Comic Book Movie has pics of the final design for Kilowog from the upcoming Martin Campbell/Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern movie. It looks pretty cool. The question is, will we have Gollum or Jar Jar? Gollum—for me—integrated seamlessly into the movie. I totally believed in his actual existence. Jar Jar was an obvious CGI addition to me.

It may have been the quality of the films more than the technology, I don’t know, but I really hope Kilowog (and any other alien GLs we get to see) are more Gollum than Jar Jar.

And even more than obvious CGI-ness, let’s hope he doesn’t resemble an offensive racial stereotype.

Yes, Jar Jar, I do mean you.

You can’t see the pic at Comic Book Movie, but it is still available at Screen Rant. For now.

Edgar Wright is pretty much a golden boy. I haven’t seen Scott Pilgrim yet (and likely won’t until it hits DVD), but everything I’ve read about it make me think cool! So Mr. Wright talking some Ant-Man movie is pretty sweet.

Seems there’s a second draft of the script in the works, Wright has been a fan of Ant-Man for some time now, and he sees it as a “high-tech spy heist film” with a “bad-ass secret agent.”

Huh.

I was kind of hoping we’d get something like the Irredeemable Ant-Man, though I guess that is still possible, especially since Mr. Irredeemable (Ant-Man to his friends) is now on the Secret Avengers, doing black-ops type stuff.

I do think that if Wright does deliver an Ant-Man film, it’ll be hot. However, I prophesy that I probably won’t see it until it hits DVD—unless it’s released after the time that my second daughter hits kindergarten. That’s when I start to take my life back.

Maybe.

The Vanity Fair article with Edgar Wright can be found here.

Information on Ant-Man at Wikipedia, here.

And the Iredeemable one himself, Eric O’Grady, here.

If you like spy or special operations stuff, I think you’ll dig Hard Graft, a webcomic. I read a bunch of it over lunch, and I’m ordering the book.

Yes, I’m going to pay for a physical copy of something I read free over the internet. Why would I do that? So Peter Vine et al continue to put it out.

You can find Hard Graft here.

I don’t know how long it will be up but there is a trailer for Thor available on the Tubes.

I got wood.

My only complaint: too many car explosions.

And please, please don’t let Odin actually die. Anthony Hopkins as Odin (and the stuff he delivers in this trailer) is just too awesome to end here. Let it be a trick to force Thor into proving himself.

Also? The “Padme? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” scene (you know what I mean). A little irony sauce due to Padme being in the movie.

Still, overall? Me like. My optimisim just shot up an extra 100%.

The pic’s been out there for a bit, but I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents. Shocking, from someone who maintains a blog, eh? (Though I use the term “maintains” loosely these days)

I know there is at least one person out there who is going to see this and say: “He’s not big enough to play Thor.” That person does not read this blog, but if he did, I’d just have to tell him that on this topic—as on others—we’re going to have to agree to disagree, because this pic tells me that Chris Hemsworth is absolutely big enough to play Thor.

The costumes and sets that have been revealed seem to rub some people in the IntarSphere the wrong way. I have to admit to being somewhat unenthused, but it’s also hard to tell how it’ll look on the screen. The costumes for Hogan the Grim and Fandral the Dashing—seen in the throne room pic—are excellent.

My optimism and enthusiasm remain undimmed. I trust Kenneth Branagh more than any other director working today. Even if he delivers something less than a masterpiece, he is going to deliver something outstanding—see Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for proof positive.

I have to admit that I don’t mind the look of Jason Momoa as Conan. I have no opinion on his acting skills, or any other criteria for taking on the lead role in the upcoming Conan movie. Now pics are out that show Momoa as Conan, and I am still happy with the look.

The plot and characters, based on what’s out in the media, pretty much leave me cold . . . as a Conan movie, that is, though were this some other sword & sorcery production—even set in Conan’s Hyboria—I’d be cautiously excited. It’s the fact that they continue to ignore the core of the Conan mythos—the Robert E. Howard stories—and seem more intent on revisiting the Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle. Meh.

The pictures are at Screenrant, here.

There have been lots of great photos of the Thor movie hitting the intartubes recently. Not all of them fill me with excitement, but I’m still optimistic. I was hearing a lot of the techno-mythic feel of the costuming, and everything I’ve seen so far fits that description.

But honestly, that doesn’t worry me too much. I’m not going to rave about the costuming we’ve seen for Thor, Odin, and Loki, although I have to say that the throne room looks pretty cool. I will say that I can live with the costuming decisions, and might actually grow to love them if this movie kicks ass.

Considering it is being directed by Kenneth “Fuckin’ Awesome!” Branagh, I have high hopes.

High. Hopes.

And if you piss on those, Hollywood, I may have to do something drastic. Like post a stern article.

You have been warned.

Image of Thor, Odin, and Loki here.

Image of the throne room here.

In case you haven’t seen it yet—and if you haven’t, you either don’t really care or have been buried alive for the last few days—the trailer for Red is out.

I’ve already written that I’ve come to terms with adaptations, and this one specifically. In this case, I don’t even really count it as an adaptation. Other than the title, some character names, and the very general concept of the original, this has very little in common with the graphic novel.

As even Warren Ellis himself has stated, this is not necessarily a bad thing. What would a film version of the original have looked like? Good question, in light of what Mr. Ellis discusses about comic book page length and movie run time (hint, there’s not enough in the 4 issues of Red to actually make a movie).

Divesting this movie from its relationship to the graphic novel is very easy. They’ve even postulated that the title is an acronym for some kind of cutesy designation.

They took something very, very dark and cynical and made it relatively light and frothy.

Which may sound like a condemnation, but it’s not. It is simply an observation.

I’m looking forward to this, but I don’t think it is something that screams to be seen in the theatre—at least not for me. Once it’s on DVD, though, I’ll be sure to check it out.

Remembering that this is about Paul Moses’ brother, Frank.

To read a previous post I made about Red, go here.

To read Warren Ellis’ thoughts on it, go here.

I haven’t seen the new Conan movie, nor the script for it. What I have read, leads me to believe that the writers hadn’t read Robert E Howard’s works. Maybe they thought they could do a better job, in which case, my money is on the fact that they are very, very wrong.

So wrong.

Now Marvel is handing these guys Dr. Strange to adapt.

I probably should be excited because I like the Dr. Strange character. I always have. Maybe it’s that fantasy mixed with supers that I like—y’know, two great tastes and all that. If these guys do to Dr. Strange what they have done to Conan, I’m going to be pissed. As I said about Conan—go ahead and use all the mythology, use the setting, but if you are going to ignore the character and his history and make up your own, why use the characters name.

The good thing is, Marvel has already taken care of that for them.

These guys can write the script for Brother Voodoo, Sorcerer Supreme!

Besides, I already know a guy that can write the Dr. Strange script. That is, if it’s not me.

The news article is here.

My comments on the Conan script are here.

I remember Neal McDonough as Lt. Hawk from First Contact. Not the meatiest of roles, but hey, he was in Trek. Then I saw him in Band of Brothers. As with all the performances in that mini-series, outstanding! So I’m always excited when I see his name attached to a movie (or the names of Damian Lewis and Ron Livingstone).

Now I’ve said before that I am a little bit anxious with Joe Johnstone taking on Captain America, but having Neal McDonough attached as “Dum Dum” Dugan turns my interest up to at least simmer (from lukewarm). The thing is, if Neal McDonough is playing Dum Dum, this is not the Dum Dum I remember from Sgt. Fury’s Howlin’ Commandos. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

I do wonder if this means they are divorcing Dum Dum from Nick Fury, which would kind of be sad, or if Dugan is only in the present. I can’t see them using Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury in WWII.