Christopher Nolan's Batman Villains

With the last movie in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy coming out next year, let's take a look back at the those villains that have appeared in both the Nolan Batman movies and the previous Batman movies that came before Batman Begins.

Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow in The Avengers

Black Widow tossing out her patented Widow-Taser-Thingys
(left image from Iron Man 2 and right image from The Avengers trailer after Captain America)

Having watched both the Avengers trailers (the full length one and the one at the end of Captain America), we get to see Black Widow a.k.a. Natasha Romanoff (played by Scarlett Johansson) repeat quite a few of her "trademark" moves we saw earlier in Iron Man 2.

Shaft: Inspiration for Ultimate Nick Fury

Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury (left) and John Shaft (right)

I remember watching Shaft the movie many years back, which starred the Samuel L. Jackson. When I read the Ultimates comics, I recalled thinking "Hey haven't I seen this look before somewhere...".

Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill in The Avengers

Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill in The Avengers (left) & Robin Scherbatsky in How I Met Your Mother (right)



It's been sometime since I've posted an entry, been busy with some other stuff...like watching How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM)!

Okay I have a confession to make, as much I watch HIMYM for its hilarious storylines, I also watch it for the lovely Cobie Smulders, who plays Robin Scherbatsky!

In the show, Robin is a tough, no-nonsense, gun-toting gal, who can definitely hold her own in a fight.

As you may know by now, Cobie will also be playing Maria Hill in The Avengers, which is coming out next year.

Closer Look At Superman's New Suit

So far we've had a first look at Superman's new suit , and also some pictures taken from the set of Man of Steel. However those were taken from a distance and were a bit blurred. Now, Rama's Screen has provided more close-up pictures, and we can finally see the detailing on the suit.

The New Look of Ghost Rider

The trailer for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance has been released online. Having watched it, let's see what are the differences in appearance between Ghost Rider in these two movies.

Skull and Flames 



The flaming skull of the Ghost Rider from Ghost Rider (left) and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (right)



The skull in the original movie looked more like a real skull, but you can see that in the new movie they've elongated it and also given it bigger eye sockets. In a way it certainly looks more demonic, and also more comic-book like. The colour of the skull is now a lot darker, looking like it was burnt by hellfire. As for the flames on the skull, they don't look so "clean" anymore, and there's also smoke now in addition to the flames.

Man of Steel's Superman Costume From The Set

Check out these pictures that have been posted online this month, featuring pictures taken from the set of Man of Steel. Now I know that these may be considered as spoiler images, but I think that most of us fans are always dying to know what the hero's costume will look like in the movie. So for me at least, I don't consider such pictures as spoilers.

Spider-Man Stunt Doubles

Remember when Tobey Maguire was cast to play Spider-Man back in 2002, and everyone thought he didn't look pumped up enough to play our favourite wall crawler? Well to keep fan-boys from going crazy about this casting choice, Tobey proved everyone wrong by buffing up. Check out the scene of him standing in front of the mirror, admiring his toned physique.

However, I'm pretty sure all of us know that when it came time to donning the Spider-Man costume, Tobey was probably not in it all the time (except those times when he's unmaksed). For the rest of the scenes with Spider-Man, I'm pretty sure they used stunt doubles. Now I don't have an issue with stunt doubles. They professionals, and I'm sure the director wouldn't want the actor to get hurt for nothing.

However, I draw the line when they start to use stunt doubles that don't share the same physique as Tobey. When you see Spider-Man and he looks taller or has body shape that is different from the actor playing Peter Parker,  it really draws me out of the movie.

The Amazing Spider-Man: Plot Speculation

I've decided to try my hand at guessing the story for the The Amazing Spider-Man, after having seen the trailer and pictures released by Sony Pictures.

I'll be using pictures as I go through the plot, but only pictures that have been released by the studio. There will be no pictures that were photographed on the set by fans. In this way, I'll only be working with "official" spoiler images.

Do note that alot of what I'll be writing is purely speculation and is my attempt at figuring out what the story for the movie might be.

Anatomy of a Hulk



The Hulk from The Avengers, played by Mark Ruffalo

The Hulk from Hulk (left) and The Incredible Hulk (right)

Last month The Los Angeles Times spoke to Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios on what the Hulk will look like when he appears in "The Avengers" next year. In this movie, Mark Ruffalo will be taking over the role of Bruce Banner/Hulk from Eric Bana (Hulk in 2003) and Edward Norton (The Incredible Hulk in 2008). Below is an excerpt from the interview:  

He'll be about the same size he was in "The Incredible Hulk" [which was about 9 feet tall] or maybe a little bit smaller. His muscles won't be quite as cut. We figure he's been the Hulk now for a few years and [his physique is changing]. He's not as cut or as ripped as he was in "The Incredible Hulk." The most important thing is that face. As you can already see in that concept painting, it is — more than any Hulk that's ever been done in live action — a Hulk that let's you see the actor in there. You will be able to see Ruffalo in there. That was a big revelation for us. It's just a concept painting, but in that you can see the [influence of Marvel Comics pioneer and original Hulk artist Jack] Kirby, as people have already pointed out, but also, and equally important in this case, Ruffalo's eyes and his cheek structure. It is him.The full article can be found here. After reading that Mr Feige says this will be a Hulk where you can "see the actor in there", I began to wonder if he had even watched the previous two Hulk movies? I remember in the 2003 movie, the jolly green giant looked pretty much like Eric Bana to me. As for Norton's Hulk, I didn't quite see the resemblance, but let's see shall we? At the same time I'll also look at the other differences between Bana and Norton's Hulk.

Overhype: Green Lantern to be like "Star Wars"

You know how there are always rumours and comments for upcoming films, sometimes from fan speculation, other times from people who actually worked on the movie. Well it dawned on me that we usually forget all these rumours and comments once we've actually seen the movie. And I thought it would be fun to go back and review some of the things people have said, after I've actually watched the movie myself, and determine which were true, and which are just the results of the studios overhyping the movie.

Anne Hathaway as Catwoman

Wow, DC is really going into overdrive. Releasing of a photo of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman/Selina Kyle online. And I just saw Superman's pic online a few moments ago! From the background, Selina may be in Gotham's City Hall, where photos of Batman facing off Bane were taken while they were filming in Pittsburgh a few days back. (And also cos I noticed a picture of the Batpod in one of the photos. By the way the photos can be found at ComicsAlliance)

Henry Cavill as Superman



A picture of Henry Cavill in his full Superman garb can now be found at Superherohype. Now whenever the first picture of the costume in a superhero movie turns up online, the usual fan responses on forums are:

A. I'll reserve my comments till I see the movie. (which actually means it ain't so great, but I'm not going to write off the movie yet)

B. It looks awesome! I'm totally going to see the movie!

C. I hate it! I'm boycotting this movie!

I'm inclined to choose option 1 as my person response. Its not exactly what I expected, a more "Batman" kind of Superman suit, if that makes any sense. In other words, its a grittier looking Superman.

Major differences that I can spot between this and Brandon Routh's costume are:

The Ultimates Comic: Inspiration for The Avengers Movie

A shortened version of the Avengers Trailer that plays at the end of Captain America has been released on Yahoo! Movies. Screenshots can be found at Superherohype. With that we've gotten our first actual look at scenes from the upcoming Avengers movie. Coupled with the 7 Avengers character posters that Marvel has released, I must say I'm really liking the look of things to come.

But before all this, there was a comic book series called "The Ultimates". Created by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch as a brand new take on the Avengers, set in a more realistic world. With Hitch's "cinematic" panels and layout,  it provided many comic book readers a glimpse of what an Avengers movie might actually look like. I highly recommend anyone who hasn't read it to do so.

Well with the images from the Avengers trailer and poster, lets just see how many of the characters were influenced by their Ultimates counterparts.