Superman Has Been Cast!

The moment a lot of us have been waiting for has finally arrived. The decision has been made as to who will portray Clark Kent/ Superman in Zach Snyder's upcoming reboot. We already heard that they would be searching for an unknown or an up and comer, much like Superman Returns, and well, here he is.

Henry Cavill will play the Man of Steel, and I can definitely agree he has the look. I'm not to familiar with him as an actor, but the same went for Brandon Routh, who has become a favorite of mine. This sits better with me than the rumored Joe Manganiello, who played Flash Thompson in Spider-Man.


Here's a photoshopped look at Cavill as Kal-El from /Film:

Not bad, right? This casting comes on the news that the reboot may be filming in Alberta, Canada much like Inception and Batman Begins, so I'm assuming maybe a Fortress of Solitude scene. I live in Alberta so I know they are coming up here for snow, if they are coming up here.


What do you think about this casting decision? Sound off in the comments section below!

'Gotham High': The Bat-Toon That Almost Was

I really wish it was... but it isn't...

Cracked's 'The 8 Most Awkward Sexual Moments In Comic Book History'

Comics are a wholesome, educational, fun for the family read, it's science. But, there are occasions where awkwardness can occur when they try to tackle...uh... matters of the heart? No, that's not right. Okay, when they try to tackle really weird sexual situations.


Over at Cracked.com they have a list of 'The 8 Most Awkward Sexual Moment's In Comic Book History', and yea, there are some disturbing additions. I'll give you a sneak peek and you can check out the full story at the link above:

Superman and Batman Cry Over Alien Tentacle Sex

Wolverine Tries to Bang a Teenage Mary Jane

Green Lantern Dates a 13-Year-Old

Superman Wants to Marry His Teenage Cousin

Yea, wow. Some pretty kinky stuff going on in the superhero community, that's for sure. Usually you have to pay extra for that kind of thing... Uh... So I'm told...

'Dredd' Casts Lena Headey & First Look At The Lawmaster Bike

I Am The Law! 

Kevin Smith's 'Indie 2.0'... The Dawn Of A New Age?

banner by Justin Reed

I've been struggling with this article for a while now. With all the buzz surrounding Red State over the web lately, I felt a little remiss in my duties by not posting any news stories. It wasn't because I didn't feel it was news worthy, I just felt that it wasn't enough. I had too much to say to just bring it up as a news story.


First of all, I have to say what a huge fan of Kevin Smith I am, and have always been. I grew up on the ASKEWniverse: Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma. These films were the cornerstone of my youth, for a lot of reasons. Dick and Fart jokes for the intellectual, emotional forays into the dreaded 'relationship', friendship, betrayal, religion, humanity. Not that this ended with any of other Smith films, but those four kind of put me in the direction my life would continue to take. Living with humor, surviving with friends, dealing with your beliefs.

And the occasional dick and fart joke. Yea, I'm amping up these films a lot, not that they don't deserve it. But they were always more to me than a film. When I broke up with my first girlfriend, I watched Chasing Amy to try to understand, and I watched Mallrats to move on. Clerks was the inevitable bad work day movie, and Dogma, well... Dogma was different. I watched Dogma when I wanted to watch a Kevin Smith movie. Because that's the best part of his movies, they are classic Smith. You can watch his progression as filmmaker, from the motivational indie-that-could Clerks to the welcome-to-Hollywood Cop Out, which I loved.

The point I'm making is how inspired I was to not be afraid to do what you want. To write about what you know, tell your stories how you want to tell them. And here's why I'm able to write this article now. Because Kevin Smith continues to inspire those same ideals.


Red State is Smith's latest movie, here's the synopsis:


"Three horny high-school boys come across an online ad from an older woman looking for a gang bang. Boys being boys, they hit the road to satisfy their libidinal urges. But what begins as a fantasy takes a dark turn as they come face-to-face with a terrifying "holy" force with a fatal agenda."


Now take a look at the trailer:



Not what you expected right? This certainly takes a definitive turn in Smith's movie-making ways and brings us his first horror-thriller, which is news itself. But that's not the BIG news. Red State premiered at Sundance, with no press screenings or a distribution deal. The build-up for the screening was amazing, something I haven't seen for a while. People were pelting each other with hot dogs overflowing with mustard just to get a chance to see the film. Well, maybe not quite that, but it was pretty intense.

The rumor was that Kevin Smith was going to auction off the distribution rights after the screening, and that was true. Here's the kicker. Kevin Smith bought the distribution rights himself for $20. After years of criticizing the way Hollywood has marketed and distributed movies, Smith is doing again what he started with Clerks. He's doing it himself. And he christened it 'Indie 2.0' which I find to be quite fitting. There's an article here that goes more into the actual process he will be taking with the film, and it's pretty interesting.

Here's what I really wanted to share with you. Kevin Smith is unparalleled when it comes to fan interaction, what with his Q &A's and his Smodcasts, plus various social networking sites. And it's what I read today on his Twitter account that really inspired me to write this article.


I'll tell you what I'll never forget about Sundance 2011: as I left the stage last night, a couple 20-something dudes followed along in the hallway, saying the dug the flick. Then one of them nearly knocked me dead when he said, with all the earnestness & passion of indie film incarnate "You can do this." 


Hells, yea, Kevin Smith. "You can do this." And I for one, can't wait. Thanks for doing what you do.

'Spider-Man' Set Pics: Costume, Mask and Web-Shooters

There have been a lot of questions regarding the upcoming Spider-Man reboot starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, a lot of them centering around the costume. We got our first look at Garfield in costume last week, but it was minus the most important feature... his mask. Well now another shot from set of Spidey in full costume, well, at least the stunt costume: This comes to us from Splashpage, with a little more in depth look at both the mask and the web-shooters:

1. THE MASK

The first image of Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man gave us a great look at the new costume our friendly neighborhood webslinger will sport in the relaunched film franchise, but it was missing one big item: the mask. While this new photo from the set of the film looks like it features the version of the costume used for stunts — likely to differ from the up-close, camera-friendly costume design — it does give us some indication of what to expect from Spidey's mask.

Everyone wondering about the size and shape of Spider-Man's eyes on the costume might find at least some answer in the new photo — though fans of Todd McFarlane's iconic large-eyed mask will likely be disappointed. Oh, and if you're wondering about the red eyes, I'm pretty sure that's just part of the stunt costume, not the final look (the same might be said of the "sneakers," too — though we'll have to wait for more official imagery to be sure).

2. THE WEB-SHOOTERS

One of the biggest questions that popped up after we saw the first photo of the new Spider-Man costume involves the presence of those metal discs on Spidey's wrists. Are they a modern take on the mechanical web-shooters Spider-Man began his career with, or just a contraption that facilitates organic web-slinging? Garfield's co-star Emma Stone (who plays Gwen Stacy) only added fuel to the fires of speculation when she confirmed that they were "a device" to shoot webbing.

I have to say, I really don't know what to think about this. I mean, I digged the released photo, which is obviously a bit more touched up than this set pic, but what can I say. I am a comic nerd, die hard Spidey fan especially, and I fear change. I like the mask, and I dig the idea of web shooters, but those are pretty in your face. And what's up with those booties on his feet? I hope that's just for the stuntman to be able to run, because it totally throws off the whole costume for me.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below! 

Sean Hartter's Alternate Universe Movie Posters

We've seen a lot of fan made posters over the years, some good, some bad. Graphic artist Sean Hartter has his own unique way of showing us some cool posters of "vintaged" movies. I'll show you a few of my favorites, and you can check out the rest at the link above:

Awesome. How great would some of those movies have been? Bruce Lee as Neo? Palance as Punisher and Eastwood as Wolverine? Can you imagine the team up those two could have had? Amazing. Well done, Mr. Hartter. 

The Urban 30 Weekly Update!!! Season 4 - Week 16

Wow, so this week's... err... last week's Weekly Update is a little late...okay a lot late, but's only because I was so blown away by all the Urban 30 action (ACTION! ...sorry) that I had to take time to process it. Oh, and I got DC Universe Online, so yeah, that takes up a good 26 hours of my day. Moving on...

This week the team prepares to deal with Winters, but first they do what they need to get their minds ready. Drifter relaxes, Sonus goes to see his family, Gehenna goes on a date, and Elemental gets back to Nature. Hitman relaxes too, but he does it in his own way. And Engels, well, he doesn't get to relax... at all.


Here's the weekly rundown:  

Drifter - ...zZz...zZz...zZz...

Drifter catches up on some much needed rest, despite the restless dreams he keeps having. He wakes up at Sonus' apartment building, and finally gets something he's been dreaming of since he arrived in the U30's world... A shower.

Sonus - Not So Good To See Me?

After Leroy delivers the plant to Elemental, and a night with Felicia, he decides it's time for him to go see his family, even if it's just to make sure they are okay. Nothing could have prepared him for what he finds at his family's home.

Gehenna - Date Night

Gehenna gets back to the familiar parts of her life, and despite warnings from the immortal Desmond, she goes on a date with Marcus. She learns how the mind wipe has affected him, and enjoys her flirtatious reprieve from the stress of the team...

Elemental - Feed me Seymour

Terra is concerned about the Mayor's counselling sessions, grateful she was able to dodge the bullet herself. She is surprised to find a single plant on her balcony, and even more surprised by her reaction to the plant. Not to mention the plant's reaction to her...

Hitman - Can't Be Too Sure...

Hitman contemplates their new "friend" Drifter, and decides to slip a tracer on his uniform while he's sleeping, to be cautious. Heading back to his safehouse, he takes some time to revamp his battle gear, Taking it out for a test drive, he hears an unwanted announcement from The Resistance...

Engels - Tortured

Engels has been M.I.A. since the events of the Carnival, and he wakes up to find himself a prisoner of Dr. Ross, the alien Ruver in charge of the Fusion program. Ross isn't to impressed with Engels after he escaped with Gehenna and left Ross for dead. 'Tortured' couldn't be a better title...


So there it is, another great week, albeit slightly late. But I can make it up to you, I swear. Do you like the new U30 graphic at the top of the page? Well, you can now get your own Urban 30 T-shirt featuring that very graphic. You can get the shirt here. I know it's lame for a band member to wear his own t-shirt, but it's cool if a Spider-Man writer wears a Spidey shirt, right? Cause I ordered 3, so... Yea.


See ya next week....On time-ish!

'X-Men: First Class' Pics Plus Vaughn & Bacon Interviews

The other day Action News showed you the controversial leaked pic of the X-Men: First Class lineup, and while the character shots are real, the pic was completely unauthorized by Fox or director Matthew Vaughn. Which is an epic fail for the flick, because I'm pretty sure this picture did not give the movie the first look it was going for. 


/Film has an interview with Vaughn as well as some shots he released:


“I freaked out on them yesterday. I don’t know where the hell that came from. I don’t think it’s a Fox image. It’s not a pre-approved image. When I found out, I said, what the fuck is this shit, and Fox is running around trying to figure out what happened as well. I agree. It’s like a bad photoshop, which maybe it was by someone. It didn’t reflect the movie. I was shocked when I saw it. I was like ‘Jesus Christ’…


“I’m a fan of X-Men. We’re not bastardizing X-Men, I’m trying to get them back to being whole again.


The costumes are blue and yellow as well, because fuck it, lets take it back it the original. Also, by the way, those costumes are hardly in the movie. The main costumes are like these cool 60’s James Bond…”


It's refreshing to hear him talk about the X-Men that way, because I will say I wasn't impressed by the leaked pic at all. Here's the shots of Michael Fassbender in full on Magneto get-up (kinda) and James McAvoy Vulcan Mind-Melding somebody followed by more of the interview:

“Imagine the Cuban Missile crisis and discovering that mutants exist, both at the same time.” … “The actors are so great. Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart are very very hard to replace. When I’m watching Fassbender and McAvoy you just think, it sort of reminds me of Daniel Craig doing Bond, you kind of forget there were other people playing him. And that’s what I feel about these two.”


“It’s definitely more serious and more realistic, and I think that’s something that had to happen. That’s my feeling about the world we live in right now. I think the glossy colorful superhero film sorta had its day. I think Batman Begins started it, Dark Knight, dare I say Kick-Ass was fun and it had some real pop to it, but at the same time we grounded it in reality as much as possible. I think that’s what the audience wants. And that why that image is more Fantastic Four than it is X-Men. And I say that with all due respect to the Fantastic Four team. That was then and this is now. It’s a different time. I mean, look at me — I’m not exactly mister light.”


You can check out more of the interview at the link above. Here are a few more stills that were released recently:

Speaking of Kevin Bacon, Splashpage has an interview with Sebastian Shaw himself which you can read in full here:

1. Sebastian Shaw will not look like he does in comics.


“My look is very different from the guy in the comic books. We decided pretty early on that that was not going to translate to film. But there's a certain kind of style to the suits that I wear, but I don't have anything extreme in the makeup department.”


2. Asked about “Inception”-rivaling special effect scenes, Bacon recalls one in particular.


“We do have a really, really super cool scene in a hall of mirrors and that's going to be really spectacular.”


3. The Hellfire submarine is a set in the film.


“I've only seen the sets that I've been on and they are really interesting and very '60s modern and super cool, and beautiful. I have one set that's kind of like an inner sanctum and then I also have a submarine…”


4. Bacon puts the prequel in historical perspective.


“The backdrop is the Cuban Missile Crisis, so it's a little earlier than the Civil Rights era. I don't think JFK is a character in the movie, but the idea of the possibility of thermonuclear war in our own backyard is there.”


5. Finally, prodded for the coolest part of “First Class”, the prolific actor describes seeing a mutant team during its drunk and promiscuous college years.


“When you see them become what we know of as the X-Men, to me, that's really cool. The visual stuff, I can't say, until I've seen the effects. But from a plot standpoint, watching the creation of that kind of elite squad and yet they're all in this college dorm room kind of atmosphere, where there's romances and drunken parties and people become friends and then they have a falling out."


So I'm feeling a little better about this movie, but still quite hesitant to get all giddy over it, so we will wait for more. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a teaser trailer during the Superbowl. Speaking of teaser (Do I say that too much?), this poster was also released over at AICN:

'Dark Knight Rises' Casting News And Villains Revealed!

Finally, some actual info about The Dark Knight Rises has officially reached us, and it's a doozy. Not only does it reveal who Tom Hardy (Bronson, Inception) will be playing, but we find out the actress casted from the shortlist we saw the other day.

Anne Hathaway has been cast as Selina Kyle/ Catwoman and Tom Hardy has been announced to play Bane, surprising many who figured he would be playing the rumored role of Hugo Strange. Over at Grizzly Bomb, Dr. Kronner has an in depth look at the characters and the actors portraying them, so make sure you check that out.

So it's time for my two cents. First, Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. Awesome. Out of the other contenders we saw in the shortlist, she was the one I favored to be in the movie. Not only is she breathtakingly gorgeous, I think she could really pull off a great Catwoman. Well, at least a great Selina Kyle.

Now on to Tom Hardy as Bane. I did not see this coming, but really, I should have. Nolan has already announced that this will be the last Batman film for him, so why not go out with a Bane? (Ha, get it?) Nolan spent the last two movies building Batman, so now he's bringing someone in to break him. And Hardy is great, and I think a perfect actor to bring Bane to the big screen in the way he was meant to be. As a genius level criminal mastermind, who also has drug enhanced super strength, not some ridiculous steroid brain fart that we saw in Batman & Robin.


This leads to a whole new thinking on the story of the movie, as previously it was said to be based off of the Prey storyline. Not to sure how that plays without Hugo Strange, but the main theme of the storyline was Strange figured out Bats' identity and mayhem ensues. This can still be used, since in the comics Bane figures out Batman's identity simply by recognizing the way Bruce Wayne carries himself after observation. That's epic, and in the comics it was so nonchalant, like it didn't even matter he figured out who Batman was.

Now that we know the principal characters in TDKR, I'm sure more info will be released in the next few months, and I really can't wait for this movie. It just might blow The Dark Knight outta the water, and when was the last time the third entry in a movie trilogy did that?

Marvel News: X-Men: First Class Cast Photo, Plus Cap, Thor, and Spider-Man

A lot of new pics and a little news has been released about the upcoming Marvel slate of movies recently, so I figured the best way to properly optimize both your time and mine was to incorporate all the stories into one convenient read for ya.


All right, I'm just feeling really lazy today. Whatever.


Let's start with some of the biggest news that dropped today, one of the first photos from X-Men: First Class was leaked online, but there are a few doubts regarding it's legitimacy. If it's real, this would be a huge leak as it reveals a lot of cast members and costumes I'm sure they weren't quite ready to reveal yet. Topless Robot has the pic:

So I don't know where I quite stand on this pic, as it's still uncomfirmed, and I was pretty distracted by January Jones as Emma Frost to really form any opinions of my own. But Splashpage did:

So here's the deal: The image first appeared at MSN.com earlier today, and though the page where it appeared was subsequently removed, The Hollywood Reporter has indicated that it's legit. Even so, we're still a bit skeptical about the shot, given the strong photoshop vibe coming from the image and how unlikely it would be for the studio to reveal this much of the cast at once rather than teasing out each character.

Until we get confirmation one way or the other, though, it's certainly worth discussing.

For example, what do you think about Azazel's appearance in the promo shot? The image also seems to give us our first look at January Jones' revealing take on Emma Frost — which appears to be quite faithful to the character's wardrobe in the comics world.

And while we're still waiting for word from the studio about the image's validity, here's a quick refresher on the characters depicted in it. From left to right, that's Michael Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto, Rose Byrne as Dr. Moira MacTaggert, January Jones as Emma Frost, Jason Flemyng as Azazel, Nicholas Hoult as Hank McCoy/Beast, Lucas Till as Alex Summers/Havok, Zoë Kravitz as Angel Salvadore, Jennifer Lawrence as Raven Darkholme/Mystique, and James McAvoy as Professor Charles Xavier.

They also added this:

UPDATE: Fox has indicated to MTV News that this is not an authorized image from the "X-Men: First Class" movie.

So, "not an authorized" image doesn't mean that the characters and costumes portrayed aren't real, just that that exact image wasn't approved by Fox. Interesting. Moving on.

Another new shot of Chris Evans as Captain America has been released, and this one's cool because he's running. Plus he's running beside bombs so that's ACTION! 

Followed by a new shot of Chris Hemsworth as Thor, looking all Lion-O. Right? Anyone? Snarf snarf?

And finally, we move on to Spider-Man. The first shot of Denis Leary as Capt. George Stacy was released, as well as an interview segment with Conan where he talks about the accident prone Spider-Man musical:

Conan asked Leary if he’s seen the musical yet, and he answered:

“No, but I’m dying to see it. I’m not big on musical theater, I don’t really go, but if I can go to the theater and be guaranteed that guys are going to smash into walls and fall into the audience . . . that’s like NASCAR theater to me and I’ll pay extra money. I don’t want to see anybody seriously hurt, but I’ll pay an extra $400 if the guys are going to land on the people in front of me. I think it’s great. I think it’s a whole new kind of theater.”

There's also some more behind the scene shots of Spidey running down the streets of NYC as well as a Daily Bugle van, plus a couple more here:

/Film has a video of Spider-Man in action! Well, it's a behind the scenes video of a stuntman in a Spidey suit flipping into the back of a truck which you can view at the link, cuz I can't seem to embed it. Sorry. 

Anyway, that does it for this Marvel Movie Update, and I like it, so expect some more of these coming up, since as I mentioned before, I'm quite lazy. 

'The Dark Knight Rises' Actress Shortlist

More news comes from the Dark Knight Rises camp, this time we get to see the shortlist of actresses rumored to be trying out for roles in the upcoming blockbuster. Rumor is they are looking to cast two big roles for the film, a love interest and a villain. 


/Film reports:

It seems like only minutes ago when we were talking about Eva Green and Naomi Watts being cast in The Dark Knight Rises. Oh, wait, it was. Hot on the heels of Collider’s initial report, The Hollywood Reporter has come to the plate with their own short list of actresses vying for the two female leads in Christopher Nolan‘s third Batman film and neither Green or Watts are on the list. Their list includes Keira Knightley, Anne Hathaway (who have both already been mentioned) Jessica Biel, Kate Mara, Charlotte Riley and Gemma Arterton. Reportedly, each one of these actresses has a scheduled test for the film in the next two weeks. Read more after the jump.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Arterton might have to remove herself from contention because she’s recently accepted the lead in Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, which will probably create a scheduling conflict. And while most of us are very familiar with the likes of Biel, Knightley and Hathaway, we might be less familiar with Kate Mara or especially Charlotte Riley. Mara is the sister of Rooney Mara (A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Social Network, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo remake) and had supporting roles in Iron Man 2, Shooter and most recently in 127 Hours. Riley is a British television actress who just happens to be married to Tom Hardy, who has already been cast in the film.


We'll hear more about all of these casting rumors in the next few weeks I'm sure, but what do you think? Which female leads do you think will make an appearance in TDKR?