Steven Blum = Wolverine

A lot of people think of Kevin Conroy as Batman, and some even say that he is the BEST Batman.
The same with Mark Hamil and the Joker.

Another guy that should be mentioned in the same breath to me, is Steven Blum.
Steven has do a LOT of voice acting.
But since 2008, he has pretty much been Wolverine in anything animated.

Take a look....
Wolverine and the X-Men (2008)
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows Video Game (2008)
The Super Hero Squad Show (2009)
Hulk Vs (2009)
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 Video Game (2009)
Marvel Super Hero Squad Video game (2009)
Marvel Super Heroes 4D (2010)
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (2010)
Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet Video game (2010)
Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds Video Game (2011)
Marvel Super Hero Squad Online (2011)
X-Men: Destiny Video Game (2011)
Marvel Super Hero Squad: Comic Combat Video Game (2011)
Ultimate Spider-Man (2012)
Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth Video game (2012)
Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. (2013)
Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload (2013)
Marvel Heroes Video Game (2013)
Deadpool Video Game (2013)
Lego Marvel Super Heroes Video Game (2013)

To me, if I read a comic and Wolverine is speaking, it's Steven's voice I hear in my head.

So yeah, to me, Steven is Wolverine.
At least his voice is.

John Byrne's X-Men

Another picture by the incredible John Byrne and Terry Austin of my favorite era of the X-men.
I guess it's just nostalgia huh?

The Wolverine Shows Off His Suit in 2 New Photos | X-Men | News | Marvel.com

First up, Logan is dressed to the nines just in time for awards season, and then we've got a behind-the-scenes peek at Hugh Jackman looking lean and mean as he films a scene on set!

The Wolverine Shows Off His Suit in 2 New Photos | X-Men | News | Marvel.com

Upcoming Comic Book Movies, Part 1

Since the hype over Wolverine has died down, I wonder how the mediocre performance of it and Watchmen will affect upcoming comic book movies?
Here is the current list of upcoming movies that are coming out.

First up, Marvel.....

Iron Man II (2010)
Expect more of the same as far as ticket sales go. I can't really see the second film flopping with all the hype the first one got.

Spider-Man 4 (2011)
Scares me.
After Spiderman 3, I'm afraid this film will have an uphill battle.

The First Avenger: Captain America (2011)
Can Marvel sustain two comic book movies in one year?
Hey, it IS Cap.

Thor (2011)
Okay, how about 3 movies in one year?
Will the public be "comic booked out"?

The Avengers (2012)
Okay, Marvel waits a year. Depending on how 2011 goes, this could be THE movie, or a big loss.

Deadpool (????)
It looks like the "Merc with a Mouth" is headed for the big screen.
As it stands right now, Ryan Reynolds is attached to the project.

Of course this isnt taking into account the alledged reboots of Daredevil, Fantastic Four and Blade.

Wolverine Is Still Hanging In There

Those are NOT can openers......

Wolverine is still fighting at the box office.
It did have that second week drop I feared it would have, but that was because of Star Trek.
This weekend saw Wolvie drop down to third place behind the debuting Angels and Demons and Star Trek.
Wolverine still managed to pull in a $151.1 million three week total though.

As for the "X-Men Origins: Wolverine"video game, it's kinda like the movie as in I have heard anything from "awesome" to "don't bother".
From what I have heard, the game is very brutal.
Pretty much like what would happen if Wolverine really was allowed to cut loose on someone.
Cut being the operative word.

I'm kinda glad they treat the game this way though.
I know I've complained a lot about dark versus light in superheroes, but Wolverine is one hero that needs to be dark.
Woverine stunning people with his claws doesn't work.
Its like the Punisher with rubber bullets or a stun gun.

I hate to say this, but maybe "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" could have stood to be a little darker.

Wolverine Versus Star Trek

I kind of avoided all the opening weekend Wolverine buzz (maybe not to jinx it like I seem to have Watchmen) but going into the second week I think it's okay to talk now.
I saw Star Trek this weekend and loved it.
(before you start, I watched Star Trek back in it's first run on TV, watched Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, couldn't handle Enterprise, watched all the movies and no I do not know Klingon, I just like Star Trek)
Anyway, despite the fact that I loved the Star Trek movie and its getting mostly favorable reviews, Wolverine still out grossed it in it's first week.

Star Trek pulled in $76.5 million this weekend, and Wolverine pulled in $85 last weekend.
Wolverine dropped to $27 million in it’s second weekend and I dont see that big of a drop for Star Trek coming up.
So Star Trek may out perform Wolvie in the long run.

Just in case you want a little Star Trek/X-Men goodness mixed together, head over to Sir Jorge's blog and take a look at Spock versus Wolverine where the above picture came from.
Appropriate no?

Gotta admit though, Wolverine versus Sylar..now there's a fight I'd like to see.

Free Comic Book Day

Free Comic Book Day is fast approaching.
In case you didnt know, Free Comic Book Day is an annual promotional effort by the comic book industry to help bring new readers into independent comic book stores.
And this year they have some star power backing them up.

Check out this FCBD PSA by Hugh Jackman (with a bonus Wolverine Trailer of course)



For more info, you can go to the FCBD website here:
http://www.freecomicbookday.com/

One Extreme Or The Other.....

It doesn't have to go this far...

As I kinda feared, Watchmen opened well, but the box office dropped suddenly.
Is this the death knell of comic book movies?
Hardly.
You cannot compare Watchmen to say Batman or Iron Man or Spiderman.
I don't think you will see product tie-ins like with the "colorful" superheroes.
Can you imagine a Rorschach Happy Meal?
Or a Comedian dress up set?
Nope, kids aren't supposed to emulate the Watchmen.
It's an adult story.
But Batman, The Hulk, Wolverine, now there are your commercial tie ins.
I think the movie industry had better think twice before "darkening" the more popular heroes.
The Dark Knight was just about as far as Hollywood needs to go and stay profitable.

Actually I keep wondering if we may be looking at a backlash soon.
I watch "Batman: The Brave and The Bold" and I love it.
It's not the dark brooding Batman. It's the 50s and 60s detective with gadgets.
But he's still bad.
They show a lighter Batman, but I don't get it confused with the Dark Knight.
BTW, I absolutely loved Batman: The Animated Series and I think both cartoons work, just on different levels.

Maybe we are making our heroes too dark.
Some of course, it suits.
But a darker, edgier Fantastic Four?
Heck, lets just get Frank Miller to do the Power Puff Girls.
Lets make it all so dark and bloody and gory that you really can't tell the heroes from the bad guys without a scorecard.

We need the dark avengers like Bats and the Punisher.
But we also need the "boy scouts".
I know I seem to keep harping on this, but I feel pretty strongly about it.

Maybe I'm schizophrenic since I liked Watchmen and The Rocketeer.
I like Batman AND Superman.

But there has to be a middle ground.
And no it's not Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin.

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?

Obama, Spiderman and Batman

With the sales of the Obama/Spiderman book doing so well and "The Dark Knight" raking in awards, 2009 looks like it's off to a good start for the comic book industry.

Amazing Spider-Man #583 with President Obama and Spiderman sold out, so another run is scheduled to hit comic book stores on Wednesday.
The Jan. 21 issue will have a variant cover.

The Dark Knight has already garnered tons of awards and nominations. Now everyone is looking at the Oscars and waiting.
On January 23rd, The Dark Knight will be re-released to stir up even more Oscar buzz.
Could the late Heath Ledger get an Oscar nomination? He's already won a posthumous Golden Globe award for his portrayal of the Joker.
A comic book movie getting an Oscar?
Even if that doesn't pan out, there's Iron Man in the special effects catagory.
Comic book movies (plural this time) getting Oscars?
And let's not forget Wolverine is hosting the show.

I checked out Grant Morrison's website (I like Grant. He is one person I would really LOVE to sit down and talk to) and Grant not only raved about The Dark Knight, but he said he thinks the movie screen is the future of Super Heroes.

I have to agree with him, but I'm biased because I can't actually say there has been a comic book based movie I have hated.
Okay, not counting the Superman movies after 2, and the dread Joel Schumacher Batman Forever.
And the Dolph Lundgren Punisher.
Okay. I've liked MOST of the Comic Book Movies.
What scares me is that if The Dark Knight does well in the Oscars, the movie studios will just start tossing out Super Hero movies left and right.

But here is my question.
Who is going to create the first all original superhero, make a movie and turn that character into an icon?
A non comic book based superhero that captures the imagination and reaches the Spiderman, Batman, Superman level?

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

X-Men Origins: Wolverine seems to be getting the big PR push now.
The trailer is online now ( you can see it here) and next years release (May 1st, 2009) seems to be going full steam.
At least Fox hopes so.
X-Men Origins: Magneto has been put on hold until they see how well the Wolverine movie does.
I like the main cast.....
Hugh Jackman as Logan / Wolverine (of course), Liev Schreiber as Victor Creed / Sabretooth ( Okay, I thought Tyler Mane was an impressive visual Sabretooth, but could he pull off a whole movie?), Danny Huston as William Stryker (Not Brian Cox from the original movie. I guess the CGI would have been too time consuming), Lynn Collins as Kayla Silver Fox ( I would have preferred Michelle Monaghan but that didn't work out), Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson / Deadpool (I'm the one person on the Internet that likes Ryan Reynolds), Taylor Kitsch as Remy LeBeau / Gambit ( Don't know a lot about Taylor but his Gambit looks good in the trailer), Kevin Durand as Frederick J. Dukes / The Blob (is that CGI or makeup? Either way it looks good).
So without actually seeing the movie, I'll have to just go with how it looks visually.
And visually it looks really good.

Hugh Jackman teams with Virgin for new comic books | Entertainment | People | Reuters

Hugh Jackman teams with Virgin for new comic books Entertainment People Reuters:

"LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hugh Jackman, who plays the mutant Wolverine in the 'X-Men' action movies, is pairing with Virgin Comics to create a comic book series called 'Nowhere Man,' Virgin said on Tuesday.
The series, a futuristic science-fiction odyssey set in an era when men have traded their privacy for safety and security, will be written by Jackman and Marc Guggenheim, who wrote Marvel comics' 'Wolverine' series and 'Amazing Spider-Man.'"

X-Men

X-Men is a 2000 American action movie, featuring a group of comic book superheroes called the X-Men. It formed a major part of the current revival in comic-book adaptation movies.

The movie was directed by Bryan Singer and explores the ideas of prejudice and discrimination in the United States. The screenplay was written by David Hayter (who has a cameo appearance in the film as a police officer in the Statue of Liberty area). A sequel, X2: X-Men United, was released in 2003 and a third film, X-Men: The Last Stand, was released in 2006. The film franchise also brought up interest in a Wolverine-centered film and a Magneto-centered film.

According to Joss Whedon, who made an early draft of the screenplay, only two parts of his draft made it into the final film. The first is the exchange between Wolverine and Cyclops ("It's me." "Prove it!" "You're a dick."); the other is Storm's, "Do you know what happens to a toad when it's struck by lightning? The same thing that happens to everything else." Whedon was disappointed with Halle Berry's over-dramatic delivery of the latter line, which he imagined as an offhand, casual comment.

Wolverine's claws required a full silicone cast of Hugh Jackman's arm, and 700 versions for Jackman and his stunt doubles.

The scene at the train station where the young boy smiles at Cyclops, and Cyclops smiles back was unplanned. The boy was a huge fan of the X-Men, and Cyclops was his favorite. The scene originally called for Cyclops to look at the train schedule, however, according to Bryan Singer, the boy could not stop smiling at James Marsden (the actor playing Cyclops). Finally, during one shot, Marsden just looked back at him and smiled, much to the boy's delight. Bryan Singer liked the idea so much, he kept it in the film, and told the actress playing the boy's mother to react the way she did.

The relatively unspectacular scene where the X-Men leave the X-Jet and hop over a wall to step into the Statue of Liberty caused much hilarity. The reason was that the actors Berry, Janssen, Marsden and Jackman wore such tight fitting costumes that they simply could not make the jump over the small ledge. Another problem was that they were supposed to hold their breath to avoid clouding in the cold weather, a point which Berry forgot at least once. This can be all seen on the blooper reel of the DVD X-Men 1.5.

During the film, as Logan mocks the X-Men's black uniforms, Cyclops replies: "What would you prefer? Yellow spandex?" This is a reference to Wolverine's blue-and-yellow uniform from the comics.

At one point in the film, Toad grabs an iron pole and proceeds to twirl it around in a fashion not unlike that of Gambit. In actual fact this was in reference to the Star Wars character Darth Maul, whom actor Park had portrayed in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

When appearing at Wondercon 2006 to promote Superman Returns (2006), Bryan Singer mentioned that he originally approached composer John Williams to compose the score for X-Men, but Williams was too busy composing the score for Saving Private Ryan (1998).

In the scene when Senator Kelly emerges from the water at the beach a hot dog vendor that can be seen. The vendor is Stan Lee, the original creator of X-Men. George Buza, the voice of Beast in the X-Men animated series, has a cameo as the truck driver who brought Anna Paquin's Rogue to the bar at the beginning of the film.

Much of the film was shot at locations in and around Toronto, Ontario. Casa Loma, a local landmark and museum, was used as the set for all above-ground scenes inside Xavier's school. The scenes in Cerebro were filmed in a large soundstage within the downtown CBC building. Hamilton's Liuna Station, a former train station converted into an event hall, stood in for the Westchester train station in the unavailability of Toronto's downtown Union Station. A beach in nearby Oakville was originally intended to serve as the beach where Senator Kelly washes up after his escape from Magneto.

During filming of the scene just outside the train station, Bryan Singer was prevented entry by a local police officer, who was assisting with crowd control. Singer's youthfull appearance and casual dress failed to impress the officer, who flatly refused to believe that the "kid" in front of him was even involved in the film, let alone somebody important.

The film went on to become one of the biggest hits of 2000, taking in more than $296 million worldwide and becoming the 8th highest grossing film, domestically, of that year. The film is also widely credited as being the patriarch of the current "Comic Book Movie Age" that Hollywood is currently experiencing with releases such as, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, The Punisher, Constantine, Sin City, Batman Begins, V for Vendetta, The Hulk, Superman Returns, Ghost Rider, X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand.

Some fans were not entirely pleased with the first large scale adaptation of the X-Men. Many fans complained about the change in costumes and the overall depiction of Rogue as frightened, naive, and defenseless - even with her powers. Another overall complaint was that the other X-Men, featured so prominently in the comic books, were relegated to playing second fiddle against Wolverine. Many fans felt that Cyclops in particular, the field leader of the X-Men, and his long-term romance with Jean Grey were minimalized to emphasize Wolverine's role in the group, and Wolverine's infatuation with Jean.