Comic-Can’t? How To Enjoy Comic-Con Weekend Without The Con

If you aren’t one of the lucky horde to be descending on San Diego, California this weekend for the  46^th annual  Comic-Con International, you certainly aren’t alone.

Marvel Studios Phase Three: Civil War, Black Panther, Captain Marvel & More!

A number of the press were recently invited to a special Marvel Studios event, with very little details to go on. Today the crowd gathered in anticipation, with rumors and speculation running rampant, especially considering the recent news that Benedict Cumberbatch may take on the role of Doctor Strange. Kevin Feige took to the stage to show the new trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron, which has been seen by over 70 million people. He was also there to make a few announcements, which he called “Comic-Con level news.” And he did not disappoint.

Following in the footsteps of the recent Warner Bros. film slate announcement, Kevin Feige and Joss Whedon announced the next 8 films from Marvel Studios, revealing titles for upcoming sequels, as well as introducing some new faces for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After a brief recap of the first 10 films of the MCU by Joss Whedon, which made over $7 billion, the first sequel title was announced. We’re going to move pretty fast through these announcements today, with a more in-depth examination to follow.

Avengers: Age of Ultron Trailer Out Early, Thank You Hydra

Remember how we were going to get the Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer during the October 28th Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode? Well someone decided to crash the party, and if you believe Marvel, it was Hydra.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Pilot Review: Does It Succeed? Yes, It Does.

At the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con, there was a debate as to what would be the most anticipated panel.  A lot of people said Game of Thrones, the Marvel panel or the Catching Fire panels would be the most sought after panels. However, judging from the fanbase in Ballroom 20, on Friday at 1:45pm, you would think that the Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. panel was going to be the best one out there. The question was whether we were going to get an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot. We heard that word clips and small snipets were going to be used but executive producer Jeph Loeb made tons of fans happy by announcing we were getting a pilot. Now they had our attention. Does it satisfy Joss Whedon fans? Of course. Will it appeal to a consistent mainstream audience? Well, we’ll answer that question later. I will say that the pilot was an absolute Whedon-fest of family, snappy dialogue and quick pacing that made the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot all the more enjoyable despite the limitations of being on the small screen.

I’m going to try to keep this as spoiler free as possible but obviously I have to explain what’s going on. The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot picks up after the Battle of New York, and the repercussions of that (much like Iron Man 3). It’s a brave new world out there, and we are introduced to Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton) as he James Bond’s his way through stealing, sneaking, beating and all that fun espionage stuff. The opening sequence was fast, funny and strikingly violent, revealing Ward to be the muscle and badass, loner character we all need to create future conflict. I love Whedon’s direction in this sequence because it reminded me of the opening to Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol. Whedon knows how to direct action and keep bits of humor throughout and create depth and get more out of the character on the pages.

We soon get our introduction to a new unit in S.H.I.E.L.D. with Agent Hill (Cobie Smulders, returning for a possible recurring then permanent gig after HIMYM ends) putting together a team to help investigate and assess the phenomenons in the world today. From this point, we finally get to see all the hype that #CoulsonLives has been building up to as Clark Gregg makes his triumphant return to the Marvel Universe. He’s eager and ready to go and we get a tiny resolution as to why he’s still up and kicking. Of course, we get a Firefly cameo from Shepard (Ron Glass) that will get the fanboys and fangirls squealing, explaining that there’s more to the #CoulsonLives scenario that everyone realizes.

The first mission introduces us to a bunch of characters that work extremely well together as they hunt down a super-powered hooded ‘hero’ (J. August Richards) that just jumped on the radar. A hacker named Skye (Chloe Bennet) has been tracking him and Coulson sees an opportunity with her to help each other out. Other people on the team include scientists Fitz and Simmons (Iain de Caesstecker and Elizabeth Henstridge, respectively) and stoic ‘pilot’ Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen). All these characters has mysteries and enigmas the series will explore but putting them all together, they have great chemistry and play off each other well.

Bennet has a fangirl type of curiosity and charisma she brings to the table and almost acts as the audience as she delves further into this world of espionage. Dalton and Ming-Na play the  badass well with Dalton getting into a great sequence with Skye in an interrogation room. The “twins”, Fitz and Simmons, could be my new favorite duo as they finish each others sentences and work so well with each other, I would watch a pilot of them alone as they navigate and conquer their niche of science in this world. Of course, Clark Gregg is the biggest draw as he serves as a direct connection to the cinematic universe. He obviously plays Coulson brilliantly as the hilariously dry leader of this team. They also don’t try to make him the centerpiece, just as the glue to this ensemble that he ties together effortlessly.

The action in the pilot is quick and well shot by Whedon, who clearly still carries a deft eye for television. However, the production works effectively with a TV budget and creates a great spy and superhero world to explore in the future. The dialogue and story carries a lot of heart and humor that Whedon typifies in his work and carries the major theme of family, which is familiar ground. Although sustainability will remain the big question, because for all the Marvel references, whether we see heroes or major players in the MCU, it depends on the TV audience. These heroes will have to establish themselves quickly as people the audience will dedicate one day a week to watch.

Overall, I loved the pilot. The pacing was great. The action was crisp and believable. The production was terrific. The cast works brilliantly together. Whether that’s a testament to Joss Whedon directing or the writing remains to be seen but when you watch the pilot, you feel the same magic you got from watching Buffy and Firefly and other brilliant shows. This one is definitely one to watch and on September 24th, 2013, you can enjoy it as much as the rest of Ballroom 20.

Images: SuperHeroHype, Collider

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Gives A Little Promo Love

You probably all know how much I loved the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot right? Well, we’re about a month and a half away from the premiere and Marvel and ABC have graciously decided to feed us more teases from the Joss Whedon led series. The first promo involves the always lovable Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) as he introduces us to his team.

Just a very minor introduction, basically just so you can further question how Agent Coulson still lives and breathes and is able to lead a team into the dangerous world the Marvel Universe is now. We are also treated to another promo dealing with Skye, a hacker who catches the attention of the aforementioned Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and we get a small spotlight into her, as well as a few scenes from the pilot.

I will say she has a great interrogation scene in the pilot. I just remember the room breaking out and cheering during that part. Anyways, below are some more promos to tell get you pumped for the first episode on September 24th. Enjoy my friends.

Could There Be A Buffy Movie? Sarah Michelle Gellar Would Be Cool With That

While promoting her upcoming CBS comedy with Robin Williams (which you can check out the trailer for among the 37 new TV trailers we’ve gathered) someone asked Sarah Michelle Gellar if she’d be on board for a Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie. That in and of itself isn’t newsworthy. Given the huge success the Veronica Mars Movie has found via Kickstarter, you have to imagine that everyone that has ever been part of a fan favorite TV show has been fielding questions about the possibility of a film adaptation.

The nice part is that Gellar didn’t give a total throw away answer. She could have easily laughed it off but instead she only half laughed it off:

[box_light]“If there ever was the right story, we would do it, but the thing with Buffy is that Buffy was a movie, and it ultimately didn’t work as a film, the story works better over time.”

At this point, the stake would be my walker and I would be hobbling in.”[/box_light]

So obviously not the green light Buffy fans would hope for, but it’s nice to know that Gellar and creator Joss Whedon have discussed it. Of course the biggest problem with a Buffy film would be getting the old cast back together. David Borneaz, for whatever reason, rarely talks about either Buffy or Angel. James Marsters believed he was too old in the first place to play Spike. Alyson Hannigan and Alexis Denisof are off being their busy adorable married selves. Unfortunately Anthony Head’s pilot for The CW (The Selection) wasn’t picked up so he’d possibly be available.

Will there ever be a Buffy movie? Unlikely. But no harm in dreaming right? To soothe ourselves, let’s take a look back at Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’: Joss Whedon Discusses Hank Pym & Ultron’s New Origin

From the Marvel Studios panel at Comic-Con come some small tidbits of information from the man, Joss Whedon himself, in regards to his now titled film Avengers: Age of Ultron. Tidbit one: Hank Pym will not be in Avengers 2, hence the second tidbit that Ultron’s origin may be a little different. As you may or may not know, Hank Pym is one of the foremost scientists in the Marvel Universe, able to create such things as a helmet that can control ants and a chemical substance that can shrink someone down to the size of said ants. He also created one crazy ass robot named Ultron (who has quite the Oedipus Complex for ole daddy Pym) seeking to eradicate him, the Avengers and pretty much all mankind.

Since the Ant-Man film won’t be released until November 2015, after Avengers: Age of Ultron, I guess it will stand to reason that Ultron’s creator may be Tony Stark. Shocker, I know, like every geek in geekdom didn’t see that one coming after the announcement of Pym not having a part in Avengers 2. I could be wrong but it would appear that Stark may be done with playing superhero after Iron Man 3. This may lead him into making something similar to Iron Man to do the fighting for him, and once that creation becomes self-aware and threatens the world, Tony may have to don the armor again to take down Ultron with the combined might of the Avengers. Or we could all be wrong and Ultron is a weapon that S.H.I.E.L.D. may have built modeled off the Tesseract technology.

Whatever the case may be, everyone is wondering just how much source material the movie will cull from the actual Age of Ultron storyline that debuted earlier this year. Is it just a cool name or will there be actual time travel stuff involved? Seems like 20^th Century Fox is doing the time travel gig and gathering all of their stars to catch up with the Avengers in the cinema, is this Marvel’s counter to that? The answer is no. Whedon has said that they would not be using the recent story and that in the movie they will be doing their own version of Ultron’s origin story. Perhaps they are just trying to usurp the name recognition from Age of Apocalypse since there are rumors that Fox is attempting to make Apocalypse to be their answer to Thanos in their cinematic-comic universe. Time will tell as 2015 approaches and we are treated to the automaton menace of Ultron.

As a quick side note it sounds like Hawkeye will be back, but with a bigger part to play since he won’t be a mind controlled bad guy for more than half of the movie. No news on whether or not Jeremy Renner will be filling the boots of Hawkeye this time around, but we imagine he will stay with the role. Check out Whedon discussing the finer points of Avengers: Age of Ultron.

‘Days of Future Past’ Casts Evan Peters as Quicksilver, Possibly Sparking a War Between Fox and Marvel?

In some surprising casting news, Bryan Singer has announced that Evan Peters has been cast as Quicksilver in X-Men: Days of Future Past. If the name Quicksilver seems familiar from recent news, it’s because his inclusion in The Avengers 2 was recently confirmed by Joss Whedon. Singer revealed his news on Twitter, as he has grown quite accustomed to lately, revealing looks at Halle Berry As Storm, makeup for both Nicholous Hoult as Beast and Jennifer Lawrence As Mystique, Peter Dinklage’s first day on set, and pretty much every other piece of news we’ve seen over the last few months. Below is the edited tweet:

Seven seconds of S.H.I.E.L.D. *UPDATED* – Full Trailer w/ Luke Cage?

That’s all the world needs to get excited for the newly announced ABC show, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. It’s packed quite a bit of action in just a few short seconds.

Exploding buildings? Check.
Right hook to jaw? Check.
Beautiful women in what looks to be some type of interrogation situation? Check.
Crystal vase to face? Check.
Agent Coulson? Check, check, check.

As a fan of social media, I get a little giddy when I see companies/networks/shows embrace things like a well-crafted hashtag. No vagueness or abbreviation that no one really gets, rather ABC went straight to the point with #CoulsonLives. That could easily be seen as a trending topic and likely will be, perhaps even tomorrow night when ABC will show a longer preview of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. tonight during Once Upon a Time‘s season finale.

As promised, the full trailer aired Sunday night during Once Upon a Time and it offers a much better look at the upcoming series. More specifically, it looks like we might know who J. August Richards is playing.

Dost my eye deceive me? Or could that be Richards as Luke Cage? Sure does seem like it is. Of course there was plenty of other eye candy there what with even more explosions, and fighting, and action in general. Then there’s Lola. Oh Lola, what a beauty. However, I’d be lying if this Air Force brat’s heart didn’t skip a beat when that beautiful plane rolled out of the hangar.

That right there is something to write sonnets about. Just beautiful.

Anyway, enough of my prattling on about an iron bird, enjoy the trailer and tell us what you thought of it in the comments below!

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Charles Gunn & Sam Jackson…

ABC is set to announce their fall schedule on May 14th so we figured it was about time to round up all the news we could find on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and put it in one handy dandy place.

First, let’s look at confirmed cast members. Of course we all know about Carl Gregg and his Agent Coulson returning from the dead (or was he ever dead?) but there have been quite a few other cast members added, not the least of which is Angel alum and most recently, Arrow assassin, J. August Richards. It hasn’t yet been announced who Richards will play, but I think we can all agree, it doesn’t really matter because he is that good. Maybe it’ll just be the return of Charles Gunn…

In addition to the three cast members we’ve already discussed here, those being Ming-Na Wen, Iain De Caestecker, and Elizabeth Henstridge, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. also includes Chloe Bennett from Nashville and Brett Dalton. Bennett is Skye and Dalton is the up and coming Agent Grant.

While it is nice to hear about these new characters and who will be playing them, we all are asking the same thing… what about Nick Fury and Maria Hill? Well as for Nick Fury, Samuel L. Jackson was asked about it during an interview with MTV and here’s what he had to say.

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So Nick Fury as S.H.I.E.L.D.’s version of Charlie? I could live with that. Of course it would be even better if Jackson were to make cameos occasionally, but that might be asking a bit much. As for Maria Hill? Well Joss Whendon told TV Line that we shouldn’t “expect” her because obviously Smulders has a busy schedule with not only How I Met Your Mother, but also various other projects, but that she could make an appearance. In my dream world, Smulders would wrap up HIMYM and immediately take off her Robin Sparkles costume and put on her S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform. Throw in a stop at SNL (how has this not happened yet?) and, well that would just be great.

Of course everyone is looking for more news and insight to the show and who better to go to than Agent Coulson himself, Clark Gregg. Screenrant caught up with Gregg at the Tribeca Film Festival.

It’s always nice to see when an actor has such a fondness for the character they play and Gregg certainly does for Coulson.

So that gets us all caught up and ready for the upfront next Tuesday where it’s pretty much a sure thing that Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will be announced. Could ABC finally making a run at beating CBS? They certainly have that potential so we’ll have to wait and see.

What we’ll also have to wait and see? If Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark/Iron Man makes an appearance on the small screen. When asked by EW about it he said, “You know what? There’s no telling. I am open to everything.” which doesn’t mean no. That’s pretty much all fans need to get their hopes up so here’s to Iron Man on S.H.I.E.L.D.!