JLA: Wonder Woman

The first JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA casting announcement has appeared online, courtesy of Clint Morris at Moviehole. They received word that Teresa Palmer has landed the role of Wonder Woman for the upcoming project. The Adelaide-based newspaper, Advertiser, has also published the same story this morning confirming the casting news. The actress was one of the candidates mentioned in the auditioning list report on October 14, 2007. Palmer's credits (Grudge 2, December Boys & Wolf Creek) may have helped her nudge out the other competition, Minka Kelly and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

Other roles that need to be filled by George Miller and Warner Bros include: Superman, Batman, Flash, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman and The Green Lantern.

Captain America Returns in January 08

Captain America is coming back! But Marvel makes clear - it's not Steve Rogers. He's still dead.

The top image is a 50/50 variant cover for Captain America #34, due in January. As for what the costume is all about? It's the return of Captain America - or "a" Captain America. Writer Ed Brubaker reveals that he'd long had the idea of a new Cap debuting in January of the year following his death, and just mentioned that Marvel should get Alex Ross to design the new look.
Desires and wishes have become reality, apparently. And yes - this Cap has a knife and a gun. And a chest emblem that's reminiscent of Cap's original triangular shield. As for who's in it...well, that one secret's not being revealed. Until January.

One interesting aspect of this new design will be the public's reaction to this iconic symbol of America - a character who in the past fought symbolically armed only with a shield and his fists and who famously was depicted punching out Adolph Hitler with his bare knuckles - now arming himself with a handgun and hunting knife. The gun is a throwback to the movie serial days of Cap, when he did pack heat to take out bad guys, but in regards to the weapons - will they be regarded as a sign of the times or just another superhero story?

Wonder Woman?

Aussie born actress Victoria Hill has auditioned for the role of Wonder Woman in the upcoming JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA film, says Moviehole. It's not a guarantee that she will get the part but it's worth passing along to you readers just to see what you think of her suiting up as the Amazonian superhero. Casting continues also for Batman, Superman, Aquaman, Flash and Green Lantern. Warner Bros is fast tracking this film into production in hopes of getting it filmed pre-June 2008 strike. Here's the report from Moviehole...
The starlet, currently seen in the Village Roadshow release "December Boys," has tested for the role of Wonder Woman.Now that doesn't mean she's in the running or a contender – you'd have to be a fly on the wall in the casting director's office to get wind of how she went, obviously – but she did read for the Amazonian princess.

JLA News

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA news: While George Miller(Happy Feet) was confirmed as director by the trades this week, Robert asked a few sources at Warner Bros. about Tom Welling still having the role of Supes. Disheartening though it may be for some fans, he's completely out of the running for the alter ego he portrays on the CW channel...Rob's confirmed that he's trying to find out the exact reasons this deal fell through.. Also mentioned is the fact that Brandon Routh has been in contact with WB in the past week. This doesn't mean that Routh will be putting on the outfit again for the JLA movie. The contact could have been from WB relaying the fact that SUPERMAN: MAN OF STEEL has been placed on an indefinite hold status for the foreseeable future. The studio could have been contacting Singer, Routh, Spacey (confirmed parties) to notify them of the decision rather then letting them find out from an impending Variety article. These are the confirmed facts for the upcoming JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA film: 1. Director: George Miller 2. Screenwriters: Kieran and Michele Mulroney 3. Warner Bros has confirmed that this film will not connect in the same universe as the seperate Batman and Superman franchises 4. Warner Bros has confirmed that Bale and Routh will not play the roles for Bats and Supes. 5. Warner Bros has confirmed they want JLA filmed before the impending strike in June 2008. Casting has begun already and filming will begin by early 2008. 6. Warner Bros has confirmed they want JLA in theaters by summer 2009. 7. Warner Bros has confirmed that the film will feature the following characters: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern. 8. Warner Bros has confirmed that they hope JLA will serve as a launching pad for seperate Wonder Woman & Flash film franchises. Just to put it in perspective, readers, these are the 8 points we know for sure in regards to the film. They are confirmed. As we have seen above, the Tom Welling bit has fallen through and we should probably treat any rumors of Ryan Gosling being on top of a short list of Bats contenders in the same respect until we have definitive confirmation. Most likely, this same attitude should be given with Ryan Reynolds as the Flash no matter how long he has been rumored to be in for the role..As Robert says in the link above, don't go shouting off your rooftops that Gosling is the next Bats no matter what the various sources at WB have said on the subject... But enough about what we have confirmations about, it's time to open this conversation to you readers. How would you like this film to be approached in respect to the other WB owned properties? Who do you see playing the roles of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash & Green Lantern even if you know we're probably getting unknowns. Which storylines do you see for the JLA movie? Are you excited? Are you hesitant? Share your thoughts...

JLA Recast Superman/Batman

Christian Bale will not be part of any JLA movie from Warner Bros. In fact, both Brandon Routh and Christian Bale will not be reprising their roles in the coming adaptation of the JUSTICE LEAGUE film. Casting will begin as early as next week for the film which Warner Bros wants in theaters by Summer 2009. The roles of Batman & Superman are both central to the story of the film and they will be recast.
As far as the other characters appearing in the film, these are the current confirmed characters; Superman, Batman, the Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman and the Green Lantern.
More may appear by the time of final cut (George Miller is directing the adaptation.) but the characters named above are "confirmed". As I said, casting will begin over the next few weeks and there are rumors that some key roles are already filled..The Ryan Reynolds rumor as "Flash" may be one of them.
JUSTICE LEAGUE will hit theaters for Warner Bros around Summer 2009

THOR

It seems that the alumni of HBO's ROME are branching out into top roles 7 months after the show left the airwaves. Stephanie Sanchez at IESB is reporting that actor Kevin McKidd (who portrayed Lucius Vorenus) is rumored to be in the top spot as the new THOR. This comes days after Matthew Vaughn was tapped to direct the adaptation of the comic series and a few weeks after his co-star, Ray Stevenson (who portrayed friend Titus Pullo), was grabbed as the new PUNISHER. Scribe Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend) inked the script.
No confirmation has been given yet.

Johnny Quest

A few months after JETSONS was announced as prepped for a live action adaptation and long time after SPEED RACER began production, another 60s toon is coming to the big screen courtesy of Warner Bros. Variety is reporting that the studio will be adapting the old Hanna Barbera toon, JONNY QUEST, for a live action version set for the theater sometime in the very near future. Even though the show only lasted one year in 1964 as a primetime slotted program, it had quite a large following in later years being revived in the 80s and having a DC comic named after it.

JLA Director?

Rumor Mill: Mad Max director George Miller is lined up to direct the Warner Brothers upcoming film, JLA (Justice League of America). Thanks to the wild success of many recent superhero films, Warner is fast-tracking the project for a quick release date. So far, neither side will confirm the gossip.
Also rumored: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Green Lantern will all have a spot in the movie,.. and at least one major superhero is will meet his end in the film. What's really unclear to us for now is, will the stories tie-in with The Dark Knight and the next Superman movie, or will this be a separate storyline entirely?

Official Dark Knight Teaser

Hex On Big Screen

Warner Bros. Pictures has hired Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor to write the big screen version of the comicbook JONAH HEX.
The story created by Jonah Hex created by John Albano and artist Tony DeZuniga, centers on Hex, known for having the right side of his face disfigured and wearing a Confederate army uniform, who is a rough-and-tumble gunslinger and part-time bounty hunter whose adventures always ended in blood.
Andrew Lazar and Akiva Goldsman will produce HEX, which will not simply be a Western but rather more of a tale about the character of Jonah Hex with some of the supernatural overtones in the hopes of creating a franchise.

Punisher

Ray Stevenson (Hbo's ROME, KING ARTHUR) has been selected to become the new PUNISHER directed by Lexi Alexander. He's filling in the shoes of Thomas Jane who starred as the character in the 2004 movie.

Watchmen Update

According to veteran scooper El Mayimbe over at Latino Review, actress Malin Ackerman has been selected to play Sally Jupiter aka The Silk Spectre in WATCHMEN. Director Zack Snyder (300) is currently working on fleshing out the big screen adaptation of Alan Moore & Dave Gibbon's comic creation. The film will be based on the acclaimed 1986-1987 12 issue comic book mini-series (and subsequent graphic novel) written by Alan Moore with art by Dave Gibbons.
Ackerman's "Silk Spectre" character will be living alongside the previous official casting thus far, Billy Crudup's "Dr. Manhattan" character.

Two-Face

Aaron Eckhart, already confirmed in the role of Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight, will in fact be taking that role right over to the dark side. This film will see Harvey Dent make the transformation from good guy, to mega-criminal as his alter-ego, Two-Face, takes over.
Though Two-Face made an appearance in Batman Forever, courtesy of Tommy Lee Jones, Eckhart (Thank You For Smoking) plans to make this version of the character his own. "What somebody else did is what somebody else did," he said. "In soap operas you're willing to believe that...a character can come back to life. Basically, you just want that guy on screen. You don't care what happened before. It's like balance. I mean J.R. [Ewing from 'Dallas'] could come back today and nobody would care. I mean nobody would care about the logistics of him coming back. So I don't think people are going to get hung up on my performance versus Tommy Lee's. It's just two different things." Eckhart also said that his character might get your sympathies this time around, saying he "has likeable attributes, characteristics. . . It's really a mirror of our times in a lot of ways. It's a comment on what's going on in the world today."
But he won't be Batman's only problem - the movie isn't even out yet, but the Joker is already pulling pranks, posting silly websites that fans can't seem to get enough of. The film is set to premiere in theaters next July.

The Watchmen: For Those Who Didn't Know

"Watchmen is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the 'Doomsday Clock' -- which charts the USA¹s tension with the Soviet Union -- is permanently set at five minutes to midnight. When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the washed-up but no less determined masked vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes...
As he reconnects with his former crime-fighting legion -- a ragtag group of retired superheroes, only one of whom has true powers -- Rorschach glimpses a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future. Their mission is to watch over humanityŠbut who is watching the Watchmen?"
The film, to be directed by 300's Zack Snyder, is targeted for 2009

Iron Man Rumors Put to Rest?

IRON MAN director Jon Favreau has finally addressed some rumors surrounding the coming installment of Tony Stark. As most of you fans heard, AICN posted two weeks ago that Samuel L Jackson will be appearing as Nick Fury in IRON MAN. Well, Favreau put an update on his myspace page addressing that rumor along with Hillary Swank appearing in the film.

Stan the Man on Walk of Fame

Stan Lee, one of the true fathers of the modern-day superhero, is set to be recognized with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Lee created the blockbuster characters of Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, The X-Men, Fantastic Four, and many others...

Some of the other inductees for 2008 include the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Angela Bassett, Howie Mandel, Christina Aguilera, Brooks & Dunn, Cate Blanchett, The Munchkins, and Vince McMahon. The names were announced last Wednesday by Johnny Grant, the honorary mayor of Hollywood. Stars may be awarded to people involved with television, live theater, film, or the recording industry. Honorees are chosen by the Walk of Fame Committee, and ratified by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

Iron-Clad Cast

A first glimpse of the Iron Man characters has hit the web courtesy of Entertainment Weekly. This will be how the characters "look" in the upcoming Iron Man which hits theaters next May.
In the photo you can see:
Robert Downey Jr. aka Tony Stark
Gwyneth Paltrow aka Pepper Potts (his administrative assistant)
Terence Howard aka Jim Rhodes (his friend/bodyguard & Future iron-suit wearer)
Jeff Bridges aka Obadiah Stane (Iron Monger)

Justice League Script

From Maina.com What's even more impressive than the script for the Justice League movie being finished? According to Variety, Warner Bros actually likes the first draft script that was given to them from scribes Kieran Mulroney and Michele Mulroney. That can only be good news for the fans eagerly awaiting the adaptation to the big screen.
There are still questions though.
As we know, the Nolans & Batman: The Dark Knight is currently filming already for a summer 2008 release. Bryan Singer is also working towards getting a sequel to Superman Returns in theaters by summer 2009. So the question remains on timing between all these factors for the upcoming Justice League movie.
I wish Warner Bros thought this one ahead of time before opening the doors of crossing over the characters. I still say it would have been perfect for Bale to have a scene in Superman Returns (especially when he's plastered all over the television upon saving the plane.). Singer did mention Gotham in the movie but that's about it. We can still hold out hope that Warner Bros will get the audience prepared by having Superman at least be "mentioned" in The Dark Knight.
Whatever the case, there are a lot of factors still in play for a Justice League movie to get off the production floor. Still great news to see the script finished and Warner Bros approving of it.

The Bat's New Suit

EW.com has posted an exclusive first look at Batman’s new Batsuit. Bruce Wayne will sporting a new-and-improved getu. The film's costume designer Lindy Hemming gives EW a first look and discusses its features.
THE DARK KNIGHT hits theaters on July 18, 2008.

Loads of Super-Hero News

SILVER SURFER SPIN-OFF
The Los Angeles Times is reporting that writer J. Michael Straczynski is currently working on a script for a Silver Surfer spinoff. 20th Century Fox is apparently interested in a "darker direction to attract the slightly older demographic of its X-MEN films." Recently Straczynski wrote fifteen issues of FANTASTIC FOUR for Marvel Comics. He also wrote SILVER SURFER: REQUIEM, and three more are being worked on.

MARVEL PRODUCTIONS - CAPTAIN AMERICA, SUB-MARINER AND MORE
Kevin Feige, president of production for Marvel Studios and producer of the upcoming Iron Man movie, revealed that the company's next independently financed project will be a version of CAPTAIN AMERICA, which would mix a period story with a modern-day one. "We'll have to play with Captain America as being a patriotic propoganda machine on one hand but also being a very human Steve Rogers, ... [an] interesting, fascinating hero in his own right," Feige told reporters on the set of IRON MAN, which is in production in Playa Vista, Calif. Is the script they're developing a period piece? "Right now what we're developing would be about half and half," Feige said. Feige said that CAPTAIN AMERICA will aim for a PG-13 rating, like IRON MAN. The comic studio has brought on writer David Self (Road to Perdition) to draft a screenplay. A director will be announced soon, Feige said. Production is expected to begin in a year. Marvel, meanwhile, is gearing up production on THE INCREDIBLE HULK, which stars Edward Norton and is expected to commence principal photography on or around July 9, about the same time that IRON MAN, starring Robert Downey Jr., wraps. Marvel is also moving ahead on other productions, Feige said. Among them: SUB-MARINER, on which Jonathan Mostow is doing a rewrite of Self's script; PUNISHER 2, for which the studio would like to announce a director and actor soon; THOR, for which Mark Protosevich (The Cell) is drafting a script; and WOLVERINE, which will again star Hugh Jackman and will be released before the other X-Men spinoff, MAGNETO, which David S. Goyer will direct.

AVENGERS
Marvel Studios has begun the process of bringing the elite superhero team the AVENGERS to the big screen, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Zak Penn, who wrote the screenplay for Marvel's upcoming THE INCREDIBLE HULK, is slated to pen the live- action adaptation that would be titled THE AVENGERS. While Penn has not begun his screenplay, those who have read the Mulroneys' draft give it a thumbs-up, and a search for directors is about to begin. One challenge facing the writers is which heroes to include in their scripts. While the roster for the AVENGERS has changed since its inception in 1963, growing to include the likes of Spider-Man and X-Men hero Wolverine, the classic iteration of the team consisted of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the diminutive Ant-Man and Wasp. Other members have been the Hulk, the bow-and-arrow-wielding Hawkeye and the probability-altering gypsy Scarlet Witch. Many of these heroes are getting their own starring portrayals in other movies, with Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk scheduled for a summer start. Ant-Man is being developed by Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz). Marvel wants to wait until all those films have entered the market before unleashing THE AVENGERS.

JUSTICE LEAGUE
Warner Brothers Pictures is developing its superhero superteam movie, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, with Kieran Mulroney and Michele Mulroney having submitted a draft adapting the DC Comics series.