Karen Gillan Joins ‘Jumanji’ Sequel

Karen Gillan has nabbed the female lead in the continuation of the ‘Jumanji’ series. She will star alongside Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart and Nick Jonas in the Jake Kasdan directed film being brought to us by Sony.

Gillan was the final piece to slot into place for the film, as filming is now scheduled to begin in Honolulu next month. Set to play Martha, this is the latest in a line of big roles for Gillan that includes Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’. Having starred in various smaller roles before a leading role in ‘Doctor Who’ kick-started her career, Gillan seems set to continue on her path to Hollywood domination.

 

View this post on Instagram

Between myself, @kevinhart4real Jack Black and @NickJonas we've searched far and wide to find the one person to complete our #JUMANJI family. This isn't just any role, but in many ways the most important role of the movie. We had to find a girl. But not just any girl. A girl who has "Chutzpah". Guts, nerve and talent to stand her ground and hold her own against Nick's cool rockstar ways, Jack's relentless energy and genius, Kevin's masterful timing and skills and the big, brown, bald tattooed guy who just simply stands there and oooooozes smoldering, captivating, sizzling, can't take your eyes off this brilliant manly man.. never mind I got drunk on the ol' DJ kool aid again. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm proud to announce a girl who's playing the most important role in our movie – the talented, beautiful and down for a Scottish fight at any time, Ms @KarenGillanOfficial. And yes, this is the girl who is so bad ass she shaved her freaking head for Guardians of the Galaxy. We start production next month in Hawaii and as many of you already know, this isn't a remake or reboot, but a continuation of the awesome JUMANJI story we love. Jake "The Snake" Kasdan directing, Matt "OG" Tolmach producing. Yup, I give everyone nicknames. The adventure and fun continues… #JUMANJI #KarenGillan #RESPECT #GingerTough

A post shared by therock (@therock) on Aug 30, 2016 at 10:00am PDT

 

Dwayne Johnson took to Instagram to confirm the casting that ended a months long search for the right person.

Gillan is set to reprise her role of Nebula in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2’ as well as costar alongside Ethan Hawke in ‘In A Valley of Violence’.

‘Jumanji’ is set to hit theatres July 28, 2017.

Stan Lee VS Jack (King) Kirby

Stan Lee is the most recognisable name in comic books. His name and Marvel go hand in hand in everyday conversations among comic fans and MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) movie watchers. Stan is perceived as the happy old man who makes iconic cameos in movies based on “his” creation, but did Stan create the likes of the Fantastic Four, The Incredible  Hulk, Iron Man, The Avengers, The X-Men and, the most famous of all Spider-Man?

This is not the first time this question has been brought up, in fact in the past few years it has come up more frequently. While the average person or Stan Lee fanboy might think this is a ridiculous notion, there is quite a lot of evidence to support the challenge of Stan’s Legacy.

When you get into reading comic books regardless of age, you are told that back in the 1960’s Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Created what we know today as the Marvel Universe. With Stan getting the majority of the credit, and for the most part the only name mentioned regarding who created what. Stan’s story is that he would come up with an idea or plot then give it to Jack, and he would return the art to him with a few suggestions. Stan would then write in dialogue to fit the art.

The other side of the coin is that it was Jack Kirby who did the majority or the creating. It is said that Jack would not only do the art but write the majority of each issue, key concepts and plot lines. Stan would have no idea about the story or even the idea till very late in the publication process. What Stan did do was make Kirby’s writing a little more appealing to read.

According to this interview, Jack and his wife Roz Kirby did with The Comics Journal in 1990, four years before his death, Stan had virtually nothing to do with creating the Marvel Universe.

GROTH; When did you meet Stan Lee for the first time?

KIRBY: I met Stan Lee when I first went to work for Marvel. He was a little boy. When Joe and I were doing Captain America. He was about 13 years old. He’s about five years younger than me.

GROTH: Did you keep in touch with him at all?

KIRBY: No, I thought Stan Lee was a bother.

GROTH: [Laughter.]

KIRBY: I did!

GROTH: What do you mean by “bother”?

KIRBY: You know he was the kind of kid that liked to fool around — open and close doors on you. Yeah. In fact, once I told Joe to throw him out of the room.

GROTH; Because he was a pest?

KIRBY: Yes, he was a pest. Stan Lee was a pest. He liked to irk people and it was one thing I couldn’t take.

GROTH: Hasn’t changed a bit, huh?

KIRBY: He hasn’t changed a bit. I couldn’t do anything about Stan Lee because he was the publisher’s cousin. He ran back and forth around New York doing things that he was told to do. He would slam doors and come up to you and look over your shoulder and annoy you in a lot of ways. Joe would probably elaborate on it.

GROTH: When you went to Marvel in ’58 and ’59, Stan was obviously there.

KIRBY: Yes, and he was the same way.

 GROTH:And you two collaborated on all the monster stories?

KIRBY: Stan Lee and I never collaborated on anything! I’ve never seen Stan Lee write anything. I used to write the stories just like I always did.

GROTH:On all the monster stories it says “Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.” What did he do to warrant his name being on them?

KIRBY: Nothing! OK?

GROTH:Did he dialogue them?

KIRBY: No, I dialogued them. If Stan Lee ever got a thing dialogued, he would get it from someone working in the office. I would write out the whole story on the back of every page. I would write the dialogue on the back or a description of what was going on. Then Stan Lee would hand them to some guy and he would write in the dialogue. In this way Stan Lee made more pay than he did as an editor. This is the way Stan Lee became the writer. Besides collecting the editor’s pay, he collected writer’s pay. I’m not saying Stan Lee had a bad business head on. I think he took advantage of whoever was working for him.

GROTH:But he was essentially serving in a capacity as an editorial liaison between you and the publisher?

KIRBY: Yes, he wasn’t exactly an editor, or anything like that. Even as a young boy, he’d be hopping around — I think he had a flute, and he was playing on his flute.

GROTH:The Pied Piper.

KIRBY: Yeah. He’d come up and annoy me, and I told Joe to throw him out.

GROTH:Stan wrote, “Jack and I were having a ball turning out monster stories.’’ Were you having a ball. Jack?

KIRBY: Stan Lee was having the ball.

GROTH:You turned out monster stories for two or three years I think. Then the first comic that rejuvenated superheroes that you did was The Fantastic four. Can you explain how that came about?

KIRBY: I had to do something different. The monster stories have their limitations — you can just do so many of them. And then it becomes a monster book month after month, so there had to be a switch because the times weren’t exactly conducive to good sales. So I felt the idea was to come up with new stuff all the time — in other words there had to be a blitz. And I came up with this blitz. I came up withThe Fantastic Four, I came up with Thor (I knew the Thor legends very well), and the Hulk, the X-Men, and The Avengers. I revived what I could and came up with what I could. I tried to blitz the stands with new stuff. The new stuff seemed to gain momentum.

GROTH:Let me ask you something that I think is an important point: Stan wrote the way you guys worked — and I think he’s referring to the monster stories specifically here — he wrote, “I had only to give Jack an outline of the story and he would draw the entire strip breaking down the outline into exactly the right number of panels. Then it remained for me to take Jack’s artwork and add the captions and dialogue which would hopefully add a dimension of reality to sharply delineated characterization.” So he’s saying that he gave you a plot, and you would draw it, and he would add the captions and dialogue.

ROZ KIRBY: I remember Jack would call him up and say it’s going to be this kind of story or that kind of story and just send him the story. And he’d write in everything on the side.

KIRBY: Remember this: Stan Lee was an editor. He worked from nine to five doing business for Martin Goodman. In other words he didn’t do any writing in the office. He did Martin Goodman’s business. That was his function. There were people coming up to the office to talk all the time. They weren’t always artists, they were business people. Stan Lee was the first man they would see and Stan Lee would see if he could get them in to see Martin Goodman. That was Stan Lee’s function.

When asked about the creation of the Fantastic Four Jack continues with blunt honesty.

GROTH:Can you tell me give me your version of how The Fantastic Four came about? Did Stan go to you…?

KIRBY: No, Stan didn’t know what a mutation was. I was studying that kind of stuff all the time. I would spot it in the newspapers and science magazines. I still buy magazines that are fanciful. I don’t read as much science fiction as I did at that time. 1 was a student of science fiction and I began to make up my own story patterns, my own type of people. Stan Lee doesn’t think the way I do. Stan Lee doesn’t think of people when he thinks of [characters]. I think of [characters] as real people. If I drew a war story it would be two guys caught in the war. The Fantastic Four to me are people who were in a jam — suddenly you find yourself invisible, suddenly you find yourself flexible.

ROZ KIRBY: Gary wants to know how you created The Fantastic Four.

GROTH: Did you approach Marvel or —

KIRBY: It came about very simply. I came in [to the Marvel offices] and they were moving out the furniture, they were taking desks out — and I needed the work! I had a family and a house and all of a sudden Marvel is coming apart. Stan Lee is sitting on a chair crying. He didn’t know what to do, he’s sitting in a chair crying —he was just still out of his adolescence. I told him to stop crying. I says. “Go in to Martin and tell him to stop moving the furniture out, and I’ll see that the books make money.” And I came up with a raft of new books and all these books began to make money. Somehow they had faith in me. I knew 1 could do it, but I had to come up with fresh characters that nobody had seen before. I came up with The Fantastic Four. I came up with Thor. Whatever it took to sell a book I came up with. Stan Lee has never been editorial minded. It wasn’t possible for a man like Stan Lee to come up with new things — or old things for that matter. Stan Lee wasn’t a guy that read or that told stories. Stan Lee was a guy that knew where the papers were or who was coming to visit that day. Stan Lee is essentially an office worker, OK? I’m essentially something else: I’m a storyteller. My job is to sell my stories. When I saw this happening at Marvel I stopped the whole damned bunch. I stopped them from moving the furniture! Stan Lee was sitting on some kind of a stool, and he was crying.

GROTH: Stan says he conceptualized virtually everything in The Fantastic Four — that he came up with all the characters. And then he said that he wrote a detailed synopsis for Jack to follow.

ROZ KIRBY: I’ve never seen anything.

KIRBY: I’ve never seen it, and of course I would say that’s an outright lie.

GROTH:Stan pretty much takes credit in an introduction to one of his books for creating all the characters in The Fantastic Four. He also said he created the name.

KIRBY: No, he didn’t.

GROTH: The next character, if I remember correctly, was The Hulk. If I remember correctly you drew a six-issue run of that, then it was cancelled for a little while, then Steve Ditko started it in an anthology book called Tales to Astonish. Can you talk a little bit about how you were involved in creating The Hulk?

KIRBY: The Hulk I created when I saw a woman lift a car. Her baby was caught under the running board of this car. The little child was playing in the gutter and he was crawling from the gutter onto the sidewalk under the running board of this car — he was playing in the gutter. His mother was horrified. She looked from the rear window of the car, and this woman in desperation lifted the rear end of the car. It suddenly came to me that in desperation we can all do that — we can knock down walls, we can go berserk, which we do. You know what happens when we’re in a rage — you can tear a house down. I created a character who did all that and called him the Hulk. I inserted him in a lot of the stories I was doing. Whatever the Hulk was at the beginning I got from that incident. A character to me can’t be contrived. I don’t like to contrive characters. They have to have an element of truth. This woman proved to me that the ordinary person in desperate circumstances can transcend himself and do things that he wouldn’t ordinarily do. I’ve done it myself. I’ve bent steel.

GROTH:Well, this is probably going to shock you, but Stan takes full credit for creating the Hulk. He’s written, “Actually, ideas have always been the easiest part of my various chores.” And then he went on to say that in creating The Hulk, “It would be my job to take a clichéd concept and make it seem new and fresh and exciting and relevant. Once again, I decided that Jack Kirby would be the artist to breathe life into our latest creation. So the next time we met, I outlined the concept I’d been toying with for weeks.”

KIRBY: Yes, he was always toying with concepts. On the contrary, it was I who brought the ideas to Stan. I brought the ideas to DC as well, and that’s how business was done from the beginning.

GROTH:Stan also claimed he created the name. “the Hulk.”

KIRBY: No, he didn’t.

ROZ KIRBY: It’s just his word against Stan’s.

GROTH:There was a period between ’61 and ’63 when you were just drawing a tremendous number of books.

ROZ KIRBY: May I make one point? In all these years, when Jack was still creating things, Stan Lee hasn’t been creating things. When Jack left Stan, there wasn’t anything new created by Stan.

KIRBY: Yeah. Stan never created anything new after that. If he says he created things all that easily, what did he create after I left? That’s the point. Have they done anything new? He’ll probably tell you, “I didn’t have to.”

GROTH:Can I ask what your involvement in Spider-Man was?

KIRBY: I created Spider-Man. We decided to give it to Steve Ditko. I drew the first Spider-Man cover. I created the character. I created the costume. I created all those books, but I couldn’t do them all. We decided to give the book to Steve Ditko who was the right man for the job. He did a wonderful job on that.

So you have two people telling two completely different stories, surprise right? Sadly there is practically no one alive from that time that was involved with Marvel at the time except Steve Ditko who still continues to produce independent comics and has remained silent and out of the public eye for years.

Many Creators have supported the fact that Kirby did the majority if not sole creating of Marvels most famous heroes. Even controversial and designated grumpy old man of comics Alan Moore believes Jack to be workhorse behind the creations. Check out a short video of him answering a fan question about Stan Lee here

Needless to say, I’m inclined to believe the Kirby camp. I have always thought if Stan was this creative machine how come he has not created anything significant since Jack left Marvel? Jack and Roz even pointed that out in The Comics Journal interview. Let’s be honest any of Stan’s new comic properties suck or are certainly not anywhere close to the quality of his claimed previous “creations.”

Many people believe Marvel put Stan in cameos in the Marvel movies cause well he’s Stan Lee. No. He sued Marvel for not making any money from the original Spider-Man movie. Not only did he win the suit (He is also the only one to sue Marvel successfully) Stan won the right to be in every Marvel property and receives a reported million dollar a year salary from Marvel.

We are talking about a man who used to have “Stan Lee Presents” on every Marvel comic book. Not “Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Present”. He even said one time publicly that he created Captian America. He didn’t create Captian America that was Joe Simion and Jack Kirby. While Stan has talked highly of Kirby and his other “collaborators”, he will kind of backpedal on questions of contribution and creation for a legal reason as well as moral I suppose.

Stan Lee is one of the best self-promoters and even managed a couple of catchy (if not sometimes annoying) catch phrases Excelsior! And True Believer. Is he evil? No. Shaddy? I’d say yes. He is not the first person to profit off of someone else’s work, and he won’t be the last.  

The reason credit is such an important issue in the comic book industry is because of the amount of work creators put into creating fantastic entertainment. It’s a genuinely collaborative medium, and back in the early days of comics artists were fighting for recognition and fair pay. Even today pencilers, letterers, inkers and colourists are struggling for recognition, while writers are given most of the credit.

It’s important to point out (and this is of course widely debated among fans and pros alike) that you can create a comic without a writer. If the artist is a talented storyteller, you don’t need words to tell a story. A writer without an artist is essentially a short story or script writer. Without pictures with the words, there is no comic book, but so long as there are pictures you have a comic. Jack was proof of this.

At this point you might be thinking this is a pretty one-sided article favouring  Jack Kirby, well it is. If you want to hear Stan’s side, there is no shortage of him talking about how he created the Marvel Universe. Just google search and take you pick of written and video interviews. What I found hard to find when I googled Jack Kirby was his side of the story, and the fact not too many people know about it. People are going to make their own choice on who to believe (at least I hope so).

Many Stan Lee supports say that without Stan there would be no Jack Kirby. They could not be more wrong. Jack had already made a name for himself when he co-created Captain America in 1940 a good 20 years before the start of the Marvel Universe, so it’s not like Jack wasn’t known before being associated with Stan. If anything without Jack Kirby there would be no Stan Lee.

To be fair Stan has been the face of Marvel for a long time, even during bad times when Marvel was on the verge of bankruptcy, his tireless promotion kept marvel in the public eye, and it was also a great benefit for him to so. It seems Stan does nothing that will not help him personally.

Stan has said that the 2016 convention season will be his last, and at the age of 93 I don’t blame him. For anyone wanting to get there Stan Lee comic signed this will be your last chance, but before you rush to your long box or hit up your local comic shop to find some vintage comics of “his” make sure you got enough cash to get each one signed. Yes, the man who “created” much also profits much. Stan is charging  $100 Canadian per signature at Fanexpo Canada (our dollar sucks so I get why it has to be higher) so about $70-80 American. The line usually spans the majority of the convention floor, so we’re talking hours of wait time. The general notion with fans is that his signature will be worth a lot when he eventually passes away, and others just want it for sentimental value and there belief that he created whatever comic there getting signed. To contrast that most creators even legends in the industry charge nothing or a more reasonable fee like 10 or 15 dollars a signature (It’s only reasonable compared to Stan’s fee, I’m not a fan of signature fee’s, in general, i do however understand charging for retailer exclusive variant comics)

The reality is there is no shortage of his signature’s, and unless you get the comic, graded and got the signature verified by a CGC (Certified Guaranty Company) employee in person it’s worth next to nothing. Signatures do not always increase the value of the comic in fact it can hurt the value, what does make a comic valuable is the rarity, and or cultural significance of it. I think once people start to realise Stan had little to do with Jacks creations the less his signature will be worth in the collectors market.

So is Stan Lee the Creator or co- creator of the Marvel Universe? The evidence suggests that he is not either. Jack Kirby and his family never reaped the benefits of his hard work, thankfully after a lengthy battle in the courts recently the family got a settlement out of court and Jack Kirby is starting to get the recognition he deserves even if it is too late. It was Marvel and not the Kirby family who sued. Marvel was suing over the Kirbys termination of copyright assignment they had filed.

I bring this all up just a  before what would have Jack’s 99th birthday (August 28th). It is also nice to see Marvel Acknowledge Kirby by having a week long celebration of his work, although this was probably worked out over the settlement out of court with the Kirby family. Marvel would barely mention him before the lawsuit.

These days I rather hear more about Jack Kirby than Stan Lee, and while I know I didn’t cover all the different variables and topics, it is a very in-depth issue, and I can only hold people’s attention for so long. So perhaps I will do another article on the topic later on down the line.

Happy Birthday to Jack King Kirby The King of Comics.

‘Avengers Infinity War’ May Feature New Characters

If you have been following the Marvel Universe on the big screen, then you may have noticed a trend when it comes to the way they introduce new characters, and that’s in the movie itself, be it in the end after the credits with a piece of the characters costume, or a cameo appearance… And it sounds like we may have another character fall in love with in the Infinity War movie.

The Russo Bros, Joe and Anthony, have been working on the Infinity War and Avengers 4, shooting them back to back, and they have even teased that there may be a little more people for us to ‘marvel’ over (like what I did there?) and so far with each movie they have left people at the edge of their seats, talking and wondering what they will do next and with whom will they bring in. With the last movie, Captain America: Civil War, they gave us the Black Panther and Spiderman. In other movies we met Scarlet Witch (I seriously considered being Scarlet Witch this year for comic con) her brother Quicksilver, and Bucky from Captain America: Winter Soldier, plus our main men starting with the first Iron Man back in 2008.

 

Although they are keeping hush about who they may bring to life this time, they are informing us that this movie Infinity War is supposed to be the climax of the stories so far, and a new beginning which brings the new characters. Anthony Russo tells IGN: “…these two movies are intended to be the culmination of everything that has happened in the MCU since the very first Iron Man movie.”

The Marvel/Avengers world is huge. In the comics it seems at least everyone in there has been an Avenger at least once, including Wolverine, Hercules, Beast, Hellcat, Thing, and so on. We have do have Ant-Man now in Civil War, makes you wonder if his lady friend the Wasp will show up….. I mean they did tease her in the Ant-Man movie…..hmmmm. ^_^

 

Will Shocker Be Another Villain to Join ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’?

So far, Marvel have announced two villains who’ll be joining Spider-Man: Homecoming – The Vulture and The Tinkerer.

However, the movie has been full of rumours that there will be more villains, and the latest rumour says that Shocker will be the latest villain joining the lineup. Not only that but Heroic Hollywood have speculated that Bokeem Woodbine (Fargo, Ray, Total Recall) will be playing the villain. This fits in with the rumours surrounding his casting announcement that he would indeed be playing a villain role.

If Shocker were to appear in Spider-Man: Homecoming, he would definitely be a secondary villain – in the original comics, he’s only in his line of work for the money, and doesn’t seem to have a genuine interest in destroying Spider-Man or taking over the world. His appearance may be brief, but Woodbine certainly has the talent to bring depth and interest to this character.

Spider-Man: Homecoming swings into cinema’s July 7th 2017.

 

 

‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Photos Offer Close Up of Web Shooters

Atlanta Filming decided to treat Spidey fans with a couple of close-up shots of the arachnic-kid’s web shooters from the Spider-Man: Homecoming set.

As revealed in Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man was definitely working with mechanical web-shooters and synthetic webbing for this latest iteration. Whilst fans have always had a solid case for either mechanical webbing or synthetic, synthetic gives Peter Parker limitations, in that he can run out of webbing.

The web shooters this time around have a more slick design, with a black, thin material wrapping around his wrists. They seem much more aerodynamic and less clunky.

You’ll be able to catch Spider-Man: Homecoming on the 7th July 2017.

The Tinkerer Is Cast In ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’

It has been announced that Michael Chernus (Orange is the New Black, People Places Things, Complete Unknown) will be joining the Spider-Man: Homecoming cast as The Tinkerer.

Whilst the Vulture villain reveal had fans suspicious that The Tinkerer would be involved in this reboot of the Spider-Man movie franchise, it’s now been confirmed by Marvel as Chernus takes the role of the brainiac.

Spider-Man: Homecoming will swing into cinemas on July 7th 2017, with Tom Holland (Captain America: Civil War, Billy Elliot the Musical Live, In the Heart of the Sea) reprising his role as the web-slinger.

First Luke Cage Trailer From Netflix

Get excited Marvel fans! Luke Cage is coming.  Netflix release the first trailer for the next Marvel hit series. Check it out:

In the comic book series, Luke Cage is a product of the attempted recreation of the Super-Soldier research that was destroyed when Captain America was born.  Cage emerged with super strength and durability…he’s basically indestructible.  MCU fans got a good dose of Luke Cage in the Netflix series Jessica Jones.  Luke Cage was introduced after the death of his wife and reluctant to let anyone too close to find out about his abilities.  The series will follow what happens to Cage after the events that occurred in Jessica Jones, but also will take a look at Cage’s origin story and how he acquired his abilities.

Following the formula of the Avengers, the MCU has already introduced Daredevil and Jessica Jones.  This will be is the third Marvel/Netflix series that will lead up to another super group of heroes, The Defenders.  After Luke Cage, Netflix will introduce Iron Fist before bringing the group together.

Mike Colter will continue to portray Luke Cage and it looks like we will Rosario Dawson appear in this series as well as Claire Temple.  Dawson also appeared in Daredevil and Jessica Jones.  Other cast to watch are Frankie Faison as Pop,  Theo Rossi  as Shades Alvarez , Alfre Woodard as Mariah Dillard, Simone Missick as Missy Knight, and Mahershala Ali as Cornell Stokes.  It also looks like Krysten Ritter will make an appearance as Jessica Jones in this series as well.  Although it has not been confirmed, there is speculation that Iron Fist portrayed by Finn Jones could possibly make a cameo in the series…MAYBE…

Luke Cage premieres on September 30 on Netflix.

Jeremy Renner has “Some Really Cool Ideas” for Hawkeye in the Future

Friday 29th July – Sunday 31st July 2016 were the official dates of one of London’s biggest and most anticipated conventions – London Film and Comic Con. The Con has played host to some massive names in both the comic book and movie world, and this year was no different, with guests such as various members of the Game of Thrones cast, Famke Janssen (How to Get Away with Murder, X-Men, Hemlock Grove), Jeremy Renner (Thor, The Hurt Locker, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) and several wrestlers, artists and tv/movie stars.

This Saturday featured a panel for Jeremy Renner, with a brief introduction and a few questions from the host – then the rest of the panel was taken to the floor for fan questions.

During these questions, Renner said that he still doesn’t consider himself an action hero. Despite his role as an avenger in the Marvel Studios releases, and his role in a Bourne movie (The Bourne Legacy), Renner says he always prefers the human side of his roles, and doesn’t focus on the action side of things. He then jokingly adds that he agreed to the role of Hawkeye because “he doesn’t fly around, have a suit, armour or lightening arrow – he has no friggin’ superpowers! I can do that!”

Upon being asked the question, would he consider a Bourne crossover with Matt Damon, Renner nodded eagerly and said he’d absolutely love to – but that unfortunately, a decision like this is out of his pay grade.

He also emphasised (when asked if he’s pressured by agents or producers to take particular roles) “I do what I wanna do, always.” He also mentioned that he has no favourite roles he’s ever played as he doesn’t believe in it. Renner says that every role is his favourite role (“or I wouldn’t have taken the job.)

When Jeremy was asked what his most difficult role to play was, he answers without hesitation that it was Jeffery Dahmer (Dahmer, 2002). “It was completely terrifying.” He says, talking sincerely about how difficult it was to get into that sort of headspace when he himself can barely comprehend the horrific crimes that Dahmer committed. He mentions how he worked incredibly hard to find a “way in” to that role, into that human’s headspace, and how he had to find the psychological way in to play him convincingly. And it certainly worked – the film holds mostly mixed to positive reviews, praising Renner for his performance.

On the topic of weirdness, Renner also explains that his strangest fan encounter (“It’s like picking a favourite role. I have a lot of these odd experiences.”) took place at a urinal – involving the person trying to take a selfie with them both at the urinal, and saying “But it’s for my son man!” – Renner says that the statement made the whole thing weirder. So he began using cubicles instead to try and retain privacy, which doesn’t always work. “I see this hand, coming up under the cubicle door, with an iPhone in it. And man.” Renner laughs, all good natured and lively.

A fan then puts their hand up and asks which life he’d prefer his character in The Avengers to live – the stay-at-home family man, or as the hero? Jeremy pauses, then grins and goes “Did you just ask me how I wanna die?” As the crowd laughs, Renner cuts in with “Dies a hero or daddy has a heart attack at home? Come on man!” – and then he says he hasn’t seen Captain America: Civil War yet and asks”Do I die in that?”

Renner then goes on to say that he loves playing Hawkeye, and confesses to the crowd that his role in the first Avenger’s movie (The Avengers/Avenges Assemble), actually made him incredible frustrated. “I was so excited to play this character and then he gets made into a lifeless zombie for the whole movie” – as a result of this, Renner had barely any room to find out more about Clint Barton. He says he prefers the later movies, such as Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War as he had much more screen-time and humanity to explore for the character.

The actor then laughs and says he isn’t done playing Hawkeye yet, so he doesn’t want him to die – he’s got “some real cool, real awesome” ideas coming up (earning a round of applause) – “amazing ways to die.” he quips, nodding to the fan who asked the initial question.

Asked if there’s any chance of a Hawkeye solo movie, Renner responds “it’d be kinda cool – but I don’t make those decisions” – sorry, Hawkeye fans! But maybe a Netflix series..?

Renner is asked more questions about his creative future. When asked if he always wants to just be an actor, or if he’d like to direct, Renner nods very eagerly. He explains he’d love to direct a movie – but when his baby (Ava Berlin) is older. His reason being it’s a huge commitment – that you have to be there “before, during the whole process, there for editing and the cutting room floor, and then all the press and premieres after” – and he wants to wait because his baby comes first.

Finally, the last question of the day is a fan who asks what we’re all waiting for – what more do we have to look forward to from Jeremy Renner? The actor responds that he’s currently working on a science-fiction movie with Amy Adams (Enchanted, American Hustle, Man of Steel) named Arrival. He explains it should be coming out in November, and that it’s a smart, thoughtful and very accessible alien movie, and that he’s very excited for the release.

Overall, it was a very informative and fun panel – despite doing hours worth of photo-shoots with fans in the morning and the afternoon, Jeremy Renner remains active, engaging and totally polite to his fans. He’s been a fantastic addition to the weekend line-up, and fingers crossed he comes back for another year!

@Marie_Silveiraa

Spider-Man: Homecoming, Villan Announced!

Marvel has revealed some news about Spider-Man: Homecoming that isn’t casting news – finally.

At San Diego Comic-Con this weekend, Marvel finally let fans know who the villain of their latest Spider-Man franchise will be, and they revealed it’ll be The Vulture himself.

There were always strong rumours about The Vulture appearing, and that he would be portrayed by Michael Keaton (Birdman, Need for Speed, Batman Returns – 1992), however, these rumours were never confirmed. But with the release of some stunning concept art, we can safely say one and for all that The Vulture is coming.

In the released concept art, you can very clearly see Spidey facing the Vulture – and you can also see he won’t be sporting his usual neon green gown. Instead, what we’re looking as is a dark green, high tech suit, with massive mechanical wings and wicked metal talons.

Those who were lucky enough to see the trailer they release at SDCC this year have also eagerly confirmed that the concept art is accurate to his brief appearance in said trailer.

Rumours do speculate that Vulture’s flight suit is based on technology left behind by the Chitaru after the infamous Battle of New York between Loki’s army and The Avengers in The Avengers/Avengers Assemble. Looking at the construction of the wings in the image, it is not a stretch at all to assume this would be true.

This also lends itself to another rumour that’s been going around – whilst we’re all aware of the rumours that some of the cast are supposedly going to be villains, and one will supposedly be The Tinkerer – this would make plenty of sense as he could A) build the flight suit, and B) The Vulture originally enlists The Tinkerer’s skills in the original comics aswell.

Overall, Spider-Man: Homecoming looks like it’s to be the hit of the summer, with a blend of heavy-hitting fight scenes and teenage perils of homework and high school that will create the Spider-Man movie fans have been begging for. The official synopsis reads;

“A young Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland (Captain America: Civil War, Billy Elliot: The Musical Live, In The Heart of the Sea)), who made his sensational debut in Marvel Studios’ Captain: Civil War, begins to navigate his newfound identity as the web-slinging superhero in Spider-Man: Homecoming.”

Spider-Man: Homecoming is due for release on 7th July 2017, and will star Tom Holland, Robert Downey. Jr (Iron Man, The Judge, Charlie Bartlett), Zendaya, (Shake it Up!, Zapped, Frenemies) Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler, What Women Want, Empire)and many. Many. Many. MANY more.

 

It’s Official! Brie Larson Is Captain Marvel!

Oscar-winning actress Brie Larson has been officially announced as Captain Marvel in the MCU. The ‘Captain Marvel’ film will hit theatres March 8^th 2019 and will be Marvel Studios first solo female superhero film (FINALLY!). Brie was rumoured to be the frontrunner for the role and was officially confirmed at the San Diego Comic Con 2016 at Marvel’s Hall H panel, where she joined Kevin Feige and the cast of Doctor Strange, Black Panther, GOTG Vol. 2 and Spider-man: Homecoming. She also made the announcement on twitter in a photo wearing a Marvel Studios cap saying ‘Call me Captain Marvel.’

Captain Marvel aka Carol Danvers is one of Marvel’s most popular female superheroes. In the comics, Carol Danvers is an air force pilot, who after an accident is exposed to alien DNA and gains powers. She’s had a variety of abilities, such as super-strength, flight and energy projection, but we do not yet know which powers she will have in the movie version.

Brie has previously starred in Room, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, 21 Jump Street and The Spectacular Now. She is currently at SDCC promoting her upcoming film Kong: Skull Island, which also stars Marvel’s Tom Hiddleston (Loki).

If they follow the pattern of previous Marvel characters, we can expect to see a Captain Marvel cameo in an earlier film or post credits scene, she may make her debut in Avengers: Infinity War. Currently, no director has been announced, but its rumoured that Marvel Studios are looking for a female director.

Let us know your thoughts on this casting choice, do you think Brie Larson will make a good Captain Marvel? Skatronixxx.com will keep you updated on all the latest news to come out of SDCC.