It’s quite likely that a new Heroes for Hire comic is headed our way this year, with the classic duo of Luke Cage and Danny Rand- Power Man and Iron Fist-, which will be written by Brian Bendis. However, this run will also feature Jessica Jones and her child, who is fathered by Luke Cage. But what about a film based on the duo? It’s been rumored for some time now that a Luke Cage film may be in production, with several actors throwing their names in the hat to play the lead role. There have also been some very minor rumblings of a movie based on Iron Fist as well, but nothing that has really gained much traction.

While talking with BuzzFeed, Marvel’s TV head honcho, Jeph Loeb, talked about the the Ultimate Spider-Man series and the different characters involved with that show, including Luke Cage and Danny Rand. Loeb had this to say:

“Just like we just announced Guardians of the Galaxy, we are certainly looking at the Heroes for Hire franchise which is Luke Cage and Iron Fist…”

Does this mean we are getting a movie centered on the Heroes for Hire? Possibly, but at least we know that Marvel is certainly considering the concept, and maybe more so that we all originally thought. Obviously, I’d suggest a bit of salt to go with this news. Would you rather see a Heroes for Hire film or introduce each of the character individually first and team them in a later film? I have to say, it may be a better option to combine the two and get a kick-ass action flick from this odd, but awesome pairing.

Josh "ecksmanfan" Johnson, A Heroes for Hire Movie from Marvel?

Speaking with SciFiNow (via Totalfilm.com), Millar praised Mangold’s movie saying the director is brilliant. The movie started filming before Millar got the consultant job, but he has overseen much of the film’s production. Having written one of the best Wolverine stories, Old Man Logan, Millar believes the character is ripe for solo movies:

I don’t think it detracts having individual Wolverine adventures from the X-Men. He’s like a lone wolf character, he disappears and does his own thing sometimes and then he comes back and hangs out at the mansion, so it does feel quite natural for him to be in these movies.

While Wolverine is a favorite among fans, he does have the potential to be overused as can be seen in several comics nowadays. Millar doesn’t want to make that mistake:

You don’t want to have him out there all the time, because I think if you’ve got him in X-Men and Wolverine movies and they’re all running at the same time, it’s a little bit too much but as long as you’re smart with it then there’s a lot of other characters to explore… The X-Men universe is about the same size as the Marvel universe in terms of the number of titles it sustains at any one time, so there’s a ton of stuff to play with there and a lot of characters I’d like to explore there too.

Wolverine has been slightly overused in the past few years. You can’t swing a cat in the Marvel universe without hitting a team he’s on (CBT doesn’t condone swinging cats, it’s just a phrase). Say what you will about Millar, but the man has had a good grasp on the character. We know Wolverine will pop up in Days of Future Past, but maybe we’ll see his appearances scaled back a bit afterwards. What do you think about Millar’s comments? Do you like your Wolverine in moderation?

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Mark Millar Doesn’t Want To Overuse Wolverine In Movies

1. Avengers vs X-Men #6

2. Avengers vs X-Men #5

3. Batman #10

4. Justice League #10

5. Before Watchmen Minutemen #1

6. Before Watchmen Comedian #1

7. Before Watchmen Silk Spectre #1

8. Before Watchmen Nite Owl #1

9. Spider-Men #1

10. AVX VS #3

With Before Watchmen jumping into the top ten, the spots right beneath it are those that have been making the top ten for the past few months.  Books like Detective Comics, Action Comics, and Uncanny X-Men.  Astonishing X-Men #51, the wedding issue, sold very well.  But don’t expect it to be that high next month.  I expect a few readers to stay on, but it won’t sell as much next month.  Hit-Girl sold very well, which shows a second Kick-Ass movie would still do well. Daredevil is up almost 3,000 issues.

The majority of the top 100 goes back and forth between DC and Marvel.  Marvel made more money, but DC sold more comics.  This has been the general trend for some time, as Marvel has more $3.99 books.  I look at the trends, and books that aren’t selling well continue to have trouble, while books that sell great just get more readers.  Defenders has to worry Marvel, as they were hoping for this series to be the next big franchise.  But it’s near the bottom of the list.  The same goes with Punisher. It’s holding steady, so it should be ok.  Deadpool has taken a dive in the past few months.

Whenever I look at how DC’s books are selling, I always wonder which ones will get the ax next.  Green Arrow isn’t selling well at all.  DC needs to change that fast, as the TV show is just around the corner.  Second Wave book The Ravagers is having trouble gaining a fan base.  Otherwise, the DC books are selling enough to not be worried cancellation.  I’d like Dial H to start doing better, as that is one of the better books at DC right now.

The Walking Dead was the highest selling book for Image, and it made it to 30.  Mars Attacks is the highest for IDW, and that is at 44.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #10 is at 89.  For a series that has such a devoted fan base, it’s strange to see no one buying the issues.  If you are a fan of Buffy, go buy the freakin’ series.

As we look forward to July’s sales, expect The Walking Dead #100 to be the top comic, or damn near close to it.  Any of the Before Watchmen series that have #1s left will make the top ten next month, but I expect the #2s to go down.  It happens with any book, but these have a collectors value to them.  #2s aren’t worth as much, so not as many people will buy them.  AVX VS will continue to sell well, which surprises me.  It was one of the most criticized things when Avenger vs X-Men was announced.  But people are eating it up.  With no high profile #1s coming out in July, the top 100 should stay the same.  Once August comes, we will get Hawkeye and Gambit.  Hawkeye will probably do as well as Daredevil or Invincible Iron Man.  Selling between 20,000-30,000 issues.  Good numbers, if not very strong.  Gambit is going to have a hard time selling.  Unless the critics shower it with praise (which is entirely possible, as James Asmus is a great writer), it will probably be closer to the bottom half of the top 100.

The top 100 isn’t going to change until the Marvel NOW! initiative in October.  When there are a bunch of new titles comics, and others ending.  That will probably have the same effect that the DC 52 had in 2011.  And with Avengers coming out on Blu-Ray/DVD, people might be more inclined to buy the comics.

In the graphic novel section, The Walking Dead continues to reign supreme.  League of Extraordinary Gentlemen made it into the top three.  No surprise that Watchmen was in the top ten graphic novels as well.  Morning Glories continues to sell well in in trades.  Much like The Walking Dead, it’s a series that many like to read in bulk.  Fatale sold well in trade form as well.

Click here for the list of unit share and dollar share, as well as top ten comics and graphic novels.

Click here for the top 100 comics for June

MrComicBook, June’s Comic Sales: All About Watchmen

Dave’s identity as ‘Kick-Ass’ is only really revealed to the one extra person, but it’s someone important. And it has repercussions. Hit-Girl’s identity is also widely known by this point – and it evokes much nasty yabbering behind Mindy’s back by her schoolmates (she’s nicknamed “Captain Muffin-Muncher”). The worst of the mean girls, Brooke, is your typical prissy jock-marrying wannabe who controls the thoughts and feelings of her teenage followers and disciples (including innocent young Lois, whom ultimately forms a bond with Mindy). But ‘Hit-Girl’, never one to shy away from a confrontation and seemingly always equipped with the perfect weapon of self defense, gets Brooke and her bitch gang back in… let’s say, rather spectacular fashion. It involves gadgetry, projectile vomiting and much begging. There will be so much cheering in the cinema!

Also, Dave’s dad will be back and in a larger role, probably very similar to the comics. The role for Chris/Red Mist’s Uncle Ralph is going through the casting stages, and Moviehole says expect it to be filled by someone of a “Mark Strone-esque” stature.

If you’ve read Millar’s sequel, this sounds familiar but with a slightly different twist. The first movie did diverge from the comics on some points, so expect the same thing from this one. Hit-Girl’s solo book which comes out later this year will also play an important part in the first half of the movie. The film starts shooting very soon, so all kinds of juicy tidbits and news should be coming out in no time at all.

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, New Story Details For Kick-Ass 2

We know that Kick-Ass 2 wrapped up not too long ago in the comic medium and that not too long from now it will be making its way onto the screen with new director Jeff Wadlow. Writer Mark Millar talked a little about the film as well as how Kick-Ass will wrap up with the third series of the comic.

Speaking with Digital Spy, Millar talked about how Matthew Vaughn handpicked Wadlow to direct when he knew that he would be working on the X-Men franchise. With the director squared away, the next concern was if the original cast would be able to return. When asked if Chloe Moretz’s schedule would allow her to be Hit-Girl again:

As far as we know everyone is scheduled to come back, unless somebody is hit by a bus or something. Chloe has a busy schedule but she has to stop sometime.

Millar is known, in the words of Clockwork Orange, for a bit of the ultra-violence and Kick-Ass 2 is no exception. There are some pretty grisly scenes in those panels, and Millar was asked if they could make the transition to screen:

Every horrible scene in the book will be in the film. The c**t line in the first one, everybody said ‘there’s no way you’re getting that in the movie’, but it happened and it’s the same thing with this. Everybody is saying ‘you can’t have a gang rape scene with supervillains’ and ‘you can’t have the dog’s head cut off’, but every single one of those scenes will go in it.

Before moving on to the comics, Millar was asked how the Hit-Girl miniseries would affect the film. He said that the first 30 minutes of Kick-Ass 2 would be all Hit-Girl with the next 70 minutes is the Kick-Ass 2 comic.

Millar was asked how Kick-Ass would continue given the cliffhanger the second series ended on. He stated that the third book is the last one, and that there would be no more after it. He said he always saw an end, and that he plans to finish it in a year’s time. He did talk about how the third one will shape up.

People who’ve read the comic will know that the second one ends on a cliffhanger. Hit-Girl’s been arrested and she’s in prison, Dave has lost his dad and he’s kind of destitute. The third one will be set two years later, and it’s about where their lives are now, picking it up from there. Hit-Girl has killed 80-something people by this point, so they’re never going to let her out. She’s like a tiny Myra Hindley. It’s basically illegal to wear a costume at this point, so that’s quite interesting. I used to love Marvel Comics where the cops were chasing superheroes, seeing them as menaces because they’re not licensed in any way. So I kind of like the idea of bringing that back, because in reality there’s no way a cop or a fireman is going to let a guy in a suit run into a building. I like the idea that after they have stopped a mugging they have to run away for the police. That old-fashioned superhero thing.

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Mark Millar Talks Kick-Ass 2 Film And The Comics Finale In Part 3

We’ve heard a little bit about the next Kick-Ass movie, and now Mark Millar is talking about it a little more as  he promotes the new solo Hit-Girl comic coming out in about 4 weeks. Millar took to twitter to tell fans that the Hit-Girl miniseries will serve as the first part of the Kick-Ass 2 movie. Millar spoke with ComicBookResources about the Hit-Girl book and what we can expect.

Millar stated that he had Hit-Girl just as a supporting character in the first series, but found he enjoyed writing for her a lot. He found the 5 issue solo series as a good place to really expand the character and have some fun. It’s the Hit-Girl we know and love from the first Kick-Ass, but it also fills in the gaps between Kick-Ass 1 and 2.

The mini series takes place between the two Kick-Ass volumes, and the supervillain story really picks up in Kick-Ass 2. So here we get the Red Mist where he was at the end of the first book or where people saw him at the end of the first movie. He’s dedicated himself to doing this and trying to go out to start the world’s first super crime. He’s already been active in Kick-Ass 2 so here you see him putting on that mask and going out for the first time. It’s almost like what Kick-Ass did – he’s trying to go viral.

In the final pages of Kick-Ass and the start of Kick-Ass 2 we see Mindy (Hit-Girl) in school and completely out of her element. Millar touched on having Mindy adjusting to her new life.

[T]o put her in a school environment is really great, because all those things you’d think would make her tough actually make her really vulnerable. And she’s not allowed to shoot anyone, so she can’t really mix with normal kids. Put her in a school, and she’s automatically the class freak. She’s totally cool as Hit-Girl, but then when she walks into school, she doesn’t know the new band that all the kids are into. She’s never watched Glee. She doesn’t give a s**t about Glee.

Millar has tweeted and took to his website’s Millar World Forum to tell how this miniseries will be the opening parts of the Kick-Ass 2 movie with the entire Kick-Ass 2 comics serving as the second and third act. Below is the first look at the new variant cover courtesy of CBR. As you can see, it is clearly a Game of Thrones homage.

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Hit-Girl Gets Her Own Book And It Ties In To The Movie

Comic Book Movie found in Millar‘s Twitter timeline, that Mark Hamill, the eternal Luke Skywalker, will play an important role in the film.

Just off the phone with @HamillHimself. What an absolutely lovely man! You can find out why we’re talking over the coming weeks.

For anyone who wants a hint about the comic and movie Mark Hamill and I were planning last night just click: comicbookresources.com/?page=article&

He then went on to confirm to CBM that:

Hamill won’t necessarily be the ‘star’ in the film but that he will have a pivotal role and that the two leads will be British.”

The miniseries, which will be launched later this month, was created when Vaughn and Millar watched Casino Royale and start questioning why they didn’t include the training of the super spy James Bond.

The comic is about, among other things, the training of a rebellious kid from north London to become a kind of James Bond. Vaughn is currently writing the script for the film adaptation which, according to Millar, will be a Kick-Ass version of SHIELD and U.N.C.L.E..

There is a schedule set for the production. More details are expected soon.

wolverinept, The Secret Service Comic Adaptation From Mark Millar And Dave Gibbons will Star Mark Hamill

Millar told CBR:

“I think there’s something sad and quite unique where these ten or 20 slightly damaged super-people feel they can never live up to their parents. And something even more tragic about the parents recognising that their children, in many ways, are their failures.

“That’s the thread running in the background, and on top of all this is this massive adventure story with aliens and robots and amazing ships and vehicles and a whole world I’ve been building with respect to what’s happening here in the real world.”

Jupiter’s Children features artwork from Frank Quitely, with whom Millar previously collaborated on DC Comics‘ The Authority.

Millar will also debut Supercrooks in March this year, followed by The Secret Service in April, and Hit Girl one month later.

Jupiter’s Children launches in September.

wolverinept, ‘Jupiter’s Children’ Announced by Mark Millar!

Over the time I’ve written for this site, I’ve noticed that, while most of my comic book reviews just wither in the shadows, movie reviews attract the most negative criticism. It’s evident that trolls thrive on movie reviews much in the same way I thrive in trollophagy. So… fine, bring it. Come AT ME, TROLLS!

I know it’s been 4 months since its release date in the US, but alas, there is no release date set for Mexico, so I had to wait until I got my paws on the DVD to finally enjoy it, and now I can’t keep my mouth shut about it.

Super kicked ass. I know everybody keeps comparing it to Kick-Ass, saying it’s just a vulgar remake of a controversial hero movie, but it’s not. Sure, Gunn has cited Millar’s Kick-Ass as inspiration for his film, but Super managed to shine in all the places where Kick-Ass disappointed.

Starting with an exactly zero-expectation handicap from the get-go, James Gunn managed to deliver a disturbing, twisted and extremely funny story; where psychosis, religious zealotry and a general feeling of hopelessness mingled and blended perfectly with a bleak reality comparable to Fargo. Yes, Fargo. The one that none of you get because you’re either too young or not stoned enough to marvel at the greatness of the Coen brothers. Kick-ass on the other hand, managed to turn an epic limited series that oozed zeitgeist from every page into a mediocre flick, perverting its very core to Lucasfilms levels (Why, Millar…. WHY?!).

For those of you living under a rock, Super deals with the misadventures of Frank D’Arbo (Rainn Wilson), an irredeemable loser married to junkie Sarah (Liv Tyler). Sarah dumps Frank for her dealer Jacques (Kevin Bacon), so Frank embarks on a personal crusade of crime-fighting to win her back. Needless to say, (not-so) vulgar and violent shenanigans ensue, increasingly and disturbingly funnier as the film advances. And there’s Libby/Boltie (Ellen Paige), who makes up for not being Hit-Girl by being extra hot on a Lolita, feel-like-a-scumbag-after-you-admit-it kind of way. Boltie has anger management issues, as well as some weird fetishes you will be thankful that came on-screen.

Special effects are acceptable. You could consider them great, even, for an estimated budget of 2.5 million.

Characterization is awesome, making Frank’s quest plausible and even endearing at times; taking absurdity to Adam-West levels of campiness while maintaining a dark comedical tone that may not be suitable for all palates. And Kevin Bacon steals the whole thing, as usual, acting like the lovechild of Christoph Waltz and a jar of Ritalin. Did I mention Ellen Paige is hot? Because she is, so all your arguments are invalid.

And the music. It provided a seamless transition from depression to euphoria and it’s often as overlooked as Nathan Fillon’s contribution as the Holy Avenger. Tyler Bates may not have pulled an epic score out of his ass like he did in 300 and Watchmen, but you can definitely tell this is a man cut out to make heroes shine in your ears (I don’t care if that doesn’t make sense).

Don’t let box-office figures hold you back. Super is a rare jewel waiting to be found. Remember Fight Club sucked at theaters before becoming a cult classic on home video. This piece just needs to find a niche. Support Gunn, support independent studios, stick it to The Man and stop buying Happy-Meal equivalents of super hero movies. Otherwise, it’s Green Lantern all over the place for the foreseeable future.

AlbinoDarkBeast, AlbinoDarkBeast Reviews: SUPER