New ‘Ant-Man’ Spot Seems… Uninspired

The latest TV spot for Marvel’s upcoming Ant-Man simply doesn’t work for me. Maybe it’s the music — a dull, repetitive club tune called “2020” by Suuns, which feels completely out of place. (I hope it isn’t used in the film.) Check it out:

Yeah, the whole thing just feels… meh. It’s like all the cool stuff has already been shown, and we’ve seen probably the best laugh lines, so what’s left? Apparently, not much. It all seems so familiar. Really, the only substantive new material is the brief encounter at the end between Scott (Paul Rudd) and his buddies Luis (Michael Pena) and Dave (T.I.).

Ant-Man opens July 17.

 

Two DAREDEVIL Spots Dropped on April 1 — and It’s No Trick

No, it wasn’t a cruel April Fool’s Day joke — Marvel Studios really did release two promotional video clips for its forthcoming series with Netflix on April 1. And here they are…

The First Defender:

Daredevil’s abilities:

All thirteen episodes of DAREDEVIL will begin streaming on Netflix on April 10.

Director Adds New Jubilee to ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’

Director Bryan Singer used his Instagram (as usual) to announce that Lana Condor has been cast as Jubilee in X-Men: Apocalypse.

Condor is the definition of a Hollywood newcomer, with no known TV or film credits. Jubilee has appeared in cameos in previous X-Men films. She was played by Katrina Florece in X-Men (2000) and Kea Wong in X2: X-Men United (2003) X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).

Created by Chris Claremont and Marc Silvestri, Jubilee first appeared in 1989’s Uncanny X-Men #244, and was a mainstay in the 1990s animated series.

Deadpool’s Movie Costume Looks Like Deadpool’s Comic Book Costume

Don’t laugh; it’s no small thing that the lead character’s onscreen costume will resemble what he wears for his four-color adventures in print every month — just ask the X-Men!

Star Ryan Reynolds unveiled his latest superhero threads — remember the atrocity that was his Green Lantern costume (and movie)? — this morning by aping a famous Burt Reynolds pose.

Of course a character that I despise gets a great costume…

Here Comes DAREDEVIL! The Man Without Fear!

Here’s a whole bunch of stuff to catch you up on Marvel Entertainment’s new “street-level” superhero small-screen series from Netflix, DAREDEVIL. I’m not very interested in this one; I’m more looking forward to A.K.A. JESSICA JONES and THE DEFENDERS, but this series looks well-done.

Check out these photos from the new issue of Empire magazine, depicting the whole cast in costume.

Matt and Karen

Matt and Foggy

Daredevil

Matt and Night Nurse

Wilson Fisk

Daredevil

Avengers’ Solo Posters Released

After the release of the newest group poster promoting Avengers: Age of Ultron, Marvel Studios has been releasing a collection of solo images highlighting Earth’s Mightiest Heroes individually — and they are pretty impressive.

ETA: Hawkeye’s solo poster

A:AoU will be released May 1.

New ‘Fantastic Four’ Reboot Photos

The release of director Josh Trank‘s (Chronicle) reboot Fantastic Four film is fast approaching (for better or worse), so 20th Century Fox has fed some new photos to Empire magazine.

That’s Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Bell as Marvel Comics’ first family.

Trank tells Empire:

There’s the opportunity to make something that is challenging and tragic and dramatic. The opportunity is right there in the material. We’d rather steer it in that direction as opposed to just embracing a tone that comes right off the page.

Writer / producer Simon Kinberg said, “There was an Amblin-style approach to the characterization, and to contextualizing everything in a real world.”

That seems to imply “Amblin” storytelling is somehow grim-n-gritty? Is this Steven Spielberg‘s Amblin Entertainment, or something different? Is “Amblin” a British term that I’m unfamiliar with?

As far as I’m concerned, Chronicle was Trank’s Fantastic Four movie, and it was really well-done, so why he would even take this job is beyond me. Unless he felt he was on a mission to completely deconstruct the superhero movie?

The new Fantastic Four hits theaters Aug. 7.

Deadpool ‘Prototype’ Mask Unveiled

In news that strikes me more as a threat than a promise of things to come, Ryan Reynolds took to Twitter today to give fans a peek at his costume for the upcoming Deadpool movie.

The photo he posted was tinted, but the mask appears to be pretty close to the Marvel comic book version.

Ryan Tweeted:

Sepia tone disguises the fact the mask is ballerina pink. It’s early. 365 sleeps early. #deadpool #prototypes

Ryan also refers to the fact that the film is one year away from release. Remember, though — Deadpool is a 20th Century Fox property, not a Marvel Studios production.

Who could forget Reynolds’ portrayal of… well, some version of Deadpool from 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine? Or his portrayal of… some version of Green Lantern?

No matter how hard we’ve tried.

A.K.A. JESSICA JONES Looks Promising, Adds Moss

Krysten Ritter has begun filming the title role in A.K.A. JESSICA JONES, the Netflix series based on the Marvel comic book Alias, which is set to debut later this year.

Since Jessica is a retired superheroine, the street clothes the former BREAKING BAD actress wears pretty much constitute her “costume.” She seems to have the right look to me, and it certainly looks like the series will be true to the comic, which was notable for its street-level grit.

And in more good news, Carrie-Anne Moss, of The Matrix fame, is joining the cast as an original character named Harper. She is “a person in a position of authority who could prove a powerful ally to Jessica — if the titular character doesn’t completely alienate her first, that is,” according to The Wrap.

Marvel To Unleash All-Female Avengers Team: A-Force

An all-female Avengers team called A-Force will emerge from the Secret Wars event, taking over after older versions of the team have disbanded (or worse), Marvel Comics has announced.

The team will be led by She-Hulk; Dazzler; Medusa; Nico Minoru; Singularity, a new heroine with cosmic powers; and others to be announced.

The cover of the first issue, drawn by Jim Cheung,  features a huge potential roster, including: She-Hulk, Medusa, Singularity, Dazzler, Nico, Storm, Scarlet Witch, Rogue, Phoenix, Wasp, Captain Marvel, Spider-Woman, Pixie, Elektra, Rescue, Spider-Gwen, Black Widow, Moondragon, Snowbird, Aurora, Capt. Marvel II, Hellcat, Firestar, Vindicator, Jubilee and Spectrum.