Tagged: Captain America

The 2009 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees

The 2009 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees

  • News
  • April 8, 2009

The nominations for the best of the year are finalized. Ballots with this year’s nominees will be going out in mid-April to comics creators, editors, publishers, and retailers. A downloadable pdf of the ballot will also be available online, and a special website has been set up for online voting. The results in all categories will be announced in a gala awards ceremony on the evening of Friday, July 24 at Comic-Con International. More information about the Eisner Awards can be found by clicking here.

Congratulations to Simone & Ajax creator Andrew Pepoy on his nominations for Best Short Story and Best Continuing Series, and to all the other nominees!

Here’s the full list of nominees…

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Marvel movie making news

Marvel movie making news

  • News
  • March 13, 2009

Marvel Entertainment, Inc. announced an adjusted release pipeline for its self-produced feature film properties that reflects (choose one):

  1. the first time individual super hero characters and story arcs will be inter-woven and culminate in a multi-character motion picture.
     
  2. The ongoing trouble in securing financing to make multi-million dollar movies, thereby delaying and spreading out the hit to the credit line.

David Maisel, Chairman, Marvel Studios has his story straight. "This new schedule strongly sequences Marvel’s movie debut dates, big screen character introductions and momentum. It maximizes the visibility of our single character-focused films, leading to the highly anticipated release of the multi-character ‘The Avengers’ film in 2012."

Either way, a Marvel character-based film will now launch the summer box office season for three years in a row, from 2010 through 2012– Sony Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man 4 is slated for May 6, 2011.

Below is Marvel Studios’ 2010-2012 updated release schedule for its slate of self-produced and financed feature films:

Marvel Studios Feature Film Pipeline
Film/Character – Prior Release Date – Current Release Date

Iron Man 2 – May 7, 2010 – May 7, 2010
Thor – July 16, 2010 – June 17, 2011
The First Avenger: Captain America – May 6, 2011 – July 22, 2011
The Avengers – July 15, 2011 – May 4, 2012

Meanwhile, in Iron Man news, Variety has confirmed that Mickey Rourke has officially signed on to play a villain in Iron Man 2, and Scarlett Johansson has signed on to play the role of Russian superspy Natasha Romanoff, better known to us as the Black Widow. Scarlett Johansson in a black leather bodysuit… what, we weren’t going to see the film anyway?

Samuel L. Jackson signs as Nick Fury — nine times!

Samuel L. Jackson signs as Nick Fury — nine times!

  • News
  • February 26, 2009

Feel the Fury of SamJack!

The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Samuel L. Jackson has signed an unprecedented nine-picture deal to play Colonel Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., in a series of Marvel movies that include Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America, The Avengers and its sequels.

Also on the table is the possibility of toplining a S.H.I.E.L.D. movie, which is in development.

Jackson, the unoffical model for the Marvel Ultimate version of Nick Fury, first appeared at the end of Iron Man and was expected to be part of the Iron Man sequel, but as Marvel negotiated with its cast, deals proved hard to come by. Terrence Howard was replaced by Don Cheadle. Mickey Rourke still doesn’t have a deal for the part of a villain despite almost two months of negotiations.

But now, Jackson has signed for a potential ten films as the same character. For perspective, Sean Connery only played James Bond in eight films, and that’s counting Never Say Never Again and The Rock— oh come on, he was playing James Bond in The Rock, you know it and I know it.

Marvel’s 4Q report: Studios and money making

Marvel’s 4Q report: Studios and money making

  • News
  • February 25, 2009

Marvel Entertainment announced today operating results for its 4th-quarter ended December 31, 2008 and record net sales, net income and earnings per share for the full year 2008. For Q4 2008, Marvel reported net sales of $224.3 million and net income of $63.0 million, or $0.80 per diluted share, compared to net sales of $109.3 million and net income of $27.6 million, or $0.35 per diluted share, in Q4 2007. "The improvement reflects recognition of $135.5 million in film production segment revenues principally associated with the DVD performance of Marvel’s Iron Man feature film," the company said. For the full year 2008, Marvel reported net sales of $676.2 million and net income of $205.5 million, or $2.61 per diluted share, compared to net sales of $485.8 million and net income of $139.8 million, or $1.70 per diluted share, in 2007. The revenue and net income growth principally reflects the contribution from Marvel Studios which released its first two feature films, Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, in the summer of 2008.

Below is an updated look at the Marvel Studios’ product pipeline. The company also announced today that Kenneth Branagh is set to direct Thor (our spies tell us sets are already being built) which Paramount Pictures will distribute worldwide. It will be released domestically on July 16, 2010. Also, Iron Man 2 will begin principal photography in early April.

Marvel Studios Entertainment Pipeline
(According to its 4th quarter earnings report. Scheduled release dates are subject to change)

Self-Produced Feature Film Line-Up

  • Iron Man 2 (Marvel), scheduled for May 7, 2010 release, starts principal photography in April, directed by Jon Favreau, stars Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle
  • Thor (Marvel), scheduled for July 16, 2010 release, directed by Kenneth Branagh
  • The First Avenger: Captain America (Marvel), scheduled for May 6, 2011 release
  • The Avengers (Marvel), scheduled for July 15, 2011 release

Licensed Feature Film Line-Up

  • X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Fox), scheduled for May 1, 2009 release

Self-Produced Animated TV Series Line-Up

  • Super Hero Squad (Marvel Animation) 26 thirty-minute episodes in production with Film Roman, scheduled for Q3 2009 release on Cartoon Network
  • The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (Marvel Animation) 26 thirty-minute episodes in production with Film Roman; scheduled for Q3 2011 release

Licensed Animated TV Series Line-Up

  • Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes (Moonscoop SAS – France), 26 thirty-minute episodes airing internationally and on Marvel.com and Marvelkids.com
  • Spectacular Spider-Man (Culver Studios – U.S.) Will air on Disney XD in the U.S. beginning in March and currently airing on various networks internationally
  • Wolverine and the X-Men (Marvel Animation / First Serve Toonz – India), 52 thirty-minute episodes. Episodes 1-26 are currently airing on Nicktoons in the U.S. and are on air internationally, Episodes 27-52 are currently in pre-production
  • Black Panther (Marvel Animation / BET) 8 thirty-minute episodes in production, scheduled for Q2 2009 release on BET
  • Iron Man: Armored Adventures (Marvel Animation / Method Films – France) 26 thirty-minute episodes in production, scheduled for Q2 2009 release in the U.S. on Nicktoons and various networks internationally

Licensed Animated Direct-to-DVD Projects

  • Thor: Son of Asgard (Lionsgate), scheduled for September 2009 release

Licensed Broadway Stage Project

  • Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark, the Musical, Julie Taymor director; music & lyrics by U2’s Bono and The Edge (Hello Entertainment/David Garfinkle, Martin McCallum, Marvel Entertainment/David Maisel, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Jeremiah Harris) Slated for a February 18, 2010 opening
Obama stimulus plan already working on comic books

Obama stimulus plan already working on comic books

  • News
  • February 18, 2009

It’s been said that Barack Obama’s web-savvy would help the economy, and now we have proof.

ICv2 reports: "Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man #583 rode President Obama’s coattails to a record-setting total of 352,953, making it the bestselling full-price periodical comic book since ICv2 began tracking sales through Diamond Comic Distributors in 2001.  Previous high numbers belong to Marvel’s Civil War #3 and Captain America #25, which each sold 290K, but unlike those titles ASM #583’s performance was the result of not just multiple variant covers, but multiple printings–in fact it appears likely that the majority of ASM’s sales came from subsequent printings not its initial run.  And, for anyone who thinks that the Obama cover was not the primary sales driver, please note that prior to the Obama story and cover image, the title had been selling south of the 70,000 mark.  The sales for this title may not be all over–the fourth printing of ASM #583 shipped in February along with the fifth printing."

Now all we have to do is get Obama to crossover into every single comic published. I bet they’re already discussing it in editorial offices across the land, though it’s going to be tough to slip him into an issue of Jonah Hex.

UPDATE 3:15 PM: Looks like President Awesome has already predicted this.

X-Men Forever: What was the Marvel Universe like in 1991?

X-Men Forever: What was the Marvel Universe like in 1991?

  • News
  • February 8, 2009

In light of the annoucement of X-Men Forever and Chris Claremont‘s intention to continue exactly where X-Men #3 left off in 1991, we thought it would be a good idea to remind ourselves what the state of the Marvel Universe was in 1991– before Stamford, the Super-Hero Registration Act, and Skrulls. Here’s all you need to know:

 

X-MEN:

Charles Xavier is adjusting to having lost the use of his legs again recently. The X-Men have recently reformed into two teams, with Cyclops leading the blue strike force and Storm leading the gold strike force. Gambit has just joined and is still a mystery to the others.

During the gold strike force’s latest mission, they investigated the recent death of the Hellions and have recruited the time-traveling Bishop. At this time, Bishop is still unaware who the “X-traitor” will turn out to be. Much of the world still thinks the X-Men are dead and it’s possible they are still invisible to technology (due to a spell cast by Roma).

During their latest mission, the blue strike force met the newly formed Acolytes and witnessed the apparent death of Magneto (at the hands of his Acolyte Cortez) on Asteroid M, which has just been destroyed.

X-FORCE:

Cable is still leading this team, which has only recently formed, and at this point in time all we know about the white-haired mutant is that he and Stryfe are identical to each other and that he apparently did some military missions in ‘Nam where he met Chord of the New Warriors. He also has an unclear history with Wolverine. G.W. Bridge of SHIELD is investigating Cable since he believes that Cable is also running Stryfe’s organization the Mutant Liberation Front.

As of yet, there has  been no revelations about Cannonball being an “Ex-Ternal” and there has been no revelation that Domino is actually Copycat while the real Domino is a captive of Mr. Tolliver.

X-FACTOR:

X-Factor has just replaced “Freedom Force” as the government’s mutant counter-terrorist team. Havok is in charge and is very green as a leader, still concerned about living up to his brother’s example. Wolfsbane cannot really turn to human form at this point, stuck between her half-lupine form and full lupine form.

EXCALIBUR:

The London based team still includes Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde in its ranks. At this point, half the team’s adventures seem to involve parallel realities and alternate timelines. Lockheed the Dragon has recently been revealed to be a sentient member of a telepathic race (though only we readers know that) and is recovering from injuries. At this point in time, Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde have not seen their X-Men teammates since the events of the team’s apparent death.

WOLVERINE:

Wolverine is still wearing the brown and tan uniform. In his own series, as 1991 closes, Wolverine has only just discovered the Weapon X facility and realized that some of his memories are false implants based loosely on real memories. He also now has the first inkling that he and Sabretooth are not related but perhaps used to work together for some kind of government unit. He has not yet learned about Team X, the group he was part of with John Wraith and Maverick.

AND NOW, THE REST OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE…

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ComicMix QuickPicks – January 13, 2009

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 13, 2009

Today’s installment of comic-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest…

* Even Batman can’t save everybody at Warner Brothers from a lousy economy. Reuters reports the studio is considering ways to cut its budget by 10 percent, saving tens of millions of dollars via layoffs or other steps. "No decisions have been made," said a Warner Bros spokesman regarding the cost cuts, which are widely expected to result in an unspecified number of layoffs at the studio. Warner Bros is owned by Time Warner Inc, which last week projected a loss for the year, compared with a previous forecast of earnings of $1.04 to $1.07 per share.

Hey… isn’t DC Comics owned by Warner Brothers? Watch your backs, folks.

* Hexed #1. Free. Downloadable. CBZ file, even. Enjoy. I did.

* ICV2: "Titan Books has announced the expansion of its publishing agreement with Golden Age comics pioneer Joe Simon, the co-creator of Captain America.  This summer Titan will launch The Official Simon and Kirby Library, which will now include full color hardcover volumes collecting Simon & Kirby’s horror, detective, and romance comics." I detect the fine hand of Steve Saffel in this; way to go, Steve.

* According to a recent study, forty-six per cent of Canadians can’t name a single Canadian writer. Here, let me give you two. Ty Templeton. Robert J. Sawyer. You’re welcome.

* Laurel Maury reviews Jonathan Lethem’s Omega The Unknown for NPR. (Come back to the Malibu, Laurel, we miss you!)

* Friday night’s airing of the start of season 4.5 of Battlestar Galactica will run 3.5 minutes long according to information released by SciFi. Dish Network has already adjusted the run time but you should double check any PVR’s you may have set up. You’ve been warned.

* An interview with Dean Mullaney.

* Why I dislike Batwoman too.

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

Comic du jour from Hugh MacLeod, the creator of Mr. Hell.

More Obama comics

More Obama comics

  • News
  • January 12, 2009

First Savage Dragon went in with the endorsement. Spider-Man followed up with the inauguration appearance. Then Mad. Now we have the upcoming Captain Action #5 from Moonstone, where the hero actually becomes Obama.

For a hero who is already known for becoming Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Captain America, Aquaman, the Phantom, The Lone Ranger, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Sgt. Fury, Steve Canyon, and the Green Hornet, putting Obama in that pantheon is pretty darn awesome.

Happy 86th birthday, Stan Lee!

Happy 86th birthday, Stan Lee!

  • News
  • December 28, 2008

Happy birthday to Stan the Man! (Geez, I’m not even half his age and I don’t have half his energy. Let this be a lesson to you, kiddies– when you’re writing, stand up while you type. You’ll be in much better shape when you get older.)

Excelsior from all of us true believers! May you keep making cameos in Marvel films for decades to come. And not frozen in ice next to Captain America either.

Tim Robbins may join Stark Enterprises

Tim Robbins may join Stark Enterprises

  • News
  • December 19, 2008

Iron Man 2 news continues to leak out with Latino Review reporting that Tim Robbins may be signing on to portray Howard Stark, father to Tony, a man whose legacy was extolled in the first film.  In other comments, producer Jon Favreau hinted that Howard Stark may have had something to do with the super soldier formula which would further link Iron Man to 2011’s First Avenger: Captain America.
 
“Jon [Favreau] wanted to get a good actor because he didn’t think the guy who played Howard in the last film could carry such an important scene,” the site noted.

They also report that our speculation that casting notes meant Natasha Romanov, a.k.a. the Black Widow, was expected appear to be true.  Not only that, the site says Clint Barton, the carny turned criminal Hawkeye will also appear. Both were introduced in Iron Man’s Tales of Suspense days so screenwriter Justin Theroux continues to mine the early material from Stan Lee and Don Heck.

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