Marvel

A topic of discussion among many fans lately is whether Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. will renegotiate with Marvel Studios for future appearances in their films. The Hollywood Reporter says that the actor met with Kevin Feige and many other executives last night to begin laying out the groundwork for his return. Insiders say that the negotiations looked to his return as the character in the upcoming Avengers 2 and a third "Avengers" film.

A fourth Iron Man film was said to not be included in the talks as it is unclear if Downey Jr. is interested in another stand-alone feature as the character. Beyond the news that Marvel is developing a third "Avengers" movie, THR also revealed that the studio has scripts in development for Ms. Marvel and a reboot of the character Blade (whose screenrights were recently returned to Marvel). 

Details are slim - slim like an emaciated walking corpses - but Marvel has teased its upcoming comic book series which George Romero is writing.  It won't involve superheroes, but it will involve zombies (as Romero himself has said).  Check out the teaser inside.

We're just over three months from the official launch of Marvel Studios' "Phase Two" of their cinematic universe when Iron Man 3 hits theaters on May 3rd.

Today, President of Production Kevin Feige updated MTV with plans for future big screen entries that look even further into the futre. Ant-Man, he says, will officially launch "Phase Three" and early plans also call for the long-rumored Doctor Strange to be included. 

Maybe Marvel was listening all those months ago when I suggested a series of dark movies for us horror fans because they announced this weekend at Fan Expo Toronto that they will be launching an all-new on-going series, Morbius the Living Vampire. 

Joe Keatinge and Rich Elson, the team behind the now canceled Thanos: Son of Titan mini-series, will be helming the brand new title that launches in January of 2013.

“There are very strong horror elements to it, but there's a lot more to it than that," said Keatinge in an interview with Newsarama.  "The closest comic I can even think of in terms of the types of stuff we're doing in here might be Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol run, but we're ultimately having a very different end result. This is a book largely about people who have absolutely no easy role in society. The outcasts. The people on the fringe. The people of the Marvel Universe who are even too weird for the X-Men.”

The Fringe is a place where non-horror genre films can get some play on Shock.  These films might be sci-fi, fantasy or action - and certainly contain some horror elements - but will likely be light on scares, or, straight-up "horror."  Still, they might be of interest to you.

Today, a bunch of viral madness was unleashed for The Amazing Spider-Man.

If you tinker around OscorpIndustries.com/AnimalDynamicsLab the word "Mutagen" formed. Adding that to the URL, OscorpIndustries.com/Mutagen gives you a first look at a new featurette which is all about The Lizard.

Since Fox is re-tooling the script for its latest Daredevil project, David Slade - who is in line to direct - is looking elsewhere for another film.  He'll helm Villain for Wayfare Entertainment.  The film is being described as a psychological thriller.

Years after being merged with the demon Zarathos in a deal with the Devil, Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) is trying to lose himself in Eastern Europe when he encounters a gypsy named Nadya (Violante Placido) and her young son Danny (Fergus Riordan) being chased by a group of mercenaries led by Carrigan (Johnny Whitworth), who is acting as the right hand man of someone named Rourke (Ciaran Hinds), who just happens to be The Devil who turned Blaze into Ghost Rider in the first place.

To some, this follow-up to 2007's Ghost Rider, one of the pre-Dark Knight pre-Iron Man guard of bad superhero movies, may fall into the "why did they make this?" realm of unwarranted sequels, not that we would ever want to fully throw the two-headed directing team of Neveldine/Taylor under the bus, as they've proven themselves to be quite clever at times, the type of ballsy and daring filmmakers Hollywood desperately needs. 

Some may say Johnny has it all:  A pretty girlfriend, reasonably good looks, and a steady job as a carnival performer.  Johnny is fifty percent of a stupendous stunt bike duo.  Every night, he and his father provide cheap thrills, under the big top, for adoring fans.  Unfortunately, Johnny’s father is very ill.  In his grief stricken state, Johnny does what any rational thinking man would do and sells his soul to the Devil, in exchange for his father’s health.  The Devil, who is a bit of a trickster, grants his end of the bargain, but immediately after doing so, takes Johnny’s father’s life, in a fiery mishap.  Years later, the Devil comes back to collect on his end of the bargain. Johnny Blaze is now a damned soul cursed to ride the earth and collect on the Devil’s deals.  He is the "Ghost Rider."

Ghost Rider is brought to us by director Mark Steven Johnson who is responsible for such "classics" as Jack Frost (1998).  There is a clear theme in Johnson’s work, of over the top performances and silly scripts.  Johnson first worked on a Marvel screen adaptation with 2003’s Daredevil.  He did such a fantastic job of pissing fans of the comic off that Marvel brought him back to write and direct their 2007 film, Ghost Rider, and do it all over again.  Somewhere, Satan was laughing.  As it turns out, lightning struck twice and Johnson managed to make another forgettable, critically-panned adaptation.  Fans, of course, revolted.  

Marvel comics' Johnny Blaze is returning to the big screen this month when Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance arrives on February 17th.  Being comic book fans here at Shock, we thought now would be a good time to take a look at some other Marvel characters worthy of a cinematic interpretation that aren't exactly "boy scouts."

Inside, you'll find a look at some of the other popular horror-themed Marvel characters we want to see in films and how they could be pulled off on the big screen.

We have three more TV spots for Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance, opening in 2D/3D on February 17th, including the preview that aired during the Super Bowl.

The film sees Johnny Blaze, aka Ghost Rider (Nicolas Cage), hiding out in remote Eastern Europe and struggling to repress his curse. Blaze is recruited by a sect to take on the devil (Ciaran Hinds), who wants to take over his mortal son's body on the kid's birthday.

Head inside for the spots, some of which include new footage.

Nicolas Cage made an appearance on Italian talk show "Che tempo che fa" and brought with him two clips from Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance.

The first clip is an action one and can be viewed at the 8:20 minute mark, while the second one can be found at the 16:20 mark. The second one is unfortunately dubbed in Italian.

Opening in 3D and 2D theaters on February 17, the Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor action adventure co-stars Fergus Riordan, Ciaran Hinds, Violante Placido, Idris Elba and Johnny Whitworth.

Here in the U.S., Sony, to date, has predominantly released a large batch of screen grabs from the trailer for Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance to the press.  A few on-set publicity pics have been offered as well, but we would prefer to see those over screen grabs.  Overseas, it's another story and Kinopoisk, a Russian film site, has received a batch of never-before-seen images.  We've collected them here for you.

A trio of steaming hot Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance television spots hit the web today, all equipped new footage.  The sequel, opening in 2D/3D on February 17, was directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the duo behind the Crank films.  Nicolas Cage returns as Johnny Blaze, the Ghost Rider.  Ciaran Hinds, Violante Placido, Idris Elba and Johnny Whitworth star.  Head inside for the previews!

Marvel's upcoming Dr. Strange movie is something we're watching closely here because, well, we dig the character and it delves into the supernatural at times.

The last update we received, writers Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer turned in a draft and that script.  Domain names connected with Dr. Strange were being secured last fall.  The news has not been groundbreaking, but they're definitely baby steps

The latest morsel of news comes via an interview with Sean Carroll, a theoretical physicist at the California Institute of Technology, who served as an advisor on the science behind Thor.  The interview was conducted over at io9 who dropped the following update.

Blade is enjoying some newfound success in another medium: As a anime series airing on G4.  Before that, the character was at the center of a short-lived television series and before that, a film trilogy.  Many fans wonder if Blade will ever grace the big screen again.  A few years ago, series writer (and director of Blade Trinity) David Goyer said it was a possibility.  Thinking in studio terms, a re-boot is probably in the cards more than a Blade 4.  But who would play the Daywalker?

The Blade anime series made its U.S. debut last week, re-introducing audiences to the Daywalker for the first time since his big screen turn in Blade Trinity and the live-action television series.  Inside, we have a clip from the animated show's second episode which finds Blade getting into trouble with the law.

Blade airs Friday nights at 11pm only G4.  Click here for the channel's series page which is filled with goodies.

Need some more Johnny Blaze in your life right now?  We've got you covered.  With the release of Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance about a month away (it opens in 2D/3D on February 17), Sony has sent us over 30 images from the film.  Some are new photos, others are screen grabs (obviously, they could not photograph, y'know, a guy with his skull actually on fire because he was never on set).

Columbia Pictures has released a French poster for Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor's Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance, coming to 3D and 2D theaters on February 17.

In the successor to the worldwide hit Ghost Rider, Johnny (Nicholas Cage) - still struggling with his curse as the devil's bounty hunter - is hiding out in a remote part of Eastern Europe when he is recruited by a secret sect of the church to save a young boy (Fergus Riordan) from the devil CCiaran Hinds). At first, Johnny is reluctant to embrace the power of the Ghost Rider, but it is the only way to protect the boy - and possibly rid himself of his curse forever.

Another look at the Blade anime, debuting on G4, is here, this time in the form of a clip.  Harold Perrineau voices Eric Brooks, the supernatural Daywalker known as Blade, making his animated series debut with plenty of action, terrifying villains and bloodthirsty monsters. Marvel/G4 are rolling out 12 half-hour weekly episodes.  The premiere kicks off this Friday, January 13 at 11pm.

In the series Blade finds himself in Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Cambodia in an effort to take down the evil villain, Deacon Frost. With vampire hunter Makoto at his side, they will stop at nothing to destroy Existence, a vampire organization with roots deeply embedded in Asia.

A Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance TV spot that's been airing for a few days now for has finally made its way online.  Hell, yes...the Rider is coming on February 17, and if you listened to our recent Shock Waves podcast, you know I'm fairly excited for this film, in spite of the negative reviews that flowed out at a recent Austin, Texas fest.

The film sees Johnny Blaze, aka Ghost Rider (Cage), hiding out in remote Eastern Europe and struggling to repress his curse. Blaze is recruited by a sect to take on the devil (Ciaran Hinds), who wants to take over his mortal son's body on the kid's birthday.

Check back tomorrow for our interview with co-stars Hinds and Idris Elba!

G4 has unveiled a new TV spot for Blade anime series which begins Friday, January 13 at 11pm.  

Harold Perrineau voices Eric Brooks, the supernatural Daywalker known as Blade, making his animated series debut with more action, terrifying villains and bloodthirsty monsters than you've ever seen before. Following in the steps of other hit Marvel anime series, Blade offers viewers 12 half-hour weekly episodes destined to leave you wanting more, exclusively on G4.

Blade's cinematic journey may be done (for now), but that's not stopping the Daywalker from living on in an animated series.

G4 has been enjoying some success airing the anime versions of X-Men, Wolverine and Iron Man, so it only seems natural for the channel to the anime version of Blade that has been on our radar for a while now.  Both Marvel and G4 announced today the series' premiere date and offered details as to what we can expect.