Iron Man 4

One of the biggest questions coming from the Marvel Studios camp right now is whether or not Robert Downey Jr. will be returning to reprise the role of Tony Stark; a part that seems to be ripped from the pages of our beloved comic books. It’s hard for fans to imagine anyone else taking on the role of Iron Man, but it’s a possibility we may have to face. As it stands now, RDJ’s contract with Marvel Studios is complete and the high-profile actor has made it no secret that he’d like to take on new characters in smaller films. Not to mention, he is getting up there in years in regards to action films (yes, I know there are actors who are older and are still tearing it up on the big screen, but RDJ isn’t an action star at his core). Recently, RDJ said  “I’d go start another one tomorrow, but it’s not tomorrow,” Downey tells EW. “ And there are a lot of other considerations. But I also don’t like the idea of leaving people hanging or leaving people in the lurch.” He goes on to say that he’d like to start a new franchise, independent of anything he is doing right now, including his work on Sherlock Holmes.

Feige confirms that Marvel is talking with RDJ in regards to a new contract to return as Iron Man, but he also says that the character is one of those like James Bond and Batman, one that can on and on, no matter who is suiting up. So, after all that, we don’t really know where we stand. I think we can expect to see RDJ one more time in the upcoming Avengers sequel, but after that, who knows.

Daredevil, Punisher, Ghost Rider & Blade

Some good news for hardcore Marvelites in recent weeks, as we learned that character rights for Daredevil, Punisher, Ghost Rider and Blade had officially returned home so to speak. All four of the characters can now be included in future Marvel Studios films, which opens the door to numerous possibilities, including a Marvel Knights film or series of films. But before you get too excited, Kevin Feige has a bit of depressing news.

“So Punisher, Ghost Rider, … Blade, all those characters are back,” Feige told EW. “They all have potential, but I think we need to find the right time.”

It’s good to know that these characters are back where they belong, but it looks as though we’ll none of them are a priority for Phase Three. We haven’t seen Daredevil in about 10 years, when Ben Affleck donned the red leather. Fox nearly had a film get into production as late as last year when Joe Carnahan pitched a gritty, 1970′s-esque style reboot, but the studio ultimately passed and the rights reverted back. Two Ghost Rider films were made, starring Nicolas Cage, both of which failed to capture audience attention and box office success. As for Blade and Punisher, Wesley Snipes found himself in jail and no one else has made an effort to touch the project and Punisher, despite having three films over a near 30 year time-span, couldn’t quite get it right.

Inhumans

Before Guardians of the Galaxy was announced, many fans were hoping that Marvel would be announcing that the Inhumans would be included in the Phase Two set of films. Obviously, that didn’t happen, but stay optimistic, as a film based on the super beings may still have some traction. Back in 2011, Feige told EW that a film centered on the Inhumans, a group of highly intelligent beings that stem from the result of testing, was in the works and he was quite enthusiastic about the idea.

“Inhumans is cool, they’re really great characters,” he said in a recent interview, getting more animated about this title than almost any other he discussed. “The most powerful guy is the king who doesn’t say a word and if he does — lookout. That’s awesome. And the notion of the Terrigen Mists, this notion that you go through and don’t know what you’re going to be on the other side, is incredibly compelling dramatically.”

The idea of this group is a bit out there, but with Guardians in the pipeline, the idea of some of the more “cosmic” concepts from the comics may not seem so out there. After all, if folks can take to an impressively armed, trash-talking racoon and a warrior tree, a group of super-smart aliens shouldn’t be too hard to place on the big screen. Feige goes on to say that a lot of the “craziness that comes with Inhumans, we’ve done in the other movies already,” but the Inhumans would add a new aspect of social drama that we haven’t seen yet in a Marvel film, but Fox’s X-Men has been touching on for a while now.

Runaways

Back in 2011, a film based on this group of super-powered teens nearly made it into production, with directors and actors being looked at. Series creator, Brian K. Vaughn, had put together a script that was later re-worked by Iron Man 3 scribe Drew Pearce, which caused the project to delay for some time. The characters had a hard time fitting into the planned Phase One group of films, which as we know all lead up to Avengers, and the project was put on indefinite hold, where it has stayed ever since.

“It’s a matter of where it fits,” Feige says. “The way the business is working now, you either have really inexpensive, sort of surprise movies that can come out and be hits, but don’t cost much. Or you have the big giant summer blockbusters that really swing for the fences. Right now, we’re just swinging for the fences every time. Runaways sort of falls in between those, in a way. We just haven’t found where or how to do it… right now.”

There was no issues with the script at all, which Feige and numerous other Marvel folks are still quite fond of. The group was som impressed by it, they hired Pearce to co-write the script for Iron Man 3. There is still hope for this film as Marvel film over-seer Joss Whedon is a big fan of the series and even did an arc for the series a few years back. Anyone know what Whedon has planned after Phase Two and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Feige closed this portion by simply shrugging his shoulders and saying “I’d love to do it someday.”

Marvel Zombies

Not sure if you’ve noticed, but Zombies are kind of a big deal right now. We have Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead on television right now and is extremely popular, an adaption of Max Brooks’ World War Z headed to theaters in a few months and numerous other takes on the the flesh eaters. While it’s a very long shot, EW asked about the possibility of ever seeing the Marvel Zombies run ever adapted for the big screen. Not surprisingly, Feige shot it down fairly quickly.

 “I know… Zombies is such a funny thing because its such a cool comic and it’s such a cool idea, but the bigger profile becomes what starts to happen [with fans]”

More specifically, why spend years putting together one of the biggest franchises in history only to bring it to a close with what is essentially a joke. The Zombies run, which Robert Kirkman wrote, is a fun take on the characters, but there are so many other issues you run into, the first being character rights. More importantly though, is the wide array of audience that Marvel’s films have covered, from older fans to younger kids and to all of a sudden place these characters in a zombie apocalypse would alienate many of those fans.  As Feige put it: “Are you going to draw figures in chalk with your 3-year-old with Hulk eating someone? Or Captain America with his brains coming out of the top of his head? Probably not.”

That being said, I think if Marvel were to tackle this series with their animation team, they may have something. Not only are the character rights issues pushed aside, you are free to do a lot more in regards to style. I’d like to say get Pixar involved, but something tells me they wouldn’t go for that. One can dream though, right?

Phew! There are your most up-to-date Phase Three plans from Marvel! Are there any of these projects that you’d like to see happen more that the others? This just proves how large of an arsenal that Marvel has to work with and it’s quite encouraging to see them getting into some of the characters and teams that I never thought would ever make it to the big screen. While some of them may never get that far, it pleases me that they are even discussing them.

Be sure to read up on Doctor Strange and the Hulk, as well as what Edgar Wright had to say about his upcoming Ant-Man film that is in the works!

Josh "ecksmanfan" Johnson, Kevin Feige Gives Updates on Phase Three of Marvel Films

Marvel

In EW‘s Marvel Iron Man 3-centric issue, they had a few words from Kevin Feige about the movie rights coming back into the fold. They’re very glad to have them back, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be making appearances in the current slate of movies. You can see for yourself in the the snippet via Bleeding Cool:

Now, if you’re like me, you’re thinking all those characters listed would make for a pretty great Marvel Knights film. Marvel might not have big screen plans for the guys just yet, but with Phase 3 reported to bring in new characters like Ant-Man and Doctor Strange, it would probably be a safe bet that they’ll do something with them before long. With these movie rights reverting back, that really only leaves X-Men, Spider-Man, and the Fantastic Four outside of Marvel Studios control. Those  are huge properties with an enormous roster of characters, but Marvel has quickly snatched up most all of their other characters. What do you think about these more anti-hero type characters coming back home? Will the fit with the new Disney/Marvel?Do you hope Marvel will start to pepper them in to the movies or should we get some solo movies first?

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Ghost Rider, Blade, The Punisher, And Daredevil Are Now Under The Marvel Studios Umbrella

1- Eminem/ The Punisher
What happens when you take an unpredictable person with anger issues and a talent for pissing people off and teaming him with the Punisher? Well, you get “Eminem & The Punisher”, that’s what. Eminem and his posse are confronted by Punisher, who kills most everyone around. Shady is able to escape and is grabbed by Barracuda, who takes him into a building. Eminem, thinking he’s been recued by Barracuda, gets the jump on Castle and hits him in the face with the butt of his gun. In turn, Shady is shot by Barracuda, but not fatally (thank goodness!). Eminem and Punisher must team up to take down the bad guy. Of course, violence ensues and Shady saves the day.

Right. Predictable in every sense of the word. Being that Eminem approved this comic, he also had quite a bit of creative input, hence the bad-ass hero interpretation of his drawn self. The story only gets better and it is fairly obvious that the writer did everything he could to include all of Shady’s suggestions for the story. Of course, in doing this, it essentially castrates and sissifies Frank Castle, which I wasn’t sure was possible.

2- Star Trek/The X-Men
Remember when you were a kid and you’d grab every action figure you had and made them fight each other? This seems like the only time you’d ever see He-Man battle Andre the Giant or GI Joe take on Batman. I’m convinced this is the origin of the Star Trek and X-Men crossover. Oddly enough, there were actually two different Star Trek/X-Men crossovers, but we’re going to stick with the one featuring the original cast. It should be worth mentioning that Wolverine is best by the biggest brainiacs in both comics.

As the Enterprise sails through space, they come across the planet Delta Vega, where they encounter a psionic rift, out of which comes a Shi’ar space vessel. The psionic energy destroys the ship, but not before Spock detects seven life forms of “near human” nature. A second vessel comes through the rift and quickly fires an unusual projectile at the Enterprise: Gladiator. After issuing a warning to the Enterprise, he winds up and lays a left hook on the space ship, damaging the reflector shields and the ship itself (Captain Kirk: “Did he just… punch my ship?” The X-Men narrowly escaped the explosion of their ship by transporting themselves onto the Enterprise, where Spock detects and confronts them. He quickly dispatches Wolverine with a Vulcan Nerve Pinch.

Now, I understand that both of the franchises has massive followings and it seems like a grand idea to place them together, but it’s not. The story was a convoluted mess that intertwined time travel and old continuity from both series. But not all was bad, as it also featured numerous Easter Eggs to make fans hunger for more, such as the previously mention Vulcan death pinch. A second book was also completed where the X-Men met up with the crew from ‘The Next Generation’, but sadly, it occurred before Patrick Stewart took on the role of Prof. X in the big screen adaptation of the X-Men. Imagine the fun they could have had with that!

3- The Avengers/David Letterman
Long before David Letterman was fighting a vicious ratings battle with Jay Leno and Team Coco, David Letterman took on the wanna-be villain Fabian Stankowicz, using a door knob. Yeah, I was expecting a more toothy approach, too. Sure, Letterman has had his funny moments in his many years on television, but was it necessary to include him in a comic? The worst part about this is that Iron Man, Thor and Captain America didn’t make an appearance, so Letterman, who’d only been hosting his then NBC series for only four years, was left to chat it up with the lower-tier characters.

The good part about this is that if you ever get into a conversation that requires you to give proof that Paul Shaffer and Beast ever shared a page in comic books, you know where to look.

4- Spider-Man/Ren & Stimpy
Remember back in the day when cartoons were good and worth watching? One of those was Nickelodeon’s quirky and rather unruly cartoon Ren & Stimpy, a twisted toon that focused on the relationship of a dense cat and an angry dog. In the world of Ren & Stimpy, there is really only one character that even remotely comes close to resembling a hero: Powdered Toast Man (Stimpy’s farts come in at a close second). During the 80′s and 90′s, Marvel held numerous comic properties, one of which was Ren & Stimpy. This offered up numerous opportunities for some interesting crossovers and Spider-Man and Powdered Toast Man is one of those.

The interesting thing on this run is that writer Dan Slott was the man behind it. Slott, as we all know, went on to become the sole writer for Spider-Man 15 years later. The story sees PTM under the control of Doctor Dough-Naught. PTM continues to ravage the city and only the Web-slinger and a large amount of milk can rescue the city. Of course he saves the day and in the end, Ren & Stimpy audition to become Spidey’s side-kick, but the nasty antics of the duo end up grossing Spider-Man out.

I guess when you need a sales boost for a new comic series, you bring in the big guns like Spider-Man. As if Powdered Toast Man isn’t a big enough draw!

5- Archie & the Gang/Punisher
One of my favorite film scenes comes from Back to the Future, where Marty McFly grabs a guitar at a high school dance and blows the teenage crowd away with his rocking rendition of Johnny Be Good. Naturally, by the time McFly is done with his over-the-top guitar solo, the crowd sat in stunned silence. I guess the comic version of this would be when Frank Castle shows up in the world of Archie. Talk about a fish out of water, eh?

In this series, which was published with two different covers, one for Punisher and one for Archie, Punisher is hired by the government to apprehend a drug dealer, Red, in the town of Riverdale. While there, Punisher takes on the guise of the Riverdale High School gym teacher.

This is one of the few on this list that are included more for their hilarity than their badness. The very idea of Archie being confronted by Punisher is hilarious, let alone all of the cases of mistaken identity and Frank Castle as a Phys. Ed. teacher. Don’t run your laps? How ’bout a .45 to the knee cap? It should be noted that Punisher is asked to detain Red, not kill him, so self-restraint plays a big part. The comic closes with a tease of Jughead taking on Wolverine, which would be another classic pairing.

6- Superman/Nestley Quik Bunny
Since the beginning of comics, they’ve been used as a vessel for advertisements and endorsements, anything from bonds to toys. So why should  delicious chocolate milk be excluded? In this little give-away gem, Superman, the Man of Steel, teams up with Quik, the mascot for Nestle’s chocolate milk, to take on the Weather Wizard. They do this, of course, with a group of lab-generated, perfect blend of ethnicity and knowledge to decipher a code to bring the villain down.

Throughout the comic, you will see that the best drawn and most clear images are that of the Nestle Quik package. Advertising at its best! And the first time we see the popular bunny, he is whoring…er…drinking a box of chocolate milk.

We’ve seen Superman stoop to some low points before, but this is pretty bad. Probably took him a while to recover from this one. Sure Lex Luthor and Brainiac had a hay-day with this news.

7 Spider-Man/Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time-Players (SNL)
Before I begin, let me just say that the image above brings to mind Batman’s now-famous line from the animated film Crisis on Two Earths: “No Aquaman! You’re too weak!” (Consider that paraphrased if it’s not what he actually said.) Fans of Saturday Night Live know that it’s best years are far behind it, with some of the best coming from the original cast, which included the likes of Dan Aykoryd, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtain, Gilda Radner and of course, John Belushi.

This story comes from the episode of Saturday Night Live where Stan Lee served as host. The TV show and the Spider-Man character were melded together for a comic in which Spider-Man and Mary Jane come to see Stan host the show. Arriving late, the pair is forced to sit in the balcony. Meanwhile, a surly man pushes his way to the front of the crowd and poses as an usher. Not is all as it seems, however, as this man is actually the Silver Samurai. As the show goes on, Samurai’s thugs access the control booth and take control. This sends Spidey’s “sense” into a tissy and he scurries off to help. With the help of the Not Ready For Prime Time Players, Spidey is able to thwart the plans of the Silver Samurai’s plans.

Nothing like a bit of shameless self-promotion to help get the sales boosted and Stan “the Man” Lee is no exception. But hey, I see nothing wrong with this, at least in this case. Who wouldn’t love to see John Belushi in his iconic Samurai gear go after Silver Samurai? Might even show Wolverine a thing or two.

Josh "ecksmanfan" Johnson, 7 Comic Crossovers That Make You Say “WTF?!”

An All-New, Action-Packed, Anime Feature Film
Available on Blu-ray™ and DVD with UltraViolet™ April 16th

Bonus Materials Include Photo Gallery and Two Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes

CULVER CITY, CALIF. (February 4, 2013) – Marvel’s Iron Man returns in the all-new, animated, high-adrenaline feature-length film IRON MAN: RISE OF TECHNOVORE,
debuting on Blu-ray™ and DVD with UltraViolet™ April 16th from Marvel Entertainment and
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Produced by Madhouse and featuring Marvel Super Heroes such as War Machine, Nick Fury, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and The Punisher,
IRON MAN: RISE OF TECHNOVORE is the explosive new chapter in the popular Iron Man franchise. After a deadly terrorist attack, Iron Man is blamed and must go on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D. and stop the insane villain Ezekiel Stane who has developed a new type of “bio tech” that seems to outclass even the Iron Man armor. The cast includes the voice talents of
Matthew Mercer (Resident Evil Damnation) as Iron Man and Norman Reedus (The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, TV’s “The Walking Dead”) as Punisher.

Exclusive to the Blu-ray is an interactive art gallery featuring the conceptual art produced by Madhouse for the film. The Blu-ray and DVD also come with two behind-the-scenes featurettes: “Tale of Technovore,” exploring the animation, story and the adaptation of Marvel characters for the anime film; and “S.H.I.E.L.D.: Protecting the Marvel Universe,” giving viewers an all-access look and brief history into the organization as portrayed in the comics and adapted in the film.

Synopsis:
Billionaire Tony Stark, in his Iron Man armor, prevents an attack from a mysterious new foe, but innocent bystanders are killed, including his best friend War Machine, Lt. Colonel
James Rhodes. Detained for questioning by S.H.I.E.L.D., Iron Man escapes, determined to find the mastermind behind the attack. Pursued by Black Widow and Hawkeye, Iron Man enlists the help of the ruthless vigilante The Punisher. But can the Armored Avenger handle what he finds when he catches the person responsible and is forced to face his deadliest weapon, a biotechnology called Technovore that could wipe out all life on the planet?

IRON MAN: RISE OF TECHNOVORE is directed by Hiroshi Hamasaki (Paranoid Agent, Highlander) with story by Brandon Auman (The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Iron Man: Armored Adventures).

Blu-ray Exclusive Bonus Features Include:
• Conceptual Art Gallery

Blu-ray and DVD Bonus Features Include:
• Two Featurettes
o “Tale of Technovore”
o “S.H.I.E.L.D.: Protecting the Marvel Universe”

Artwork and digital clips are available for download at www.sphepublicity.com.
Visit Sony Home Entertainment on the Web at www.SonyPictures.com.

ABOUT ULTRAVIOLET
UltraViolet is an entirely new way to collect and enjoy your digital entertainment, giving you the power to instantly access your movies and TV shows with unprecedented flexibility. For more information, visit www.uvvu.com.

Agent Burgos, IRON MAN: RISE OF TECHNOVORE Available On April 16th

Loeb revealed that Marvel has 15 projects in the animated world in various stages of development and production. Some of the 15 are smaller projects like the Marvel  Mash-Ups that appear at the end of the Disney XD shows, but Loeb didn’t say how many were full-length features. He did say that after the forthcoming direct to DVD anime release Iron Man: Rise of the Technovore, that Marvel and Sony would work on a Punisher/Black Widow DVD film. No word if that will also be an anime feature, but I would say that it is. Speaking of Rise of the Technovore, it was recently reported that Norman Reedus will be voicing Frank Castle in the film. Maybe he’ll also be popping up for the Punisher/Black Widow flick, who knows?

Marvel’s top TV man also revealed that there are a few Marvel Knight Animation projects in the works. Those would be the animated comics Marvel release on DVD, like the recent Joss Whedon X-Men story. Loeb said that the motion comic will be a Wolverine and Weapon X story called “Tomorrow Dies Today.” It is an adaptation of a story by Jason Aaron that features Wolverine and Deathlok. Loeb said that the story is one of the comics picked to be part of the group, so expect more news soon.

One of the other interesting bits from the podcast was Loeb talking about the cancellation of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and the new series set to take its place- Avengers Assemble. Loeb said that Assemble is made to speak to and have a closer feel to the live-action movie released last summer. It will be fun and have the same epic scope as the Whedon film. Loeb also puts a lot of fans at ease when he states that Earth’s Mightiest transitions into Assembles and that everything that happened in EMH has happened in Assemble. The writer says that EMH relied on “comic book lore and mythos” but Assemble will push into the movie genre style of storytelling. It will be one and done stories that keep the show moving forward.

Loeb stated that research showed people are more committed to the so-called “one and done” stories compared to the long seralized stories that rely on season long arcs and multi-part episodes. He said that any story that starts with “Previously On” already alienates a large portion of your audience. Besides the research, the network said that shorter self-contained stories work better.

You can listen to the full podcast where Loeb covers a variety of topics by clicking here. In the course of an hour and a half talk Loeb covered an impressive amount of ground. We have several new direct to DVD releases to look forward to as well as some new motion comics. What do you think about the new movies? How about Loeb’s Avengers show comments?

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Jeph Loeb Reveals Upcoming Marvel Animated Projects

Continuing on our killers theme, Frank Castle is out for more blood in Scott Gimple and Mark Texeira’s Punisher: Nightmare #3. This issue features a flashback to the Marvel Civil War where Captain America tells Frank how he really feels about him. Check out the previews for both books coming out the 16th with a $3.99 cover price.

Wolverine awakes to find himself transported to the Savage Land and labeled public enemy number one! With no memory of how he got there, and Shanna the She-Devil his only ally, Logan must unravel the mystery that slumbers at the heart of the Savage Land before it finds a way to kill him first. This January, Wolverine is all brawls, babes, and brachiosaurs, and you’ll never see the end — or the future of the Marvel Universe — NOW!

• A Special Forces soldier is injured and his family killed in the midst of a mob execution in Central Park, but this isn’t Frank Castle. This time it’s a young soldier named JAKE NIMAN, but the familiar story puts Frank on the path of punishment!

• As Jake Niman heals from his wounds, why is he growing strangely stronger?

• And who is the mysterious Johnny Nightmare?

• Bullets fly, anarchy reigns, allies become enemies, the Punisher becomes the punished, and no one is safe!!!

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Killer Previews: Savage Wolverine #1 And Punisher: Nightmare #3

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Phil Noto To Take Over Art For Thunderbolts: Punisher And Elektra Get It On

On November 3rd I went down with a few friends and my camera man to Long Beach to take in Long Beach Comic and Horror Con. It was a good time had by all in my group, and with the amount of costumes, comic book folks, toys, cos players, roller derby girls and even a few celebrities sprinkled in I was pleased.

Being a smaller Con I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t have as much fun, or see as many amazing costumes, or even get the shot to meet some of the folks that I admire, but it beat all my expectations, and even exceeded my wants. I was able to talk to Thomas Jane who essentially was a very nice guy, and I met Tim Bradstreet who was really quite possibly the nicest comic book professional that I have ever had the chance to meet. Not only did he take a picture willingly with me (see below) he actually spent about twenty minutes speaking to us about everything and anything, that alone made the trip well worth it.

I smiled he mugged hard it was awesome! Picture by Dane Johnston

All in all LBCHC was a pretty fantastic place to be for the weekend, below are some of the cosplay pictures that my camera man Dane Johnston took, look, enjoy, comment!

Possibly one of the best pics from LBCC Picture by Dane Johnston

An amazing Batgirl cosplay! Picture by Dane Johnston

Family Guy Star Wars! Pictures by Dane Johnston

Black Widow Pictures by Dane Johnston

What Team Rocket should have been! Pictures by Dane Johnston

Punisher Girls! Photo by Dane Johnston

That’s all the pictures for now, when I get a little bit of time I’ll try and load some more into a gallery! Again a big thanks to the folks at Long Beach Comic and Horror Con, all of the people who posed for the pictures, and to Dane Johnston for helping me out and doing his very awesome cameraman thing.

Until next time!

Michael Worthan, Adventures at Long Beach Comic and Horror Con 2012!

“The stories are related, but one is not predicated on the other,”

Rucka told Comic Book Resources.

“You can pick up War Zone and understand what’s going on if you haven’t read Punisher.”

“If you read Punisher through issue #16 though, you will have a better understanding of how Frank finds himself in the position that he’s in at the beginning of War Zone.”

The events of The Punisher #14-16 gives the Avengers cause to pay Frank Castle a visit that he may not be prepared for.

“I don’t think Frank is at all surprised when this happens,”

Rucka continued.

“He knew it was inevitable, but he of course has a contingency plan. He’s got a contingency plan for everything. That doesn’t mean Frank is happy with the situation though.

“I never felt that Frank looks at the heroes with contempt. I don’t think he looks at the Avengers and says, ‘You guys are laughable’.

“When Galactus shows up Frank is not up to the task of defending the Earth. So if hammers fall from the sky, which has happened recently, that’s outside of his bailiwick.”

The miniseries will debut in October.

You can watch the recent Punisher short Dirty Laundry here!

wolverinept, SDCC ’12: More Details About ‘Punisher War Zone’

While there isn’t anything official, The Punisher has returned in a new live-action (unofficial) short starring Thomas Jane. On Saturday, Thomas Jane had a panel about his upcoming comic with Tim Bradstreet. He surprised everyone by announcing the short film with Ron Perlman. It’s called Dirty Laundry, and you can check it out below!

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Thomas Jane Deals Out Punishment In Dirty Laundry: An Independent Punisher Film

Marvel had teased a war coming this October only to reveal that it was going to be The Avengers vs. The Punisher. The storyline will sadly be the finale for Greg Rucka and artist Marco Checchetto. The five-issue minsieries will rap up the overall story for the duo and bring Frank Castle’s war to the Marvel Universe. While it was announced at Comic Con, it wasn’t explained largely until Marvel.com published an interview with Rucka. The events will spring from the revelations in Punisher #15 and #16.

The question is, of course, what do you do with a ‘Problem Named Castle?’ Without giving too much away, let’s just say that events in PUNISHER #15 and PUNISHER #16 go big enough that Earth’s Mightiest Heroes can no longer hope the ‘Castle problem’ will take care of itself. At a certain point, they have to take responsibility for allowing Frank to have run as he has for so long. That point is now, and the time has come to do something about it.

Rucka says that Frank has planned all of this for some time. He has weapons and he knows when to use them, but his greatest weapon is his mind. He wouldn’t really say who Castle would be facing, but he hinted at Spider-Man due to the Omega Effect storyline. He did say that a confrontation with Wolverine is something he’s had in his mind since #1. Rucka also ominously siad that one Avenger can “neutralize Frank with three words alone.”

Rucka said that Frank kind of knows he may well lose, but he’s not going out easy. He wrapped up with praising Marco’s art and this little bit of info:

Against almost any Avenger, head-to-head, he’s going to be going down. One of the things I’m most excited about for this is showing the different takes on Frank and what he does, and the different approaches and arguments about how to effectively solve the ‘Castle problem.’ I don’t want to presume it as arrogance, but the Avengers, when they decide to act, they think they’re getting into one thing, and they discover it’s something very different.

The other big thing was some more info about the Minimum Carnage story Marvel had been teasing since Carnage USA. The Savage Six storyline in Venom by Culen Bunn will lead into Minimum Carnage. The event will kick off in October also, and take place between the Venom and Scarlet Spider books. Carnage will escape his imprisonment at the end of Carnage USA and go into the Micro-verse, Venom gives pursuit. Minimum Carnage: Alpha, a one-shot written by Cullenn Bunn and Chris Yost with art by Lan Medina, will kick off the story. It will then move into the Venom and Scarlet Spider books. Cullen Bunn and Chris Yost spoke with CBR about how the stage is set in the two books:

Cullen Bunn: As far as Venom goes, “Minimum Carnage” kicks off right after my first solo arc. For various reasons, Flash is more afraid than ever of the monster he might become. He’s seen a hero (Daimon Hellstrom) who has “gone bad,” and he’s filling the burden of a growing darkness in his own soul. An encounter with Carnage at this point isn’t just throwing salt on that wound. It’s like pouring on the acid. Flash has a lot of guilt over his mistakes anyway. Carnage isn’t Flash’s mistake, but he’s certainly a threat Flash feels responsible to deal with.

Chris Yost: Prior to “Minimum Carnage,” Kaine is coming off a storyline called “The Second Master,” the effects of which are that Kaine is even more unsure about this whole “super-hero” thing, probably leaning toward the side of “bad idea.” He’s dealt with Roxxon, seen all manner of evil, and had to deal with the Rangers, a team of super-heroes who patrol the American southwest — and that didn’t go over so well. So now isn’t the best time to run into Carnage or Venom.

The two also talk about the overall theme: second chances. Bunn addresses the question on if Cletus Kassady is Carange and the reason Flash Thompson/Venom and Scarlet Spider come together:

Bunn: Cletus Kasady is still Carnage. But the initial murders that set this story in motion are not committed by Carnage at all. Carnage isn’t the only brutal killer in the Marvel Universe, but there are those who believe he is the absolute best (or is it worst) mass murderer in existence. And those same individuals just happen to be in need of someone with his credentials.

Yost: I like Carnage because he’s a force of nature and he’s totally insane. Unpredictability is incredibly fun to write, and good to throw into your characters lives to see how they respond. But in this case, Carnage actually shares a character trait with both Venom and Scarlet Spider. They’re all searching for something very similar: a second chance.

You can check out the full Rucka interview on Marvel here and the Bunn/Yost interview at CBR here. It will be said to see Rucka and Marco depart from Punisher, but the opportunity to see the Rucka’s Punisher square off against The Avengers is too exciting. It will be interesting to see how it all wraps up. If Minimum Carnage is half the story Carnage USA is, it will be worth checking out. To see how they pull of a tiny Carnage in the micro-verse will be pulled off seems very promising. A Venom/Scarlet Spider combo isn’t too bad either. What do you think?

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, SDCC ’12: Punisher War Zone And Minimum Carnage

Frank Tieri’s script is classic Punisher.  He’s still a guy who had his family killed, and he is wants to eradicate crime.  It’s an origin that can work in most settings, so why change it up?  There are a few things different (besides the whole space thing), such as Frank having a robot sidekick named Chip.  It gives him an outlet to talk too, which is when the Punisher is at his best.  This version of Frank seems more like Han Solo than the Frank Castle in the main Marvel universe right now.  Frank is more stoic, unless he is talking about his exploits.  He’s clearly Frank, so it’s not a big worry.  And while this books has a lot of Marvel characters, it’s centered on Frank.  There are a lot of Marvel villains that stand in Frank’s way, but Barracuda is the main one.

Yes, the main attraction here is the fact that the Punisher is in space.  Space: Punisher feels like a B-movie plot.  The universe feels lived in, much like the original Star Wars films.  Tieri realizes how much fun this book could be, and uses it wisely.  It’s full of over the top moments, which all star Marvel characters.  The combinations and new origins for these characters are fun to read, but feel natural in this world.  The problem with books like this, is the writer tries to cram in many different characters and plot points that are similar to the main universe.  Yeah, it’s kind of fun, but can be a bit much.  This is a Punisher book, so throwing everyone in from the Avengers to Spider-Man wouldn’t work.  Tieri only brings in characters that work within the confines of the story, like Sabertooth or Deadpool.  The way he combines Venom and the Brood sets the expectations for the book perfectly.  Don’t expect Eisner award winning writing here.  Just expect lots of fun.

Mark Texeira’s cover sets up what the reader should expect perfectly.  But what surprised me was that the interiors had the painted quality as well.  The B-movie esthetic is on every page, with some panels looking like classic B-movie posters.  The ships and bars are cheesy looking, as well as the space suits.  The Venom symbiote looks great attached to the Brood.  The black hole sucking in a huge army of Venom looks as awesome as that sounds.  But Texeira still nails the quieter moments.  Frank is expressive, even if most of the expressions are him trying to be mean.  The plethora of alien beings make this lived in universe feel more lived in.  I was hesitant to buy #2 of this series, but on Texiera’s art alone, it will be worth it to stick around.

Space: Punisher #1 gets 4/5.

MrComicBook, Space: Punisher #1 Review

Remember when I reported that Marvel was poised for another war and speculated along with other sites that it was the long awaited Ultron War? Well, for the first time in my life (no laughing!) I was wrong.

All of those ominous teasers saying “This is War” was teasing something involving The Punisher. This new image came out today. Still no word on what exactly that entails or if it will fit in with Greg Rucka’s ongoing Punisher series, but it happens in October. Marvel is set to make an official announcement at Comic-Con during the Amazing Spider-Man panel July 15.

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Marvel’s War Turns Out To Be With The Punisher

That’s a pretty straightforward title, you know what you’re going to get when you buy a book called Deadpool kills the Marvel universe. This August, author Cullen Bunn and artist Dalibor Talajic will start the bloodbath with a four-issue miniseries published weekly throughout the month. You’ll be seeing something in a similar vein to The Punisher miniseries that saw the entire MU wiped out as well. Author Cullen Bunn and editor Jordan D. White spoke with CBR about the series and shared all of the cover art for the four issues. You can catch the full interview by clicking here, below are a few interesting tidbits.

When asked about how the idea came about and giving fans what the title promises:

White: In many ways, it’s about giving the fans what they want. It’s called “Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe” and we absolutely deliver on the promise of that title. If you think that idea sounds interesting or intriguing at all, this series is made expressly for you.

Bunn: Yeah, I don’t think there’s any subterfuge in the title. This is Deadpool murdering the heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe we know and love. On another level, though, it’s kind of a tragic story about being the puppet of greater forces — and how far one might go to be free of all that.

On if this Deadpool’s motivation will be similar to the 616 Deadpool, especially about his love for the personification of Death:

Bunn: His motivations aren’t connected to many of the story elements you might have seen in other books. This kind of tale gives us the chance to do some things we couldn’t even think about in the core Deadpool book. But I wanted a catalyst for Deadpool’s killing spree that could happen in the main book.
At the beginning of this story, we’re dealing with “our” Deadpool. His perceptions have always been a little off-center, but now his world view is crashing down around him. When the switch gets flipped (so to speak), Deadpool takes a very dark turn. From that point, he’s got a very specific goal in mind, and he’s not going to stop for anything or anyone.

And most interesting of all, how high up the Marvel Universe ladder will Deadpool’s killing spree go

Bunn: I think folks will dig seeing just how high up the food chain Deadpool slices and dices. In some cases, he keeps the kills pretty simple. But for some of the heavy hitters, he has to get creative. The thing about Deadpool (especially this Deadpool) is that he sees things differently. It helps make him a more effective killer. He relies on everything from straight forward gun and swordplay to elaborate “Saw”-like deathtraps.

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Deadpool Kills Everyone This August In: Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe

A four-issue miniseries moving the entire Marvel Universe to outer space, and telling the tale through a different-but-still-the-same Frank Castle‘s distinct point of view. Written by Frank Tieri and fully painted by Mark Texeira, the story begins in July, and also includes a four-armed Hulk acting as an interstellar Moby Dick and the nefarious “Avengers Federation,” featuring what Tieri calls a “very unique take on long-time butler Jarvis.”

Below is the first look we’ve gotten at the series thanks to again to Newsarama. The multi-arm Hulk image is the cover to issue #2.

SPACE PUNISHER #1 (of 4)
FRANK TIERI (w) • MARK TEXEIRA (a&C)
• Punishment is a dish best served—in Space!
• Frank Castle shoots his way through the criminal hierarchy of outer space
starting with the Sym-Brood-ant Queen!
• From Frank Tieri, writer of Marvel vs. Capcom and Punisher: Noir and gorgeously painted by
Mark Texeira (Punisher War Journal, Ghost Rider).
32 PGS./PARENTAL ADVISORY…$3.99

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, First Look At Space Punisher: It's Punisher But In Space