Has Age of Ultron found its new Avengers?

It's been a few months since Joss Whedon suggested he was adding Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch to Avengers: Age of Ultron, and now it looks like he's found the actors to play the Maximoff twins.
According to a source no less than Samuel L. Jackson himself, Elizabeth Olsen has been cast as Wanda Maximoff, the reality-bending Scarlet Witch. Deadline says the deal is all but done, and that means that the Olsen twins' little sister will be joining--and probably fighting--the Avengers and Ultron in 2015.
Meanwhile, reports say that Aaron Taylor-Johnson has signed up to play her twin brother Quicksilver. Taylor-Johnson is best known for playing Kick-Ass, so he's no stranger to super hero roles. Quicksilver (effectively) has the same super-speed powers as DC's Flash and The Incredibles' Dash. Plus Bryan Singer's X-Men: Days of Future Past is going to be bringing another version of Quicksilver (played by Kick-Ass co-star Evan Peters) to the big screen next year, while Glee's Grant Gustin will be playing the Flash on the CW's Arrow. Taylor-Johnson is going to have his work cut out for him. Meanwhile, Marvel announced that James Spader has signed up to play the villainous AI, Ultron.

It's official: Robert Downey Jr. to return as Iron Man

Marvel.com announced today that Robert Downey Jr. has signed a two picture deal to return as Iron Man/Tony Stark for Avengers 2 & 3. It's good news for Marvel fans, even if this news implies that no more Iron Man solo films are in development. I really can't imagine an Avengers film without RDJ, though I hope the future films don't focus on Tony Stark as heavily as the first Avengers did. The Avengers 2 is scheduled to start production in March 2014 and open May 1, 2015.

My favorite movies and comics of 2012

Time to look at my favorite things from 2012, a follow up to last year. It was an eventful year. We had a presidential election. The world failed to end. The economy did bad stuff. You know, the usual. World and political stuff isn't what this blog's about though. This was the year of Call Me Maybe and 50 Shades of Gray. More importantly to me, it was the year that The Avengers, The Hobbit, and The Dark Knight Rises all hit the silver screen. Creatively, I was on stage a few times, and even on camera. I've started a new novel (YA fantasy) and I'm working on a comic (superheroes). I'll post updates on both here in the future. Anyway on to the things I loved about 2012.

My Favorite Moments from The Avengers

In celebration of The Avengers release on DVD and Blu-Ray, here's a blog about the movie that set the opening weekend domestic record. Joss Whedon and Marvel have turned in one of the best comic book movies ever, and I suspect that whether you pick it over or after Spider-man 2 or The Dark Knight depends more on your preference for the heroes involved. Personally, I can only say The Avengers was the greatest movie I have seen in years. Whedon crafted a script filled with humor and the all-important "F*** Yeah" moments that superhero movies thrive on. More importantly, the film lets every character shine, and that, more than anything, is what makes The Avengers work. This is a movie about a team, and not any one character. After the jump, I'll take a spoiler-filled look at my favorite scenes from my #1 movie this year.

Spoilers follow, but it's out DVD so you should have seen it by now.

Joss Whedon signed for Avengers 2

I don't think there's much doubt that a big part of The Avengers success was due to writer/director Joss Whedon's handling of the characters and lovingly comic sensibilities. Well now the good news is he's going to back for Avengers 2, but it gets even better (at least for Marvel). Marvel has Whedon signed to an exclusive contract for film and television through June 2015. This suggests that Avengers 2 will be landing in May 2015. Whedon will also be developing a Marvel TV series for ABC to be set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While Whedon's work on Avengers was fantastic, it's his work on TV series like Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer that have cemented his place is so many geek hearts. Whedon's return is great news for a few reasons. Among these are Whedon's comments that he'd like more female characters, so here's hoping for Carol Danvers to put in an appearance, and also more time for Hawkeye as something other than a meet puppet. More at /Film and io9.

It's the "No duh" move of the week!

In a move that everyone totally saw coming, Disney CEO announced the development of ‘The Avengers 2′ (via /Film) As the film runs away with box office records, is anyone surprised by this? Anyone? By the way, I'll be putting up a review eventually, but what do you expect? I loved the movie, and it's my favorite of the year.

'via Blog this'

Marvel movie news

Hey, so The Avengers is coming out soon. You know what that means? Let look at what's coming out after. There's a few bits of news about upcoming Marvel superhero movies that have trickled out over the last few weeks. There are a ton of interviews from the set of The Avengers, along with a myriad of TV spots and couple of new clips.

Watch the first scene from The Avengers!

Here's the first official clip from The Avengers, and it features Scarlett Johanssen's Black Widow at her most Whedonesque. It's all smart dialogue and martial arts action. The Avengers is just weeks away.

Japanese Avengers Trailer shows off the Helicarrier

Check out our first look at the Helicarrier at 1:40, plus it's the first time we've seen Hawkeye and Maria Hill speak.

The Avengers: Now with more in-fighting and Scarlett Johansson

The second full-length trailer for The Avengers was released this morning, along with a this new poster that came out yesterday. It's an iTunes exclusive, so you'll have to head over there to watch it until Marvel puts it up on YouTube and I can embed it. A lot of the action is stuff from the Super Bowl spot, but that's hardly what matters. This trailer finally gives a sense of the way Joss Whedon is going to handle the team dynamic, and that, as promised, is going to be just like a family. So we have siblings fighting, mom and dad disapproving, and some weird Arrested Development-style cousin stuff. Basically, it's brilliant. There's a lot more of Scarlett Johanssen and Colbie Smulders' Maria Hill finally makes an appearance. Of course I did more screen grabs, so they are in HD after the jump.

Avengers at the Super Bowl

One of my first posts on this blog was last year's Super Bowl trailer for Captain America, so it's only fitting that I bring you this awesome spot for The Avengers. Actually this is an extended version of the spot, so it's twice as awesome.

Unlike the first trailer, we finally get a glimpse of what the Avengers are going to be fighting... which looks a bunch of random aliens, but still, twice as much action, including full-blown Hulkage. There was a 10-second tease for this released a few days ago, but I don't really approve of teasers for spots that aren't even trailers. Check out some screencaps after the jump.

Week Links: Posters, Thor, and more

Still working on the 2011 recaps, so don't worry about that. So this week, it's another collection of links. There're more pictures from The Avengers, a couple pieces of news from Thor 2, a new promo for The Amazing Spider-Man, and a few other pieces of non-superhero movies news, including a film version of one of my favorite musicals. Also, I got a chance to see Martin Scorsese's Hugo, since its star is going to be playing Ender's Game, and I'd heard the 3D was actually well done. Turns out it was pretty good movie (#11 for 2011), though I had some trouble with the tone. Hugo was clearly made as a celebration of film, and made great use of 3D in juxtaposition to the works of Georges Méliès, but it jumped from fantastic to historic and back. Also, Hugo is a family film, so it's a little strange to see from Scorsese, but now I'm waiting to see him make a Departed-style film in 3D. He seems to understand the format better than most other directors, so you will believe you are being splattered in blood! Everything else is after the jump.

New "Avengers" banners look familiar

 

There's a pair of banners out for The Avengers featuring the individual team members (and Loki) against the "A" logo. I get the feeling the'll look better on their own, but it does look to be new shots of all the characters. Quick thoughts: Why is Cap's face covered? I like that Ruffalo is green-lit, but why not just show us the Hulk? Is it strange that even though the first poster features the main stars, it's the people on the second poster that really make me excited for this movie? I want to see a S.H.I.E.L.D. movie where Samuel Jackson and Jeremy Renner beat things up. Also, doesn't this look a lot like this poster campaign for J.J. Abrams' Star Trek? Is "AA" really the best look for a banner?

"Avengers" awesomeness

The first real trailer for The Avengers was released today on iTunes. Other than Loki, it doesn't show much of this threat that the Avengers are meant to be fighting, but villains are only part of a good Avengers story, and this trailer suggests that the team's dysfunction will be as important as the foe they battle. I've grabbed a few screenshots. They are after the jump.

Week Links: Dog cosplay, a virus and more Marvel

I had a super busy weekend, so today's links will be brief, with a teaser for a trailer and possibly the saddest--yet most awesome--dog alive. Also, I saw Real Steel. It wasn't bad for a robot boxing movie, though it lacked much of a second act, basically jumping from first to third. Still Hugh "Wolverine" Jackman turned in a solid performance and the movie ranks at #14 for the year.

"Avengers" videos and Marvel's first short

It's been longer than I'd like since my last post, but I'm writing that off to a busy week and rectifying the situation with some stuff about The Avengers. First off, there's some sweat promo art featuring the entire team and Loki. You can look at them here, here, and here (Spidermedia via /Film). Next, the first Marvel short film, titled "The Consultant" has been released. It features the estimable Agent Coulson and ties The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man to The Avengers. The full short is embedded after the jump, and there's a couple of other videos too, so click ahead.

Cool bits from the interwebs

Comic-con has come and gone since my last post of links, and as expected, there were some exciting pieces of news and great reveals over the last couple of weeks. I'm not going to try to cover everything that came out of the con, but here's a few of things that particularly stood out to me.

Awesome Posters

You know what's awesome? This promo poster for The Avengers. It's the first full look at Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye and Mark Ruffalo's Hulk, plus it looks like a new suit for Iron Man and Captain America. Of course this is probably still conceptual, so the final look will be slightly different, but it's great to see the team assembled. [From ComicBookMovie via io9]

Also, there's this great retro poster for Captain America, featuring the classic Cap punching out Hitler image. Sadly, only 100 of these were made for the cast and crew, but I'm holding out hope a version will be available, since it would go great with my "Hope and Change" Iron Man poster. [This one via /Film]

For some reason, I've always loved illustrated posters, they remind me of the original Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies. Plus, how can the retro Captain America poster be anything but awesome. Heck, it's almost comparable to this work of art.

Reading recap: May (and April)

Time for another recap of the books I've been reading. I recently realized that I didn't do one of these for April, then remembered that was because I only read a couple things, so I've just included them here. I'll point out I had fairly narrow taste in my personal reading this month, most comic books and epic fantasy. Actually, I Twitter-spoiled the biggest entry in this list, it being a highly-anticipated mail delivery. After my discovery of the comic world when I read The Ultimates in March, I've dived in headfirst and I have to say I'm loving it. So here it is, a comprehensive list of everything I've read for fun over the last two months.

"Thor" brings a hammer of awesome

Thor is the first superhero movie of the summer and my second most anticipated film of 2011. As of now, it's the best movie I've seen this year. I mentioned before that I was looking forward to Captain America blending the superhero genre with the World War II film. Well, it turns out Thor pulls a similar trick. It's a classic superhero story blended with Lord of the Rings-style epic fantasy and healthy dash of Stargate-style science fiction and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes even one of those genres. Director Kenneth Branagh--yes, the man that played Gilderoy Lockhart--brings his Shakespearian sensibility into play managing the father-son-brother story that's heart of the movie, and isn't half bad when it comes to the action sequences either.

I fully expect Thor to stay in my top 10 for this year. There's nothing conditional about that (unlike The Eagle), and I'll probably buy the DVD as soon as it comes out.

Quick note: If you see Thor (and this goes for all of the Marvel studios movies), STAY THROUGH THE CREDITS. They've raised that 30-second clip to an art form.

There'll be some SPOILERS in the next section, so don't read on if you're worried about that kind of thing.