he will be the only villain! No more mucking about with 4 different supervillains like in Spider-Man 3. Sam Raimi seems to be doing everything in his power to make us forget that atrocity.

The thing I really like about The Lizard being chosen as the villain is it will allow us to see another side of Spider-Man. It is often overlooked that Peter Parker has a very high IQ, I mean come on he was the nerd stereotype before he got bitten by that radioactive spider. It is about time we see him use his mind along with his brawn to defeat an opponent. The Lizard gives us the perfect opportunity to showcase this aspect of Spider-Man. Not only will he have to beat up The Lizard, he will have to find a cure to revert Dr. Curt Connors to his normal self. I am now officially pumped up for this movie.

Anthony Hopkins has officially been announced as Odin in the upcoming Thor movie. This came as somewhat of a surprise, since there were rumors circulating that Brian Blessed was a lock for the role of Odin. Apparently this was an example of why not all rumors should be heeded.

Hopkins brings some big star power to Thor, the man certainly has some acting credentials. I’m just not sure how well he will fit the role of Odin. I think Blessed has a more Odin esque look to him, but I’m sure Hopkins will do a good job. He is a high caliber actor, I’ll just have to try hard to not picture him as a cannibal or saying anything about Clarice.

As far as Blessed goes, he has seemed to have some sort of connection to the film, so who knows? We might see him as Volstagg since Fandral of the Warriors Three has already been announced to have a role in the film. This is just another rumor, so it is entirely possible the only connection Blessed will have to Thor is watching the movie. I would like to see him as Volstagg though. Mainly I just want Volstagg in the movie.