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Silver Surfer

Fantastic Four:Rise of the Silver Surfer comes out this weekend and I’m not ashamed to say I’m excited about it. When I finally made it out to see Spider-Man 3, I enjoyed it, but would have enjoyed it more if Carter could have watched it as well (it was a little to scary for him). I would have also like a few more action sequences (or extended versions of the existing ones). As it was, I felt the villains (and Spidey) received too little screen time. After all, that’s the real reason I go see the silver-screen versions of the comics, to see cool, live representations of the comics I’ve loved for years. I think the new Fantastic Four movie will deliver just that (and Carter and Jill will be right there with me), thanks to the PG rating.

Next up is Transformers and it keeps looking better and better. New tv commercials keep popping up and the “big robots” keep looking better and better. It looks a little explosion heavy, so Carter may not make it to that one, but I’d say that we’ll get to see lots of big robots transforming and beating each other up and what more could you want?

It looks like Marvel is making plans for 2009 and lining up Captain America and Thor for their big screen debuts. These two are the next logical step (after 2008’s Iron Man and Hulk). Throw in an Ant Man film that’s been rumored for a while and you’ve got the perfect setup for an Avengers film in 2010. Since Marvel Studios owns the rights to all of these characters (with Paramount distributing the individual films), there is no reason a team film can’t be done.

It’s too bad DC hasn’t gone Hollywood as well as Marvel has. Their slate of upcoming films includes only the next Batman (The Dark Knight) film (featuring Christian Bale and Heath Ledger). Another Superman film has been rumored, as well as films starring Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the Flash. Rumors aside, Batman is the only one in production.

Sadly, that sums it all up. Let’s see some more DC films. Also, I’m ready for a real photo of Heath Ledger as the Joker, none of the viral marketing stuff, let’s see the real thing. The I Love Harvey Dent Too website stated “see you in December.” I guess we have to wait until then.

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The Marvel Comics website released a major upgrade to their Marvel Universe section today and it’s pretty cool. They’ve had a great, Wiki style database for a while, but this upgrade cleaned up the interface a bit and organized things quite nicely.

The coolest feature has got to be the Connections Interface, where you can view a character and a visual map of all the characters they’ve interacted with over their time line. The user interface on this section could use a little work, but overall, it’s a very neat visualization of all the data in the Wiki.

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Shaper of Worlds

So, what does that weird looking guy (the Shaper Of Worlds) up above have to do with Spider-Man? Read on and find out…

For several years, the higher-ups at Marvel Comics have made it known, they don’t like having a married Spider-Man. They state that it’s hard for younger fans to related to a married super-hero. Never mind the fact that the titles that feature a married Spider-Man are not ones I would let my kid read until he was a little older. Ways to solve this “problem” have been talked about for years. They don’t want to upset long-time readers by killing Mary Jane and they don’t want to do a reboot and just have the next issue start over.

I’ve given up on the core Spider-Man titles. They’ve not had a distinctive voice since the 90’s and no one seems to really know how to handle the character or supporting cast. I was never bothered by the fact he married MJ in the comics, but perhaps that causes many writers problems. Anyway…

The rumors of a “reboot” are heating up again. In August, writer J. Michael Straczynski and artist Joe Quesada (Marvel comics Editor-In-Chief) will tell a story entitled “One More Day” starting in issue #544 of Amazing Spider-Man. Many believe this is the story that will reboot the Spider-Man franchise. If today’s rumor is true, it would leave things very similar to the current movie continuity, which isn’t a bad thing.

…they would have put Peter Parker through the worst of it, until he considers ending it all. At that point, he’d find himself on the bridge where Gwen Stacy died, offering his soul if the clock could have been turned back to simpler times. At which point the Shaper Of Worlds does just that, remaking Spider-Man’s world to when he was back in High School, but with the current book’s supporting cast, taking place in the modern day. Eventually confronting the Shaper, he discovers nothing can be changed, and his memories of the old world slowly fade away. The team decided though that this kind of event would be too “cosmic” for Spider-Man, who has a “street level” tone.

It feels like a cheap way out to me and it may not even be true, we’ll see in August. For good Spider-Man comics, just read Ultimate Spider-Man by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley (soon Stuart Immomen).

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FreezeDriedMovies.com has an “exclusive” rumor on the villains for Spider-Man 4. Their source claims that Carnage (yuck), the Lizard, and Black Cat are on deck for the next Spider-Man film.

Our regular scooper tells FreezeDriedMovies that plans are underway for Spider-Man 4, which were (obviously) set up in the third film. In the third entry, Dr. Curt Connors (played by Dylan Baker) looks at a piece of symbiote with Peter Parker. The movie then travels along it’s path without another mention of that “piece” of symbiote. This is the set up for Spider-Man 4 where that small piece of alien symbiote becomes CARNAGE. Yes Cletus Kasady is coming to the big screen, one of Spider-Man most horrifying and evil villains. Not only with Parker have to deal with the red lean mean killing machine, but Connors is set to become the long awaited LIZARD! these two villains have all been CONFIRMED for Spider-Man 4. There is talk of the Black Cat making her first appearance, but that’s all but official.

Aside for my previous thoughts on the status of villain selection, this rumor sounds like nothing more than speculation based on dangling plot points from the previous films. I’ll stick to my guns and say that it’s still way to early to say who will be in Spider-Man 4. You know my thoughts and everyone has their own. If enough people say they know who the villain for Spider-Man 4 will be, a few will actually get it right.

I’ll go on record and say that we’ll see the Lizard and Mysterio in the next movie, thereby practically setting up the Sinister Six for Spider-Man 5

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CinemaBlend has a report from a few weeks ago stating they have a source that states it is highly likely that the villain in Spider-Man 4 (we all know it will happen) will be Morlun.

Morlun is a vampire of sorts and a newer villain created by current Amazing Spider-Man writer J. Michael Stracynski. To say the least, Stracynski’s run on Amazing Spider-Man has be underwhelming and controversial. Many think that his story-lines start out strong, but never have an ending that lives up to their promise. I can’t say for sure, as Ultimate Spider-Man is the only Spider-Man title I read on a regular basis.

Morlun was part of a larger storyline that attempted to re-define Peter’s origin and tie it to more mystical means. The idea that Spider-Man is the bearer of powers granted by a Spider totem was floated. Similar notions were hinted at for his many animal themed villains (Vulture, Rhino, Puma, Lizard, etc.). The story culminated with Spider-Man dying and being reborn. His powers were altered and he gained organic web shooter (similar to the movie Spider-Man) and his Spider-Sense allowed him to “listen” to spiders. He also developed Wolverine-like claws in the form of one long stinger than emerged from each arm.

Spider-Man with Stingers (Claws)

Seriously, I’m not making this stuff up.

Anyway, back to Morlun. I’m not saying they won’t use him as a villain, but I can bet at this point in time, they’ve haven’t given it much thought. The studios, writers, and director will all have different ideas as to who and what villain they want. Raimi stated over and over that he didn’t want to use Venom unless he had an idea that called for the character. Also, there are too many classic villains left for Spider-Man 4. Just click that link to see my thoughts on that topic. Truthfully, we won’t know anything concrete for at least a year. When an actor is cast, then that will be the first real proof we have.

Until then, let the speculation continue (and I’ll continue to speculate a Spider-Man 4 without Morlun).