Haunting the Web Since 1999
After the abrupt and disappointing exit of Edgar Wright from Ant-Man (Buster Keaton haz a sad), Marvel restores a modicum of goodwill by casting Stardust and Boardwalk Empire‘s Charlie Cox as Matt Murdoch and thoroughly unique oddball Vincent D’Onofrio as the Kingpin in their upcoming Daredevil TV show. Yeah, I’d watch it.
“‘We believe that adding Marvel to Disney’s unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation,’ said Disney President and Chief Executive Robert A. Iger.” Spidey, meet the Mouse: Disney buys Marvel for $4 billion.
And, in very related news, Fox announces another Fantastic Four reboot, with — true to Fox form — the hackmeisterly Akiva Goldsman at the helm. “Though Marvel Entertainment owns and finances properties like ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Thor,’ Fox controls ‘Fantastic Four’ in perpetuity — as long as it continues making the films. Fox has the same arrangement on Marvel Comics properties ‘X-Men,’ ‘Daredevil’ and “Silver Surfer.“
The Religious Affiliation of Comic Book Characters, with a handy graphic of who’s a member of what “legion.” The site also includes impressively detailed individual entries on each character — not only the big guns like Methodist Superman, Episcopal Batman, Catholic Daredevil, and Buddhist Wolverine, but also everyone from Presbyterian Wolfsbane to the Mormon Power Pack. (Via Triptych Cryptic.)
“There’s no going back. From that moment on, the series’ hero is in a morally untenable situation, and everything he does makes things worse. The only thing Murdock can do is to start lying, and make all of his allies lie for him, too…The second half of the Bendis-Maleev run fills in the gaps of the missing year bit by bit, and suggests what happens when a hero chooses to rule in hell (or its kitchen) rather than serve in heaven.” Salon‘s Douglas Wolk sings the praises of Brian Bendis and Alex Maleev’s work on Daredevil.
Alias meets Mortal Kombat (with a dash of The Next Karate Kid) in this rather goofy trailer for Elektra. I haven’t read anything other than the Frank Miller Daredevil arc, so I have no clue how this fits into the character’s continuity. But, I gotta say, this looks pretty dumb.
“It seems a pretty sunny and conservative and confident moment, despite a hangover of vulnerability from 9/11 and the recently stalled economy…That’s precisely the time when antiheroes are needed and comprehensible.” How the Dubya era paved the way for Marvel’s movie ascendance. A bit goofy, but ok.
Ok, that’s enough love…now it’s time for hate. Celebrities ponder, Who could you take in a fight? (Seen all over the place, but I caught it first at Webgoddess, Lots of Co., and All About George, none of whom I feel like tussling with.) Whether it be due to Gaelic disposition, number of siblings, or a decade on the school bus, I’ll generally take all comers, be they right-wingers, warbloggers, or whomever made the terrible decision that [Daredevil SPOILERS] a wounded Ben Affleck could beat up Michael Clarke Duncan in three minutes of screen time. (He’s the Kingpin, for Pete’s sake. Fisk should’ve thrown him out the window immediately. Yet another problem in a disappointing film.) At any rate, if you want to throw down, leave a message here and we can meet behind the Piggly-Wiggly after school.
The newest trailer for Daredevil is now online and, while it’s better than the last one, it still doesn’t quite work for me. Michael Clarke Duncan and Colin Farrell seem like they’re going to have fun chewing the scenery, and Jennifer Garner is obviously easy on the eyes, but Ben Affleck still seems grossly miscast in the lead. Matt Damon would probably have worked better, and Guy Pearce would have been dream casting. Ah, well, there’s still Ang Lee’s The Hulk.
Anyone else feel like taking a trip off-world today? George Clooney laments what have been in the Internet exclusive trailer for Solaris. Also in the trailer bin is this first look at Max, starring John Cusack as a German art dealer and Noah Taylor as his not-so-promising student, Adolf Hitler. Update: You can go ahead and add Daredevil to the mix as well…cheeseball Affleckisms and lame wire work have quashed any hopes I had for this project for the time being.