Week Links: X-Men, Fantastic 4, and more

Okay, it's been a while since I put up some links, so here's a collection from the past month or so. In other news, my list of 2012 movies is up. Chronicle takes first place on the list, as being a great take on the superhero origin story. Red Tails features a bunch of awesome dogfights and... well, that's about all. Meanwhile, Underworld: Awakening was filled with "meh." Also, Haywire was all about a concept, but other than the fact that it starred a woman, was simply a totally generic Bourne rip-off.

Build Your Own Taser

io9 provides instructions on how to build a taser, eighteenth century-style. It seems pretty simple, though I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. I'll let you know if I manage to electrocute myself.

Vaughn returns to X-Men

It's taken some time for Fox to get this rolling, but the sequel for X-Men: First Class is getting underway. Director Matthew Vaughn has signed on to direct, which unfortunately probably rules out the possibility of him directing

Nazis in Space!

I hope this goes beyond the awesome concept, thought like Cowboys & Aliens, it may not end up being any better than the trailers, but the basic concept of this movie is that Nazis established a base on the dark side of the moon, and will invade when Sarah Palin becomes president. Watch it at io9 or over at /Film.

Another Dwarf for The Hobbit

Because there wasn't enough bearded goodness already, Peter Jackson has just cast Billy Connolly to play Dain Ironfoot. For those of you unaware, Dain is a Dwarven leader that shows up near the end of the book. This probably means Connolly will appear in the second film, thought a cameo in the first isn't out of the question.

Fantastic Four reboot moving forward

After those movies starring Jessica Alba, Captain America and a couple of other people, FOX is looking to reboot the Fantastic Four and maintain their other superhero franchise. Initial reports suggested that FOX was looking at Chronicle director Josh Trank to take the reins, but Trank has denied any knowledge of this, and so far nothing has been announced.

New trailer for The Amazing Spider-man

It looks pretty awesome. Andrew Garfield seems to have a better sense of Peter Parker's snark than Tobey Maguire, and depending on how the Lizard works out.