Comic Book Pop Culture Updates

Just a few updates on comic book related pop culture news.

According to Sci-Fi Wire, Terminator 4 is planned, and they're calling it Terminator Salvation: The Future. But "governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will definitely not be in the movie or any of the contemplated sequels in what is expected to be a new trilogy of films. " The man behind the Bat mask, Christian Bale, is officially cast, and rumor has it he'll be taking the roll of John Connor. And don't forget about the Sarah Connor Chronicles series, set to start this coming Sunday on your local FOX station.


Coming this March to Kids WB on CW is The Spectacular Spider-Man animated series. According to comicbookmovie.com: The series takes place during 16-year-old Parker’s junior year of high school. After spending the summer before honing his skills as Spider-Man, Parker will have to face the challenges of concealing his secret identity while facing off against powerful super-villains like Green Goblin and Venom. You can click here to see some sneak previews of the series.


Speaking of animation, you are already familiar with Marvel's direct-to-DVD animated movies from 2007. This year the first announcement for Marvel is New Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow. The animation style looks to be made for a younger crowd (pictured) than the movies from last year. It will be directed by Gary Hartle and written by Christopher Yost.

DC only has the Superman D2DVD movie to their line-up so far, but the Justice League: New Frontier will be out very soon. Their next film is going to be Batman: Gotham Knights. For now it looks like the movie will be a filler between Batman Begin and Batman the Dark Knight.

Both films are scheduled to release in July. More information here.


And finally, according to superheroflix.com, Universal Studios no longer has the Marvel license. It expired at the end of 2007. What this means: No more Marvel characters, rides or merchandise at the park.

Oh, I can't forget - check out this week's issue of Sequential Tart. We've got a great bit on web comics. And I review 3 great comics that came out this week in the Reviews section.

Posting Anyway

Yeah, I know that in my last post I said I was off and wouldn't post, but I'm doing it anyway. Craig's playing Halo and I'm doing laundry, so while the clothes go 'round I decided to type a bit.

We saw Beowulf in 3-D today. WOW! I would recommend it to anyone. I thought the quality and detail of the experience was amazing. Personally, now that I've seen it in 3-D, I'd say that watching it on a regular screen is a waste of money. If you have a theater in your area playing it in 3-D and you are deciding if you want to see it, I recommend checking it out. This is the next generation in movie viewing technology.

I found some promo posters on-line for Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles. Notice that the woman playing Sarah is the same actor that played Queen Gorgon in 300 (Lena Heady). You might also notice the robot looking gal - yes, she played River in Serenity and Firefly. (Summer Glau). The show is scheduled to begin on Fox on January 13th. I'm not sure how long it will last because 1. Fox doesn't give shows much more than a few episodes to succeed before they shut it down and 2. Writer's strike and then actor's strike - I don't know how many episodes they filmed already. But, it does sound like an interesting premise and I will be checking it out when it premieres.

Rumored bits of the Justice League movie are leaking onto the 'net. Also rumored that the formal cast announcement might be made at Wizard World Texas. Who, you're saying, WHO! Well, here they are: Superman: Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights); The Flash: Adam Brody (The O.C.); Green Lantern: Common (Smokin' Aces). It was rumored that Teresa Palmer (Wolf Creek)was going to be Wonder Woman, but they say that now it looks like she'll be Talia al Ghul instead.



J.J. Abrams "Cloverfield" movie now has images available on-line, courtesy of Blackbook. I hear they were showing a trailer before Beowulf, but it must be the regular, not 3-D version.



A former Marvel editor, Andy Schmidt, is starting his own company where he will help future comic book creators. He is not only offering classes on writing and art, but also on networking, run a business, etc. Interesting! Read more about it on Newsarama here, or just check out his web site. Personally, I think this is a great idea and probably a much-needed service.

OK. That's it. I've gotta go see if my laundry is dry.