Marvel's new 'Spider-Man' is Tom Holland

NEW YORK - Little-known English actor Tom Holland has been picked to play the web-slinging superhero in the next "Spider-Man" film, which is due for release in July 2017, Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios said on Tuesday.

Holland, 19, will play Spider-Man's teenage alter ego Peter Parker as a high-school age student in the upcoming, yet-to-be titled film.

He follows in the footsteps of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, who have portrayed the comic book superhero at older stages of his life in the five previous movies.

Holland played Naomi Watt's son in the 2012 tsunami drama "The Impossible" and recently appeared in the British television miniseries "Wolf Hall."

He was selected after a worldwide casting search to appear in the film that will be directed by Jon Watts.

"We saw many terrific young actors, but Tom's screen tests were special," Tom Rothman, the chairman of Sony Pictures Motion Pictures Group, said in a statement.

News of Holland's selection may disappoint some fans who had said they wanted a black actor to play Spider-Man for the upcoming film.

Walt Disney Co's Marvel Studios will co-produce the film with Sony. Under the agreement announced in February, Spider-Man will appear in the Marvel film, and Marvel characters, such as Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, can appear in later Spider-Man films.

Holland is expected to make his first appearance as Spider-Man in "Captain America: Civil War," which is due for release in summer 2016.

Sony Pictures Entertainment, a division of Sony Corp, will continue to own the cinematic rights to Spider-Man.

Writer Stan Lee and writer/artist Steve Ditko created the fictional superhero character, who first appeared in comics in 1962.

The "Spider-Man" franchise has earned more than $4 billion at the box office worldwide, making it the most successful franchise in the history of Sony Pictures.  — Reuters

Batman v Superman movie takes Comic-Con by storm

Look it’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s Warner Bros. finally giving DC Comics fans what they wanted to see, and through a surprise reveal to boot!

Throughout the entire weekend of the multi-genre pop culture event that was the San Diego Comic-Con, lucky attendees (and the rest of the world via the Internet) were treated to several teasers and promotional items from studios and brands that have upcoming new comics, movies, toys, and hobby stuff for the coming year and beyond.

Among those participating, of course, were Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment, who showcased some pretty amazing things at Comic-Con, especially as this year marks the 75th Anniversary of their Caped Crusading superhero, Batman.

However, despite setting up an awesome Batman 75 display that even featured a look at the new Cape and Cowl that Ben Affleck will wear as the latest Dark Knight, people were more curious about the progress the studio and director Zack Snyder have made so far with their very ambitious yet highly anticipated superhero film – Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Throughout the first few days of the convention, the only official update for the movie was a new picture of Affleck as Batman, which made its way online and showed the Argo director and actor wearing the Batsuit and brooding in a close-up promotional image for the movie.

Also, Batman v Superman was not included in the list of movies Warner Bros. had for their panel presentation, which left plenty of fans concerned as to whether there would be updates on the film during SDCC at all.

But when it came time for the WB panel on Saturday, fans around the world finally got their prayers answered at the beginning of presentation.





In an unexpected turn of events, the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice logo was shown, and Zack Snyder went on stage to introduce a teaser video for the movie! The short video showcased not only a tease of the epic battle to come between The Dark Knight and The Man of Steel, but it was a near perfect recreation, if not homage, of the fight depicted in Frank Miller’s seminal story "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns", in which The Caped Crusader is fully clad in an armored batsuit to take on his fellow Justice League teammate.

The teaser showed Affleck’s Batman suited up very much the same way, but standing beside a shining Batsignal that lights above a very angry looking Superman, once again played by Henry Cavill. The video then ends as Supes flies straight down to combat Bats, with the crowd raving in thunderous applause and approval.

Aside from a showcase of the World’s Finest, the world also got to see the very first look at Fast & Furious franchise star Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. Dressed in full battle gear worthy of the character’s name, Gadot looked very much like an Amazon Warrior who’s ready to face anything, and she’ll certainly have her hands full when she fights side-by-side with Affleck’s Batman and Cavill’s Superman, or do something to quell their battle against one another to bring DC’s Trinity together to stand united for the first time in the big screen.

While it was certainly a tease of big things to come, the panel was arguably the best thing about this year’s installment of SDCC more than anything else. Even panel moderator and comedian Chris Hardwick was excited enough to take a selfie with the stars themselves Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, and Gal Gadot, who were present to just woo the crowd.

However, the team had to leave SDCC soon after to get back to filming the much anticipated sequel to 2013’s Man of Steel right away, but they certainly won over many hearts with what they have shown so far.

 

On a final note and while it hasn’t been released officially by WB on the web, a fan later recreated his version the teaser and posted it online:

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will fly into theaters in May 6, 2016! — JST, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

DC Comics maps out #Batman75 celebration

It’s going to be a big year for fans of Batman, and DC Comics has big plans for their most popular superhero. Celebrating the character’s 75th Anniversary this year, the publisher has officially unveiled a new commemorative logo to honor the milestone, as well as opening up an official “Batman 75” website to indulge visitors with every kind of material related to The Dark Knight.

Announcing via an official press release in their official website, DC has laid out their plans for Batman’s 75th Anniversary celebration. Chief among these is announcing various comics highlighting the occasion, including the recently released “Detective Comics #27” anniversary issue and the upcoming new “Batman: Eternal” weekly series. Also being promoted is this fall’s final entry to the Batman Arkham video game series by Rocksteady Studios – Batman: Arkham Knight, as well as the upcoming DC Universe Animated Original Movie entries “Son of Batman” and “Assault on Arkham”, which both spotlight The Dark Knight and his stories adapted from the comics.

The character recently underwent a renaissance in cinema as well, thanks to Christopher Nolan’s vision with the highly acclaimed “Dark Knight Trilogy” of films starring Christian Bale in the titular role. 2014 also commemorates two gems in the Caped Crusader’s media legacy - namely the 25th Anniversary of Tim Burton’s seminal 1989 “Batman” movie, and the long-awaited release of the Adam West Batman ’66 TV Series in DVD format for the very first time. Warner Bros. Animation is also producing two new Batman animated shorts with producer Bruce Timm and Darwyn Cooke, as is Warner Bros. Television developing a new “Gotham” TV Series for FOX exploring the adventures of a rookie cop James Gordon and a young Bruce Wayne. Finally, the company is also gearing for The Dark Knight’s inevitable clash with the Man of Steel in cinema with the as-of-yet untitled “Batman Vs Superman” movie for 2016.

First appearing in the pages of Detective Comics #27 released on March 30, 1939, the character then known as “The Bat-Man” was mysterious vigilante who fought criminals by wearing a cape and cowl and using gadgetry to dispatch his foes. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger following the popularity of Superman, this caped crusading hero was secretly billionaire Bruce Wayne, who lost his parents at a young age to a petty criminal with a gun. Dedicating his life to perfecting his body and mind, Bruce traveled the world and honed his body to its utmost limits. Returning to his hometown of Gotham City, he adopted the symbol of a Bat, and hunted the cowardly and superstitious who preyed on the innocent.

Batman proved very popular among readers, and soon spotlighted Detective Comics and got his own ongoing series with his name on it. For many years the Dark Knight has fought a one-man war against crime, using his mastery of martial arts, detective skills, and an arsenal of non-lethal weapons to combat an army of supercriminals such as The Joker, Scarecrow, and Mr. Freeze. He soon found allies to his cause however, and forged strong partnerships with the likes of Robin The Boy Wonder, Commissioner Gordon, Batgirl, and Nightwing. Batman’s crusade also paired him with other superheroes, and he soon became a founding member of the Justice League, fighting alongside the likes of Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Green Lantern.

When DC Comics relaunched their comic book line in 2011 with The New 52, Batman was among the few heroes to retain most portions of his character history. However, he soon had many adventures that saw new concepts to his background and origin established, particularly in the current “Zero Year” storyline by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo.  Adding to the 75th Anniversary milestone, DC Comics has also announced that July 23 will be “Batman Day”, with retail and comic book stores globally celebrating the Caped Crusader’s day by offering a special Batman comic absolutely free.

With new comics and media on the horizon, it truly is the “Year of the Bat”, and with an everlasting symbol and legacy that’s mostly recognizable worldwide, The Dark Knight has many more adventures to come even after all is said and done. — TJD, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Marvel unveils Muslim superhero

NEW YORK - Move over Black Widow and step aside She-Hulk: Marvel Comics is introducing a new superhero—a 16-year-old Muslim-American girl named Kamala Khan, to reflect the growing diversity of its readers.

The character, who will be the new Ms. Marvel, lives with her conservative Pakistani parents and brother in New Jersey. She will make her debut in January and appear in a monthly series starting on Feb. 6.

"It is so important that we tell stories that reflect the ever-changing world that we live in and being a Muslim-American is so much a part of that," said Sana Amanat, the series editor, who also worked on Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men comic books.

Although the inspiration for the new series came from a desire to explore the Muslim-American experience, she said it isn't about what it means to be a Muslim, Pakistani or American.

"It is about a young girl who is figuring out who she is and what happens when these really extraordinary things happen to her," she added in an interview.

Khan is a big comic book fan and after she discovers her superhuman power - being a polymorph and able to lengthen her arms and legs and change her shape - she takes on the name of Ms. Marvel. The title had previously belonged to Carol Danvers, a character Khan had always had admired.

"It pays homage to the legacy character," said Amanat.




POSITIVE RESPONSE

The idea for the new superhero stemmed from a casual conversation Amanat had with her senior editor, Steve Wacker, about her own experiences growing up as a Muslim-American.

"He was interested in the dilemma I faced as a young girl and the next day he came in and said, 'Wouldn't it be great to have a superhero that was for all the little girls that grew up just like you, and who are growing up just like you are today, and to create a character they can be inspired by,'" Amanat said.

Writer G. Willow Wilson, a convert to Islam, and artist Adrian Alphona are the team working on the project, which started about 18 months ago.

Wilson said she wrote the character as a true-to-life person so that people, particularly young women, can relate to her.

Khan experiences the usual teenage angst, feelings of confusion and being an outsider, dealing with the expectations of her parents and problems at high school.

"It's for all the geek girls out there, and everybody else who's ever looked at life on the fringe," Wilson said in a statement.

Kahn is not the first Muslim-American character in the superhero world, which has been largely dominated by white males, but Amanat said she is being pushed to the forefront of the Marvel universe.

"People have been mostly positive about it," she said, adding that the real test will come early next year when the series begins.

Amanat believes the options for the new character, and others like her, are limitless.

"We are always trying to upend expectations to an extent but our point is to always reflect the world outside our window, and we are looking through a lot more windows right now," she said. (Editing by Mary Milliken and Eric Walsh. ) — Reuters

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/video/183024/marvel-comics-introduces-muslim-superhero

source: gmanetwork.com