Marvel Also Telling Comic-Con To Screw

First they heard Twilight was showing up once again ("TWILIGHT!?! BUT THAT’S FOR GURLS!?!") then came the news from the New York Times last week that a many big-wig studio was opting against appearing including Warner Brothers with The Dark Knight Rises and The Man of Steel which for unexplainable reason surprised people and this afternoon comes to the big bomb-shell for fanboys.

Marvel won't be attending the San Diego Comic-Con next month, reports Hero Complex.

Even yours truly is shocked by this. In the afore-mentioned piece that Peter covered, they mentioned that the House of Ideas was considering not attending. But I, and I think many others, thought they were bullshitting everyone. They love to wet the appetites of fandom with little morsels of footage (Last year they showed a brief teaser from Captain America that literally days before had just began production). This will be the first in awhile Marvel isn't in full-force at the convention.

Although as they state, Disney isn't planning on showing off John Carter or The Lone Ranger either and planning to save it for their own D23 Expo the following month. And since Marvel is property of the Mouse, it's not hard to connect-the-dots to an Avengers appearance there too.

Sorry, fanboys. You'll have to settle on The Amazing Spider-Man and Ghost Rider 2 footage to nerdgasm over instead.

Tang Cross-Promotion Absent From New Immortals Posters

The more I look at new materials for Immortals the more I think, "It's a good thing Henry Cavill has 'that whole Superman thing' to fall back on!"

Phil nailed it on Movie Moan a few shows back. This looks like a movie made years ago that keeps sitting on the shelf and keeps getting delayed when a similar-looking production opens every year. Only now with Cavill set to done the red-and-blue suit next year, now is as good a time as any.*

Maybe we're being too harsh. After all, Thor had some pretty bad trailers and that turned out really good. Let us also remember those X-Men: First Crotch one-sheets. Speaking of which, some new posters for Immortals have been released, and here are the high-lights including the afore-mentioned new Man of Steel, Mickey Rourke (in an outfit he may, or may not, have shown up to the set wearing) and Stephen Dorff striking up his best 300 pose.

* I'm fully aware Immortals' November 2011 release was set in stone long before Cavill was cast as Superman.

Megan Fox Prays to God For Work – Lands Role in The Dictator

The fascination with Megan Fox, Michael Bay, and apparently now Steven Spielberg (or as I call it "He's just like Hitler!" gate) is beyond me. I don't find it news-worthy of who actually fired her stuck-up ass off Transformers 3. If anything, it sounds like bringing this seemingly dead-topic back into the public's conscious is a calculated move on Bay's part to get press for Dark of the Moon.

Her place in the history books won't be for her attractiveness (Sorry, but she’s a dime-a-dozen "body" who can and by all accounts, has been replaced by a newer model) but instead serving as another pre-cautionary tale of never biting the hand that feeds you and letting all that hype go to your head.

While she is getting work still (She's set to appear in Judd Apatow's This is Forty), her doors haven't been torn down with offers up the wazoo like I'm sure she and her representation thought. At least while she was still involved with those giant, retarded robots.

But someone else has thrown her a bone, reports THR. She's set to cameo in The Dictator, the latest Sacha Baron Cohen/Larry Charles comedy currently-lensing and set for release early next May. Since it's a bit-part, we shouldn't expect to know what it entails. Maybe another "What the fuck?" cameo in the vein of Harrison Ford in Bruno, who knows. I'm sure that reality TV show is just around the corner for her.

Kenny Loggins Has Blood on His Hands – Footloose Remake Trailer Drops

So Kenny Loggins music kills a couple of teenagers and dancing gets banned? That's Hicktown, U.S.A. values for you.

The trailer for the Footloose remake has been released for your viewing pleasure. As one would expect, it's replicating the plot of the 1984 original that made Kevin Bacon a star (long before he was tutoring little Erik Lensherr in Germany) with the update being every teenager in town is secretly a professional hip-hop dancer. Who knew?

Guess Who's Coming To The Dark Knight Rises?

Don't read if you're a spoiler-pussy. You just know the first full-on trailer will let the cat out of the bag. But I'll be brief nonetheless.

Given the rumored story-arc involving Talia al Ghul, Bane and the League of Shadows as the baddies blended together with those spy-pictures of what may, or may not, be the Lazarus Pit, this revelation isn't jaw-dropping per say. But it's surprising in that it heavily suggests Christopher Nolan will follow in the foot-steps of The Prestige and throw in an other-worldly aspect to The Dark Knight Rises after all that talk about making his Batman trilogy "realistic."

Hit Fix reveals Liam Neeson reported for filming of one scene, that we know of so far, for the Batman threequel as the title hero's mentor-turned-nemesis Ra's al Ghul from Batman Begins. Whether this is a flashback (since Josh Pence will also play the character via flashback) or his character is resurrected from the dead remains to be seen.

Again all we have to do is look at The Prestige to know it's not 100% out of the realm of possibility Nolan could head in this direction.

Jurassic Park 4 Is Still Very Possible

There is still money to be made off the brand-name, and surprisingly Universal, Amblin and Steven Spielberg have yet to greenlight Jurassic Park 4 despite various attempts since 2001.

While this update doesn't mean that movement is full-speed ahead, there appears to be renewed interest in the property, reports Heat Vision. Spielberg has been said to have recently met up with Mark Protosevich (screenwriter of I Am Legend and has a "Story by" credit on Thor).

Nothing to officially get excited or translating this to mean something will come of this get together. Just two guys shooting the shit and tossing around ideas for how to update the age-old "dinosaurs running amok and tearing shit up" story.

It does seem inevitable a new Jurassic Park in some capacity will drop on the silver screen in our lifetime.

He DID Say He Wanted To Be Like Marlon Brando - Russell Crowe Is Superman's Daddy

In what appears to be simultaneously an attempt to add more acting cred to the production and deflect those toxic Green Lantern reviews, word has leaked to the latest name-actor to join The Man of Steel, the Zack Snyder-directed, Christopher Nolan-produced Superman reboot for next Christmas.

Variety says Russell Crowe will portray Jor-El, the wise, but ultimately doomed father of Superman/Clark Kent/Kal-El (Henry Cavill).

Great power-house actor, legendary hot-head and hey, he even once sung about how he wanted to be like Marlon Brando. And he's already got the weight and acting prowess. Interestingly, Crowe is also in need of a hit himself as audiences seemed to have waned from him over the years. Gotta say I love the Hell outta this choice.

Possible Man of Steel Promo Art "Shockingly" Shows Off Superman Logo

I just promised a pal of mine on Twitter I'd be equally bitchy on the DC side of the Licensing International Expo as I just was on Marvel with that Avengers promo art. So here it is.

ESQ (via Twitter) has got a snap-shot of what may, or may not, be early promo art for Zack Snyder's Superman reboot The Man of Steel. In typically vague teaser fashion (and following in the foot-steps of the original Superman Returns teaser one-sheet), all we get is the classic \S/ symbol.

Not much to go off of truth be told, from a logo we've all been familiar with for the past couple of decades. Once we get our first honest-to-Christ look at Henry Cavill in character, then I'd (along with 95% of the Internet as a whole) be a picky bitch.

Batman Calls for Two of Every Animal

It is a few minutes shy of 10:00 this morning, and we've already received the coolest news of the day.

As Darren Aronofsky is assembling the money for his hopefully next endeavor the fantasy-epic Noah, one issue that would make things easier for investors is a big-name actor secured in the lead. Someone whose name will help ensure asses will firmly be planted in seats when said film is theatrically released.

Word from Vulture is that may very well be Christian Bale.

Aronofsky is said to have had a dialogue with the current occupant of the Batman franchise about headlining the revisionist Noah's Ark tale. Although things haven't gotten past the "talks" phase. So it's probably best not to take this as Gospel (no pun intended) that this will result in a deal going through. But the Hell knows with Bale's tastes.

Remember back when Bale was supposed to play President George W. Bush in Oliver Stone's W. and how he "suddenly" vacated the role at the 11th hour? I'd bet money his agent and/or representation slapped him across the face on the eve of The Dark Knight's opening and said, "What are you crazy? You want to piss off the very people who've made you a star thanks to Batman!?"

On the other hand, this could certainly help with getting Middle America interested having Batman involved.

Crappy Avengers Promo Art Assemble!

You, good reader, will be seeing plenty of both the great and shitty on display as the Licensing International Expo goes forth this week.

But one can't take a lot of this to heart as being the final product. A good portion of this promo art for forthcoming releases is mere early mock-ups (like the Star Trek 2 one that says...Star Trek 2, and just that). So we can't be too harsh.

Courtesy of Coming Soon, this promo art for The Avengers looks appropriate. If we were talking about the cover-art to the comic-book adaptation for the big Marvel superhero mash-up for next May.