Iron Man 2 Casting

The first rumors for Iron Man 2 really got my attention.
Apart from the regular cast, Mickey Rourke as the Crimson Dynamo and Emily Blunt as the Black Widow?
Wow!
But now Mickey's camp is saying no to Iron Man 2, and Emily Blunt cant do it because of scheduale conflicts.
AND...now Samuel L. Jackson is a maybe because Marvel is lowballing him?

Okay, the Nick Fury they are using is the Ultimates Nick Fury which is physically based on Jackson.
They need him.
Had they not done this, I'd say pull David Hasselhoff up and go with the *ahem* comic book version of Fury.
C'mon, I actually liked The Hoff in the old Nick Fury TV movie.
Can you see the over the top Hoff snarling and getting up in Stark's face with the stogie clenched in his teeth?



And the Black Widow.
How long have I waited for a Widow movie?
Since her and DD were going steady a long time ago.
Emily Blunt I think would have been good.
But now they are talking about Scarlett Johansson?
Can Scarlett pull off sexy, sleek, dark and mysterious?
Will she wear the catsuit with the low slung belt and the Widow Bites?
The best Widow I have seen so far wasn't even in a Marvel movie, it was in NBC's Chuck.
Check out the episode "Chuck Versus the Seduction".
Melinda Clarke (Lady Heather from CSI) plays a red haired, Russian female spy known as the Black Widow.
????
Yep, and her name was Sasha Banacheck.
Sasha....Tasha.....
Even the hairstyle was right.

President Obama, Spiderman, Marvel Comics and iTunes

The Incredible Alex Ross' Obama-Man

President Obama hasn't had a chance to really help the nations economy yet, but he sure has helped the sales of comic books.
His appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #583 boosted that comic to it's highest sales in almost 15 years.
That issue has gone through an unprecedented(that was almost a pun)5 printings and sold over 300,000 copies.
His appearance in Erik Larsen’s Savage Dragon #137 is going into it's fourth printing and the President is scheduled to appear in Youngblood #8 where he re-instates the Youngblood program.
Next up, Obama joins the JLA...no wait, that's a joke.
I think.
(Though what I wouldn't give to see a drawing by Jim Lee of Obama dressed as Captain America and Joe Biden as the Falcon perched on a rooftop)

And in other non-Obama related comic book news, Marvel comics is going to release "motion comic books" on iTunes.
What are "motion comic books"?
Well this is from Marvel's website....

"Ask yourself this, if the pages of Marvel Comics could move, what would they look like? Wonder no more, True Believers!
Remaining true to the heritage of panel-by-panel graphic storytelling, boasting groundbreaking graphics, sensational soundscapes and, of course, the explosiveness of the Mighty Marvel Universe, here comes the all-new, all-awesome Marvel Motion!
Watch and hear your favorite comics, authors and artists come alive. You've never seen Marvel move like this.
Marvel Motion—GET YOUR MOVE ON!"

I don't know if I like the idea but I love the hype!
It reminds me of the 60s Marvel Comics style.
The only thing missing is "Excelsior!" at the end.

For more info you can check out Marvel's website here
http://www.marvel.com/motion_comics

Comic Books Online

Just a few things from around the web....

Have you been to AIBQ?
With over 642 comics online, it looks to be a comic book collectors dream.
I havent tried it yet, but it looks like you click on the catalog link, click on the comic you want and BANG you download it.
If you want to check it out, the link is here.


And talk about comic books going mainstream, MSNBC has an article titled "9 comic book characters to watch in 2009".
It's a cool little slideshow with Wolverine heading up the list followed by Batman, Supergirl and so on.
The link is here


And similar to the above AIBQ, there is ComicBookDB.com, which is kinda like the IMDb, except for comic books.
Very nice page layouts and well worth a look.
You can access it here


So there, I didn't complain about Fox or The Watchmen or the media calling us geeks.
I just gave out free stuff.

Superhero Top Ten. Who's More Popular? Superman...Batman?

Back in the old days, all we had to determine comic book superhero popularity was sales.
Now we have the Interweb!
And I tell you, doing some research on who is the most popular comic book character is a little strange.

1. Batman
Of course with the awesome movie and dying (what..twice recently?) I figured this would happen.
2. Robin
Robin? The Boy Hostage? He hasn't even been in a good movie. Unless you count the amazing "Grayson" fan film.
3. Spiderman
Even Obama couldnt help Spidey get up over Bats.
4. Superman
Superman Returns....meh
5. Iron Man
The movie rocked, no question.
6. X-Men
Through ups and downs, bad and good, I've always considered The X-Men to be Marvel's flagship.
7. The Incredible Hulk
Second movie was decent. And the Hulk stirs that "Forget logic, I just wanna pound something" feeling we all get from time to time.
8. Wolverine
He goes anywhere from maniac with razor sharp blades to Byronic hero. And he has a movie coming out.
9. Watchmen
I really expected them to be higher.
10. Wonder Woman
One of DC comics Trinity. And if they EVER finally make a movie.......

Notice that with the exception of Robin, and maybe Wonder Woman, all of these have movie tie ins?