Superman and The X-Men

Patrick Stewart recently mentioned that he would be appearing as Professor X once again on the big screen. The next X-film promises to draw from the Days of Future Past timeline, so are we in for some reality altering by the end of the film?  Could be... and if so I hope we end up with something closer to the actual "first class" of X-Men.

Recent pics of Actress and MMA star Gina Carano hanging out with Henry Cavill have folks speculating that she will be making a cameo in Man of Steel as a certain Amazonian princess.  I find that highly doubtful, but have to admit, she certainly looks the part.

The Guardians of the Universe and The Watcher

I like these characters but none of them are particularly good at their jobs.  Uatu has a vow of non-interference that he treats as more of a suggested guideline than a strict rule to follow.  The Guardians claim to want to provide order to the universe, but have unleashed some pretty big horrors on it in doing so.  Oh well, these kinds of twisted work ethic make for entertaining reads when character like The Green lantern Corps or the Fantastic Four have to deal with them.  I do wonder, though, why such powerful entities still haven't found a cure for male pattern baldness.

Robin and Daredevil

You just know this is the Jason Todd Robin, the little punk!  I shouldn't be too hard on him though, he may have a bad attitude but he never caught a break.  Even after getting his history rewritten by Crisis on Infinite Earths, he still didn't get a modern updated costume like Tim Drake and Damian Wayne did, and had to wear the shorts and pixie boots well past their expiration date.  Jason has always had costume issues though... even when he returned from the dead, he would wear his Red Hood full face mask over his Robin style domino mask.  Now that's dedication.

The Teen Titans and The Young Allies

The Teen Titans in their original form are still one of my favorite teams ever.  These days, the Titans are one of the biggest victims of DC's multiple continuity and timeline reboots.  Multiple versions of the same character, team members seemingly aging at different rates and confusion over who was actually a member and when have turned what was once a simple concept (superhero side-kicks form a team) into a muddled mess.  I was hoping the DC reboot would streamline things, but it has only exacerbated the problem.  Maybe for the next reboot they should just de-age all the original Titans and start from scratch!

Aquaman And Abe Sapien

I got a kick out of both Hellboy films and it's too bad that a third installment looks doubtful due to non-blockbuster box office figures, creators with other commitments, and an aging Ron Perlman.  I think that the best realized character in those flicks was Abe Sapien.  The combination of makeup, computer imagery, and Doug Jones' physique and performance made Mike Mignola's creation step right out of the comic pages.  While David Hyde Pierce did a fine job voicing Abe Sapien in the first film, I was glad that Doug Jones was given the ability to provide the vocals in the sequel (and the animated films that followed as well).

Justice League of America and The Black Panther

I finally caught the recent Black Panther animated series.  Well, animated is kind of a generous term, as it is closer to a motion comic.  While it was cool to see John Romita Jr's artwork in motion, I wish they had gone a step further and given the series a full animated treatment.  Still, the stories are right from the comics and if you are a fan of those, it is well worth checking out.

The Metal Men, Machine Man and Jocasta

I read recently that Barry Sonnenfeld is going to direct a Metal Men film.  I have always thought that they were a great fit for animation, and indeed loved their appearances on Batman: The Brave and the Bold.  It will be interesting to see what angle Sonnenfeld goes with, whether the film will be all CGI or live action with CG enhancements.  Either way, I hope that this film comes to pass and a new generation of fans get to see how fun these characters are.

The Atom and Mouse Guard

So far, my favorite of the new Saturday animated DC shorts has been the Sword of the Atom two-parter.  I loved that Mini-Series (and its related Specials) back in the 80's.  Gil Kane's art really shined in the tropical setting and there was something very cool about Ray Palmer riding a frog, sword in hand and ready for battle.  Mouse Guard continues the tradition of forest animals in epic tales with beautiful artwork, so this felt like it would be a fun combination.

Sgt. Rock and Captain America

It will be cool to see what Captain America: The Winter Soldier will be like with the modern day setting and new characters, but I would not have minded seeing another story set in World War Two.  They glossed over most of his career in the first film and I am sure there are plenty of stories to tell from his wartime days.  The WWII Cap costume worked a lot better than the updated one that he used in The Avengers, hopefully there will be a few changes made for his next cinematic appearance.

Martian Manhunter and Warlock

I was happy to see that J'onn J'onzz will be front and center in the upcoming Justice League of America ongoing series.  His inclusion on the roster of Stormwatch rather than the Justice League when the New 52 relaunch debuted seemed off to me and it is good to see him back where he belongs.  Who knew that after all these years, he would be mentoring Vibe again?

Hourman and The Fantastic Four

I can't say that there is any logical reason for this scene to be taking place, I just thought it would make for a hoot of a tale.  I read yesterday that DC is soliciting another installment in the JSA: The Liberty Files series, and Hourman looks to play a sizable role.  Even though that is technically only an Elseworlds version of Rex Tyler, it looks like that will be the closest that we will get.  I am sure an Hourman of some sort will eventually show up in Earth 2, but by this point I no longer expect him to bear any resemblance to the classic golden age character.

Wonder Woman and Wolverine

This is my favorite version of Wolverine - with the brown suit and without the memories.  I was hoping that the conclusion of the Avengers Vs. X-Men event would result in Wolverine finally leaving the Avengers, but it looks like Marvel is going in the other direction and further mixing the two teams together.  It's a strange move and I feel that it serves to make the various teams less unique, but maybe they have something in mind with the set up that I haven't thought of.

I also read that Wonder Woman is once again being prepared for a potential TV series.  Let's hope they learned something from the mistakes made with the last attempt, which looked pretty lackluster from the footage I saw of it.

Hawkman Vs. Thor

The first photos from the set of Thor: The Dark World have leaked, and it looks like Thor still hasn't learned to put his helmet on for battle.  Other than that personal pet peeve, the film promises to be a lot of fun with all the new characters that are being introduced.  I don't imagine we'll see a Hawkman film any time soon, but perhaps he will show up as part of the inevitable Justice League movie (or its sequel).  If that comes to pass, let's hope that he gets to keep his helmet at least!

Tintin and Jonny Quest (Part Two)

Now that Tintin has had his big box office debut, it is high time for Jonny Quest to shine on the silver screen as well.  His tales were always packed with adventure, danger, and exotic locales and had all the elements necessary for a fun animation to live action transition.  Hopefully some big time producer who remembers the old cartoons as fondly as I do will get the ball rolling one of these days.

Tintin and Jonny Quest (Part One)

I was pleasantly surprised by the recent Tintin film. I was concerned at first that the characters would look creepy in CGI, as often happens in motion-capture films.  Fortunately the right balance was struck between human features and Herge's character designs that it looked pretty cool to me.  Some of the Thompson Twins' bumbling didn't  translate well, but for the most part I thought the film was increibly well realized.  The action and pacing reminded me of Spielberg's earlier work on the original Indiana Jones films, he really seemed to be having fun as a director here.  I understand Peter Jackson will be helming the next one and that will be cool to see.

Stay tuned for Part Two of this team-up, coming tomorrow!

Green Lantern and Iron Man in "Dead Ringer"

I like the paring of these two heroes, so I decided to try another cover featuring them, this time giving Iron Man the upper hand. I see in the Green Lantern comics that they are introducing a new GL, and Hal Jordan is taking a back seat for a while.  I hope that this is just a story line and not a sort of "punishment" for the Green Lantern movie not living up to expectations.  It would be a shame to lose the Hal Jordan character again after all the hard work that Geoff Johns did to rehabilitate him a few years back.  It's cool to have lots of multiple Green Lanterns running around, but I still prefer for Hal to be the main man.

Justice League of America Vs. Thanos

The Thanos teaser at the end of The Avengers was very cool, but what does it mean for the future of the franchise.  Will Thanos be the villain of the Avengers sequel as it suggests, or will he be a Nick Fury type who will have a cameo in a few more different movies before getting a major starring treatment down the line?  Either way, it's great that Marvel is making him part of their movie-verse.  I wonder if his appearance will put a wrench in the Justice League movie plans - Darkseid would be a good villain for them to go up against, but it might seem too similar to Thanos.  I say, bring on Starro!

Black Lightning and Captain America

I really wish that DC had stuck with this look for Black Lightning, rather than only using it for a single mini-series.  It's a great updating of the classic look by Cully Hamner.  I'm a little disappointed to see a lot of the promotional art for Captain America with the character sporting the "painted on wings" look from the movie version.  The films should strive to be closer to the comics, not the other way around - especially when it comes to costumes, which the movies still get wrong a lot more than they get right.

Starfire and Mr. Spock

Here's another pairing that I think would just write itself.  Their personalities could not be more different, and that would make for a lot of fun interaction as they faced various perils.  Spock was always my favorite Star Trek character as a kid, and still is.   I look forward to the next Star Trek film, and while Zachary Quinto does a great job as the new Spock, I hope that Leonard Nimoy can make another appearance as Spock Prime.

Green Arrow and Thor

Definitely a bit of a mismatch here, but I always like it when Green Arrow gets a chance to interact with larger than life and overly powerful characters.  I'll be giving the new CW series, Arrow, a shot and I hope that it is faithful to the comic book incarnation.  While I don't expect to see any of DC's more outlandish characters showing up, the series does promise to have appearances by more street-level folks like Black Canary, The Huntress and Deathstroke.  With this upcoming series, Hawkeye in The Avengers, and Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games, it's no wonder that the sport of archery is experiencing some renewed popularity these days.