Margot Robbie Signs First Look Deal With Warner Brothers

DC’s didn’t exactly set the world on fire when Suicide Squad was released to dreadful reviews over the summer, but fan favourite Margot Robbie has landed a first look deal with Warner Brothers this week to bring Harley Quinn back to the big screen.

Warner Brothers, possibly in a bid to push DC ahead of the often favoured Marvel Studios, is focusing on female-driven storytelling. Although they haven’t released any details about the Quinn solo movie (to be honest, the script probably isn’t written yet) the WB has stated that it could feature other ladies of the DC Universe, such as the Birds of Prey.

Robbie will be one of the producers on the film, and by all reports has become a driving force behind the Harley Quinn picture. Sources talking to the Hollywood Reporter said that when she was preparing for her role in Suicide Squad, she fell in love with the DC characters, and is keen to bring them to the screen.

This is a huge success for the 26 year old Australian actress, who has commanded starring roles in Hollywood since her breakout performance in The Wolf of Wall Street. She really seems to have found a home with the WB.

As part of their female-driven storytelling, Warner Brothers also have other Margot Robbie vehicle Queen of the Air, the Wonder Woman movie in the works (due 2nd June 2017) and Ocean’s Eight (an all-female version of Ocean’s Eleven) in their near future.

Follow me on Twitter @pixiewose

We Preview “Of Devils And Men”

James D. Schumacher III  the indie writer of the award-winning horror comic Inheritance returns with his new project the horror western Of Devils and Men.

 

James’s collaborator on Of Devils and Men is former Wolverine artist Ken Knudtsen who is also known for his independent comic My Monkey’s Name Is Jennifer.

Of Devils and Men Synopsis:

1880’s Arizona Territory. The hills caught fire, the animals perished, the great cataclysm wrought death upon the world. Fire spread everywhere. Emerging from the hellfire, horrific denizens hellbent on the killing the last remnants of humanity.

Survivors of the inferno took to trains, stagecoaches, horses, anything to outrun the creatures. For the refugees on board Locomotive 689 Charleston, it is just the beginning of their trials as they steam for the fabled city, Crescent City.

A place where many say this hell has not touched, a place where the survivors can live without fear.

As each day wears thin for the survivors, patience gives way to anger, the pain of losing loved ones turn to violence and soon the people within the train have nothing more to fear that what is inside the train with them. This train is the last hope for these people, and it’s running low on fuel miles away from anything resembling safety and with millions of creatures on its heels.

Will the survivors on the Charleston defy their differences and overcome loss, or will the very thing that unites us all be the downfall of humanity?

James and Ken have planned to launch a Kickstarter for Of Devils And Men on September 30th, 2016.

Stay tuned to skatronnixxx.com for an interview with both James and Ken as well as a full promotional article to help the campaign reach it’s funding goal and beyond. We might also have a surprise or two for Skatronixxx readers.

While you patiently wait enjoy these fantastic pages from Ken Knudtsen in the mean time.

 

 

Check out James D. Schumacher‘s website 

 Facebook: facebook.com/SchumacherIII

Twitter: @Inheritnovel

 Ken Knudtsen‘s website

Facebook: facebook.com/kenknudtsen

Whatastory: Whataburger and Wonder Woman’s “Friendly Trademark Discussion”

There’s been reports that DC Comics and American burger chain Whataburger have been embroiled in a bitter dispute over logos. The chain has a stacked W logo, which it launched in 1972, 13 years before Wonder Woman‘s  original logo was trademarked. The new version of the logo, relaunched to tie in with Gal Gadot‘s incarnation of the superheroine, appears to stepped on Whattaburger’s toes.

However, according to Chron, the press folks at Whataburger seem to be taken aback at claims that there is a nasty dispute between them and the home of the Amazon princess. They describe the ‘row’ as a ‘friendly trademark discussion’. In fact, their statements are unbelievably cute, as if written by characters from the 1970s series.

“Contrary to some suggestions, Whataburger is not at war with Wonder Woman over her newly redesigned logo. In fact, Whataburger supports superheroes like Wonder Woman and her friends in the Justice League.” Whataburger actually have a superhero mascot -Whataguy – and they would apparently love to see a crossover with these two. Maybe DC should introduce him as a character for the Wonder Woman solo film? He could be a love rival against Bruce Wayne…

“Wonder Woman’s stacked W logo has both made it appear more similar to Whataburger’s long-standing Flying W trademark and has been accompanied by nine new trademark applications, covering a much more substantial list of goods and services than just comic books, including a variety of food and beverage products.”

And therein lies the problem – the original logo was only related to comic book merch; now it maybe linked to similar products as Whataburger.

“Whataburger anticipates a positive discussion with DC Comics and a resolution of that discussion that will be acceptable to both parties.”

In a quaint closing of the statement, Whataburger said they wanted Wonder Woman to be able to focus on keeping “planet Earth safe from villains” while they focused on making burgers.

Whataclassact.

Follow me on Twitter @Pixiewose

New Luke Cage Promo Features Cottonmouth

Marvel is at it again with clever marketing to draw us all in. This time it’s for the latest instalment of the Netflix hosted TV series, Luke Cage (not Nick Cage as I am frequently paranoid I will call it…) The series, which is due to go live on the streaming service on 30^th September will focus on Hell’s Kitchen’s own man of steel (are DC going to come after me for that one?). The eponymous hero was introduced as Jessica Jones’ on-again-off-again love interest, and a man so strong, with super strength and unbreakable skin, he could flick attacking bruisers off him like gnats. The show promises to be gritty and edgy like its predecessors Daredevil and Jessica Jones, but also   showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker has promised fans that the drama will be infused with ’90s hip-hop.

The new promo shows villain Cottonmouth, played by Mahershala Ali (House of Cards), appearing to break the fourth wall and talk directly to the audience. He has a large portrait of rapper Biggie Smalls in the background, and explains how the late hip-hop star is the real King of New York. There is quite a cool shot that looks like Ali is wearing the crown in the portrait – some nice camera work there! He is not, in fact, addressing us, but rather his unfortunate victim who gets a beating as he’s told “Everybody wants to wear the crown”.

Watch the promo:

The whole series of Luke Cage will launch on Netflix 30^th September

Follow me on Twitter @pixiewose

Vincent D’Onofrio Teases a Return for Kingpin

Best things about Daredevil (in no particular order):
1. Charlie Cox is super handsome and a pleasure to look at
2. Foggy has classic lines all the time – “why are you fancy?” is still said in our house all the time
3. Karen giving Matt a balloon was hilarious
4. The 2 epic corridor fight scenes
5. The villains – both Kingpin and Punisher were incredible

Vincent D’Onofrio‘s star turn as Wilson Fisk was one of the highlights of season 1 for me. No cat stroking, one-dimensional bad guy here; Fisk was portrayed as sensitive, deep, and all together reasonable in his villainy. D’Onofrio was terrifying with his calm, quiet, anger culminating in violent, deadly rage. At times, he cut quite an empathetic figure, and creating that in the big bad is a real talent.

Fans were delighted earlier this year when Fisk had a cameo appearance in Daredevil season 2 (resulting in an incredible prison fight sequence), and D’Onofrio has not ruled out a reprisal of the Kingpin in future Marvel series. Last week he spoke to LRM Online, and said that although he hadn’t signed on to do any further work with Marvel, he would go back to the character if the right chance came up.

He told the website, “Marvel, the company, and especially Jeff Loeb, who runs Marvel Television, he’s a clever dude. All those people over there are pretty clever and they love talent. There’s no giant commitment for me at Daredevil. Like I didn’t have to sign my life away at all. When Jeff tells me there’s something coming up and if I’m available, I’ll be there. And because it’s written so well, I’m going to show up. I’m going to do everything I can because the writing is so good. And then there’s a company like Netflix and they’re not pressuring you either. They just want good material, good content. They give you money to make good content, so they’re not pressuring actors to sign their life away either…. I think that there’s this common ground where they say, ‘Look, if the material is good are you going to show up?’ and I said,  ‘Definitely’.”

When asked directly if he would be appearing again in a Marvel/Netflix series, D’Onofrio was coy. “That I can’t answer. I do know, but I can’t answer… so take that how you will. Jeff and Charlie (Cox) and Netflix love Kingpin, and so, Kingpin is good for Marvel’s television stuff and I think they agree.”

So, although our favourite Kingpin might not be back on Netflix for Luke Cage on 30th September, we might not be waiting too long to see him again.

Follow me on Twitter @pixiewose

James Gunn Shares Yondu Concept Art on Instagram

As we know, James Gunn is a very fan-centric director. He is a comic book fan himself, so treats his films with the respect you’d expect from someone with a great love of the stimulus material. He also spends a lot of time on social media, and makes an effort to share little Easter eggs with the fans, engaging with them in the comments section. This is awesome, because it draws the audience in and gives them an investment in the movie well before it’s released. It also gives me a lot of James Gunn stuff to write about, which is no bad thing.

This week, Gunn treated his Instagram fans to early concept art for Yondu:

View this post on Instagram

Sweet early concept art for #Yondu in #GotG by Andrew Kim featuring a fantastic vision of @michael_rooker's abs.

A post shared by James Gunn (@jamesgunn) on Sep 13, 2016 at 10:43am PDT

In the artwork, Michael Rooker‘s space outlaw has a different image – something more Egyptian than intergalactic. He also has a red Mohawk (more in keeping with comic book Yondu than the one we came to love in the movie); face gills; and a fancy eye patch. The artist (Andrew Kim) also showed the character wearing a lot of heavy and ornate armour/jewellery (I think it looks like costume jewellery but my other half insists it’s armour!)

One fan asked Gunn why he doesn’t stick to the concept art, but the director advised that he does – just different concept art. He explained that while the picture is beautiful, the costuming was impractical and not the concept he had for movie Yondu.

Knowing how GotG turned out, I think the Egyptian (almost Apocalypse-esque) god figure in the artwork would have jarred massively with the cool crew of the Alyssa Milano. Thanks for sharing James, and I think you made the right choice!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is due for release in the United Kingdom on April 28 and in USA on May 5

Follow me on Twitter @pixiewose

Weekly Bookette #12 Indie Books again :D

It is time yet again for one of my favorite Weekly Bookette articles. Yep, it is time for our monthly independent book line up, hope you enjoy this month’s selection as much as I do!

Alice in Wonderland Tag!

I collaborated with Rachel Wagner & Emily Boone for this awesome Alice in Wonderland Tag! I had so much fun doing this so I’m very excited to share with you all!

Lets go down the rabbit hole & check this tag out!

Happy Reading,

Aly

Kurt Russell Teases Fans “GotG2 Will Be Complex”

Earlier this week, Guardians of the Galaxy vol.2’s leading man Chris Pratt delighted fans by teasing that it would be “the biggest spectacle movie of all time.” (That’s a big claim, fella. I know at least one Twitter user who will have 140 characters for you if it’s not…) Veteran star Kurt Russell has followed hot on his heels, saying how good he thought the film was going to be.

Speaking to Collider at the Toronto International Film Festival, he admitted that he’d been very impressed with the footage director James Gunn shared at San Diego Comic-Con. “I was really impressed with it, really impressed with it.” he said (you see, this is good journalism… I worked out he was impressed from that alone!) “I mean, believe me, from knowing the script, to see that and what he did with that sequence, I’m excited to see the movie. I think it’s going to be really good.”

Russell said the crew felt they’d found their feet with this second film – now the characters had developed they could really have fun with it. “They really knew what they were doing and the story itself was strong” he explained.

He also teased that the story would be perhaps more complex that other comic adaptations, as it is concerned with parental/human issues. Yeah, we knew Star Lord had daddy issues, and they’re going to be front and centre for GOTG2! “It’s a very complex story, and they really get into it.” Kurt Russell told Collider, “This is going to be one of the more — probably for Marvel, it’s more connected to human issues, family issues, parental issues, and issues that sons and daughters have with their mums and dads and their family tree, where they come from.”

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is due for release in the United Kingdom on April 28 and in USA on May 5

Follow me on Twitter @pixiewose

New Batman Tactical Suit Revealed

Zack Snyder has now reveled the new Tactical Batsuit that Batman will where in the Justice League movie via way of his twitter account with the caption “Homestretch. Last day filming Batman in the new Tactical Batsuit,” it shows Batman next a rather beaten up looking Batmobile. The suit looks a lot more sleek than the mech suit that was used in Batman Vs Superman: Dawn Of Justice and looks to be improved to help him step up his game against his super-powered enemies.

You can see from the image that not much has really changed from the sleek designed suit that was in Dawn Of Justice apart from the addition of a set of goggles which can be assumed to help him pilot one of his new toys either the Nightcrawler (Batmobiles big brother) or the Flying Fox as we know these vehicles have been confirmed as being in the Justice League film.

There has been some comparisons by fans that the new suit looks like it has been designed as a nod to the Watchmen’s Nite Owl costume although this has been refused and the goggles were added as a homage to the Dark Knights classic design.

“We loved the way, in the comic books, that Batman’s always drawn with these white flashes for eyes,” he told reports on set. “So we played around with ways of doing that, and realized that they would sort of catch the light, to call to mind that classic age from the comic books.”

The Justice League hits cinemas on November 17th 2017 as always for all your Dark Knight needs stick with @Deadpool_1984 only at skatronixxx.com