We finally have our first official look at Spider-Man in the newest “Captain America: Civil War” trailer and Team Cap is definitely in for some trouble! Check it out:
So what do you think of the new Spider-Man?
Marvel Studios has begun principal photography at Pinewood Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” which is slated to hit U.S. theaters on May 5, 2017. The production will shoot at Atlanta’s Pinewood Studios.
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” is written and directed by James Gunn (“Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Slither”). The film marks the return of the original Guardians, including Chris Pratt (“Jurassic World,” “Guardians of the Galaxy”) as Peter Quill/Star-Lord; Zoe Saldana (“Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Star Trek Into Darkness”) as Gamora; Dave Bautista (“Spectre,” “Guardians of the Galaxy”) as Drax; Vin Diesel (“Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Furious 7”) as the voice of Groot; Bradley Cooper (“Joy,” “American Sniper”) as the voice of Rocket; Michael Rooker (“Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Jumper”) as Yondu; Karen Gillan (“Guardians of the Galaxy,” “The Big Short”) as Nebula; and Sean Gunn (“Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Gilmore Girls”) as Kraglin. New cast members include Pom Klementieff (“Oldboy”), Elizabeth Debicki (“The Great Gatsby,” “Everest”), Chris Sullivan (“The Knick,” “The Drop”) and Kurt Russell (“The Hateful Eight,” “Furious 7”).
Set to the all-new sonic backdrop of Awesome Mixtape #2, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” continues the team’s adventures as they unravel the mystery of Peter Quill’s true parentage.
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” is produced by Marvel Studios’ president, Kevin Feige, with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Jonathan Schwartz, Nik Korda and Stan Lee serving as executive producers.
Director James Gunn’s creative team also includes director of photography Henry Braham (“The Legend of Tarzan,” “The Golden Compass”); production designer Scott Chambliss (“Star Trek,” “Tomorrowland”); editors Fred Raskin (“The Hateful Eight,” “Guardians of the Galaxy”) and Craig Wood (“Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”); composer Tyler Bates (“Guardians of the Galaxy,” “John Wick”); three time Oscar®-nominated costume designer Judianna Makovsky (“Captain America: Civil War,” “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”); Oscar®-nominated visual effects supervisor Chris Townsend (“Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Iron Man 3”); stunt coordinator Tommy Harper (“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” ); co-producer / first assistant director Lars Winther (“Captain America: Civil War,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”); and six-time Oscar® nominee, special effects supervisor Dan Sudick (“Captain America: Civil War,” “The Avengers”).
The original “Guardians of the Galaxy” was a hit with critics and audiences alike, earning over $770 million at the worldwide box-office, and holds the record as the most successful debut film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In addition, the film’s soundtrack went platinum and was nominated for a Grammy®.
Based on the Marvel comic characters first published in 1969, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ” continues the lineage of epic big-screen adventures chronicled in “Iron Man,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Iron Man 2,” “Thor,” “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “The Avengers,” “Iron Man 3,” “Thor: The Dark World,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Ant-Man,” and the upcoming release schedule, which includes “Captain America: Civil War” on May 6, 2016; “Doctor Strange,” November 4, 2016; “Spider-Man,” July 7, 2017; and “Thor: Ragnarok” on November 3, 2017.
Marvel Studios continued its unprecedented success in 2015 with the release of “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” At the time of release, the film recorded the second biggest opening weekend of all time with a $191.3 million box office. It has also been the #1 release in every country where it has opened and has grossed over $1.4 billion in global box office. The studio also successfully launched another franchise with “Ant-Man,” starring Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lilly. The film opened #1 at the box office on July 17 and went on to gross more than $519 million at the worldwide box office. The film propelled the Marvel brands’ #1 domestic box-office opening streak to a record-breaking 12 consecutive films.
It seems that the release of “Deadpool” shocked naysayers and even Fox itself. “Deadpool” pulled in $150 million during the first 4 days of release.
“Deadpool” was the movie that Fox did not want to touch. It was in development limbo for about 10 years. Due to the overall positive response from a leaked test footage trailer, Fox gave the greenlight to have “Deadpool” finally go into production. Fox still didn’t have faith in “Deadpool” and set the movies budget to just $58 million. The budget was even cut by $7 million prior to release and that is why Deadpool has this problem of always forgetting his ammo in the movie.
So why did this movie succeed?
Hopefully Fox, Warner Brothers and even Disney will learn the most important lesson. Stay faithful to the character. Which also means origin stories and costumes. Although Deadpool’s origin wasn’t exactly the comic book origin. 🙂
Before the movie even came out, Fox greenlight the sequel. If you stay at the end for the after credits scene, Deadpool reveals he will be back and joining him will be another fan favorite, Cable. He mentions possible actors that may play Cable are Mel Gibson, Dolph Lundgren, and Keira Knightley. I wouldn’t hold my breath for any of those joining the cast though. After seeing this movie, I do have confidence they will cast the perfect actor for Cable.
OK, what about Wolverine? This week we learned that the next Wolverine movie may actually get an R Rating. Hugh Jackman has done an excellent job portraying Wolverine but we still haven’t seen Wolverine in all of his savage glory and that may be coming. The below image from the New York Toy Fair shows an anticipated Rated R rating for “Wolverine 3”.
Congratulations to everyone behind “Deadpool”. It’s success is much deserved.
The last few years in the Marvel Universe, Steve Rogers/Captain America didn’t exactly have the best of times. The Super Soldier Serum that gave Steve Rogers his strength and made him Captain America was removed from his body resulting in him aging rapidly and no longer able to be the iconic Cap that we all know and love. Steve’s partner, Sam Wilson/The Falcon, took over the mantle of Captain America and continued to fight for justice and the American way.
One thing is certain in comics. Most popular characters that either die or lose their powers always find a way to come back and Steve Rogers is no exception. Steve Rogers will make his return as Cap in the upcoming comic book series: “Steve Rogers: Captain America”.
Cap’s new costume, to me, looks like a hybrid of Cap’s original costume and the one that we will see in “Captain America: Civil War”. The shield is very similar to the very first shield that Cap used in the comics although this one comes apart and can be used as a weapon(see below).
Steve Rogers: Captain America will be available on Free Comic Book Day, May 7th. To make things even nicer, it will be available for free at participating comic book stores. Check your local comic book store to see if they are participating.
Source: Marvel
Check out this amazing looking promotional art for “Captain America: Civil War”. Prepare for an epic battle. My only question is “Where is Spider-Man?” Come on Marvel and Sony. Get your act together and lets get a look at the web crawler in full costume already!
The following pieces are going to be a bit Daredevil heavy. But, that’s OK because Daredevil is coming back and he is bringing fan favorites such as The Punisher and Elektra to the seires for what can only be some of the most epic battles we have eve seen on the series.
This trailer highlights The Punisher/ Frank Castle and you can just tell that they are heading to a show off because they dont agree with each others methods. The Punisher has always been a judge, jury an executioner kind of hero. Daredevil is a lawyer by day and still believes in the judicial system but when the system sometimes fails, that’s when Daredevil goes to work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5_A0Wx0jU4
Source: Netflix
I loved “Daredevil” on Netflix. One of the things that I loved is it stayed so true to the character and tone of the comic. What could have made it even better for me was if we saw Daredevil in his classic all red costume. Turns out that was originally one of the designs (above image) that could have been used nut they went with a more modern design (below).
The above design is also faithful to the comics but when most people think of Daredevil they think of him in his red suit. The image above makes me think that somewhere Batman and Ant-Man had a baby. Deadpool’s costume was spot on in his movie and fans and the audience loved it. Dont mess with classic costumes like Spider-Man, Superman, Batman or Daredevil. Stay faithful to the source and “they will come”.
Marvel has released no promo images Season Two of “Daredevil”. They all look great and just makes March 18th seem so far away. Check them out!
Source: Comic Book Movie
I could be wrong but it looks like there have been some changes from Cap’s costume in ‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron”. Looks like more red was used on the sides and the belt covers the distracting middle red stripe. Maybe. No matter what, this looks really cool!
Sideshow and Hot Toys are very excited to present the new sixth scale figure of the main character from the film – Captain America Steve Rogers!
The movie-accurate Captain America Collectible Figure is specially crafted based on the image of Chris Evans as Captain America/Steve Rogers in Captain America: Civil War. It features a helmeted head sculpt with two interchangeable lower faces, a newly painted un-helmeted head sculpt of Steve Rogers, a newly developed body that naturally portrays Captain America’s muscularly toned body, a completely new Captain America suit, a metal circular shield, a broken Crossbones helmet, and a specially designed Captain America: Civil War themed figure stand!
“Captain America” is available for preorder through Sideshow Collectibles for a price of $224.99 and will ship during the second quarter of 2016.
Source: Sideshow Collectibles
That’s it for this time!
Marvel has just released the Superbowl TV spot for “Captain America: Civil War:
As part of an exciting new Twitter campaign, 11 new character emojis are now available, and fans are encouraged to Tweet using #TeamCap or #TeamIronMan to declare their allegiance to their favorite Marvel characters. In addition, fans can create their own super team using the Captain America emojis and #TeamCapSweepstakes or #TeamIronManSweepstakes for a chance to win a walk-on role in Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War – Part I.
Walt Disney Studios has just released it’s complete line up for all of their upcoming movies for this year. Check out all of movies you may be lining up to see. Which ones will make your must see list?
ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS – Alice (Mia Wasikowska) returns to the whimsical world of Underland and travels back in time to save the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) in Disney’s ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, an all-new adventure featuring the unforgettable characters from Lewis Carroll’s beloved stories. Coming May 27, 2016.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR – A feud between Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) leaves the Avengers in turmoil. Captain America: Coming May 6, 2016.
DOCTOR STRANGE – Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) discovers the world of magic after surviving a car accident. Coming November 4, 2016.
FINDING DORY – In Disney•Pixar’s “Finding Dory,” everyone’s favorite forgetful blue tang, Dory (voice of Ellen DeGeneres), encounters an array of new—and old—acquaintances, including a cantankerous octopus named Hank (voice of Ed O’Neill). Directed by Andrew Stanton (“Finding Nemo,” “WALL•E”) and produced by Lindsey Collins (co-producer “WALL•E”), “Finding Dory” swims into theaters June 17, 2016.
MOANA – In “Moana,” Walt Disney Animation Studios’ upcoming big-screen adventure, a spirited teenager named Moana (left) sails out on a daring mission to prove herself a master wayfinder. Along the way, she meets once-mighty demi-god Maui (right). Featuring Native Hawaiian newcomer Auli’i Cravalho as the voice of Moana, and Dwayne Johnson as the voice of Maui, “Moana” sails into U.S. theaters on Nov. 23, 2016.
PETE’S DRAGON – An upcoming live-action-animated fantasy comedy-drama film directed by David Lowery and written by Toby Halbrooks and Lowery, based on a short story by S.S. Field and Seton I. Miller and also a remake of 1977 film Pete’s Dragon. The film stars Oakes Fegley, Oona Laurence, Robert Redford, Bryce Dallas Howard, Wes Bentley and Karl Urban. Opens August 12, 2016.
QUEEN OF KATWE – Lupita Nyong’o and Madina Nalwanga star in The Queen of Katwe which is an upcoming biographical drama film directed by Mira Nair. The film is about the life of Phiona Mutesi, an Ugandan chess prodigy who becomes a Woman Candidate Master after her performances at World Chess Olympiads. The film will be produced by Walt Disney Pictures and ESPN Films, and will be released at an unspecified date.
STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE – Is an upcoming live-action Star Wars film, the first in the Star Wars Anthology Series. The film is set for release on December 16, 2016, and will be directed by Gareth Edwards.
THE BFG – Directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the beloved novel by Roald Dahl, is the exciting tale of a young London girl (Ruby Barnhill) and the mysterious Giant (Mark Rylance) who introduces her to the wonders and perils of Giant Country. Opens July 1, 2016.
THE FINEST HOUR – On Feb. 18, 1952, a massive storm splits the SS Pendleton in two, trapping more than 30 sailors inside the tanker’s sinking stern. Engineer Ray Sybert bravely takes charge to organize a strategy for his fellow survivors. As word of the disaster reaches the Coast Guard in Chatham, Mass., Chief Warrant Officer Daniel Cluff orders a daring rescue mission. Despite the ferocious weather, coxswain Bernie Webber takes three men on a lifeboat to try and save the crew against seemingly impossible odds. Opens January 20, 2016.
THE JUNGLE BOOK – After a fearsome tiger threatens his life, Mowgli (Neel Sethi), a boy raised by wolves, leaves his jungle home and, guided by a stern panther (Ben Kingsley) and a free-spirited bear (Bill Murray), sets out on a journey of self-discovery. Open April 15, 2016.
THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS – Michael Fassbender stars as Tom Sherbourne and Alicia Vikander as his wife Isabel in DreamWorks Pictures’ poignant drama THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS, written and directed by Derek Cianfrance based on the acclaimed novel by M.L. Stedman. Opens in 2016.
ZOOTOPIA — Zootopia’s first bunny officer Judy Hopps finds herself face to face with a fast-talking, scam-artist fox in Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Zootopia.” Featuring the voices of Ginnifer Goodwin as Judy and Jason Bateman as Nick, “Zootopia” opens in theaters on March 4, 2016.
It’s rare that anything surprises me but did not see this coming at all. I think most people had no idea that Ant-Man and The Hulk would team up for a Coca-Cola Mini commercial and that it would turn out so good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlZqBR3yTiw
Source: Coca-Cola YouTube
We still haven’t seen Tom Holland in Spider-Man costume yet but here is a shot of Holland on the set of the Avengers Quinjet in “Captain America: Civil War”. Rumor is that the reason why we haven’t seen Tom Holland in any trailers or promotional material is because everything has to be approved by both Disney and Sony. I’m sure we will get something soon. If not an official image, promotional art is bound to leak soon.
Source: Louis D’Esposito Twitter
Our first official look of Benedict Cumbebatch as The Sorcerer Supreme came to us through a special issue of Entertainment Weekly. If this does one thing right, it gives me the confidence that they are following the source material. This costume is perfect. My biggest fear was that they were going to tone down Doctor Strange’s look for the real world but think this is the best Marvel movie costume after Iron Man (and Deapool!). Check out these fantastic pictures:
Here are some comparisons I put together of Doctor Strange from the comic book and Benedict Cumbebatch’s version:
Source: Entertainment Weekly
Without a doubt, Entertainment Weekly are getting the best exclusive photos of Marvel characters. The above photo shows The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) getting the upper hand on our hero, Daredevil (Charlie Cox) What is great about this photo is it is right out of the comics where The Punisher has Daredevil chained up and lets Daredevil know that he is about to kill a mob boss. He hands over his gun to Daredevil and lets him know the only way that Daredevil can stop him from killing the boss is by Daredevil choosing to kill The Punisher. A very difficult test for Daredevil come to life in Season 2!
Entertainment Weekly also gave us our first look at Elektra( Élodie Yung) and she also looks like she stepped right out of the comic book. A far cry from the portrayal made by Jennifer Garner who looked nothing like the character.
Some more photos!
Daredevil Season 2 will premier March 18th!
Source: Entertainment Weekly
Netflix has released a stylistic teaser trailer for Marvel’s “Daredevil Season 2”! Netflix also announced that on March 18th all episodes for Daredevil Season 2 will be available for streaming. Can you spot The Punisher’s symbol in the poster and the teaser?
Source: Netflix
That’s it for this time!
Marvel has announced that Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead) has been cast to play The Punisher/ Frank Castle in Season 2 of Marvel’s “Daredevil” on Netflix.
From Marvel:
Bernthal will portray The Punisher, one of Marvel’s most popular characters. He is a vigilante who aims to clean up New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen by any means necessary, no matter how lethal the results.
“Jon Bernthal brings an unmatched intensity to every role he takes on, with a potent blend of power, motivation and vulnerability that will connect with audiences,” said Jeph Loeb, Marvel’s Head of Television. “Castle’s appearance will bring dramatic changes to the world of Matt Murdock and nothing will be the same.”
Many Marvel fans have been dying to see Daredevil and Punisher go at it. In the comics, they have sometimes been allies but also have been enemies and they have had some of the best knockdown battles in Marvel history. I am sure this will lead the way for The Punisher’s own series on Netflix. After seeing the graphic violence on Daredevil (which sometimes went a bit overboard), I definitely can see that style work perfectly with The Punisher.
Source: Marvel
2015
The war between Marvel and Fox is still going on and here is more evidence from this year’s Marvel’s Official Lineup Poster (above). As you can see when comparing to last year’s Lineup Poster (below), all of the members from the X-Men and Fantastic Four have been removed.
2014
And take a look at 2007’s Official Lineup, which occurred before the release of the first “Iron Man” movie. Spider-Man, Wolverine and the Fantastic Four are the prominent characters and Iron Man looks like he was squeezed in.
2007
Source: Bleeding Cool
This could be a sign of things to come. The Official Amazing Spider-Man Facebook Page has changed it’s name to the Spider-Man Facebook Page. With “Captain America: Civil War” currently filming, the big missing component is who will be playing the new Spider-Man? We should expect to hear word soon from Sony and Marvel about which actor will play the new Spider-Man along with the official title of the film will be. We have heard rumors that the title could be “Spider-Man: The New Avenger” and another rumored title was “The Spectacular Spider-Man.” Maybe it’s not a big deal that the Facebook Page has changed, but then again, maybe it is.
Source: Spider-Man Facebook
After the end of “Age Of Ultron,” The Hulk’s future definitely came off as uncertain. The last that we saw of him, the Hulk was using the Quinjet as a way of escaping from the team, for their own good. Nick Fury mentions that some kind of vessel was spotted by SHIELD but he also mentions that the Quinjet had no tracking device, so it could or could not be the Hulk’s Quinjet.
No one really knows for sure what plans Marvel has in store for the Hulk. But according to the site We Are Wakanda, their sources are saying that we may see the Hulk and we may see him battle against the Red Hulk, who is General Thunderbolt Ross in the comics and is played by William Hurt (The Incredible Hulk). I did find it odd that William Hurt was cast in “Civil War” especially since his character is not in the original Civil War comic book series. It does seem as though they have plans for General Ross and it could be that they have him follow his comic book story line and have him become the Red Hulk.
I personally think that even though Mark Ruffalo, who plays Bruce Banner and The Hulk in The Avengers movies, is not part of the cast, maybe they can have just The Hulk show up and battle The Red Hulk towards the end of the movie. I think it would make more sense to just set up General Ross in “Civil War” which would eventually lead to him becoming the Red Hulk in a future movie series. Who knows, but anything is possible and maybe we will see both the The Hulk and The Red Hulk in “Civil War.”
Source: We Are Wakanda
It doesn’t sound as though Samuel L Jackson is too happy not to be a part of “Civil War.” And it sounds like it was a surprise to him just as much as it was to us.
I finally met [comics writer] Mark [Millar], last year, when I was doing Kingsman, ‘cause he was on set one day, and I finally got a chance to thank him for making Nick Fury black and changing the whole dynamic. It’s really great to be the connective tissue between so many different characters in so many different films, that brings those guys together. But I’m not in Captain America 3. I can’t figure that out, but I’m not. I guess I’m still out there, trying to figure out what happened to S.H.I.E.L.D. and who these other people are.
Source: Collider
Several people had noticed that the name for “AKA Jessica Jones” Netflix series had mysteriously changed to just “Jessica Jones.”
ComicBook.com has confirmed with Marvel that they did indeed change the name of the series.
Source: ComicBook.com
SPOILER ahead! According to George Lucas, the new Marvel comic books are cannon. Marvel recently revealed a comic book panel for the upcoming “Star Wars # 6” and it turns out that Han Solo has a wife and her name is Sana Solo. This story takes place between “A New Hope” and “The Empire Strikes Back,” so maybe something happens to Sana just before “Empire” which would leave the door open for Han and Leia’s romance.
Source: Marvel
Sideshow Collectibles has revealed Hot Toys’ latest premium collectible figure from “Avengers: Age Of Ultron” and it is no other than Scarlet Witch.
Sideshow Collectibles and Hot Toys are pleased to officially introduce Scarlet Witch, one of the new stars of Avengers: Age of Ultron, as a Sixth Scale Collectible Figure!
The movie-accurate collectible is specially crafted based on the image of Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch in the film, and features a newly developed head sculpt with long curly brown real fabric hair, a finely tailored costume, specially created hands with red translucent fingertips, and magical effect accessories to emulate Scarlet Witch using her powers. Ultron’s heart, which Scarlet Witch has taken from the robot’s body, is also included as a special bonus accessory!
Scarlet Witch is available for preorder exclusively through Sideshow Collectibles at a a price of $229.99 and will ship in the last quarter of 2015.
Source: Sideshow Collectibles
That’s it for this time!
One of the coolest ways to check out the past, present, and future of Vinylmation is to compare and contrast the evolution of certain themes or licenses. The best example of this, in my opinion, is Star Wars. Looking at the debacle that is Star Wars Series #1 and comparing it to the other series and limited edition vinyls shows how artists started to not only understand the platform, but the theme as well, ultimately making better art. But since Nick is pretty much the Star Wars guy and has been on a 5 week high with Star Wars Weekends, I figured this was a good time to give attention to my favorite Disney-owned property, Marvel.
Even though Disney purchased Marvel Entertainment on August 31, 2009 (for 4 BILLION $$$$$!!!!) the property didn’t make its debut on the Vinylmation platform until October, 2013. While it took some time to add Marvel Vinylmation into our collection, its also interesting to note that Marvel Series #1 was the first piece of merchandise created by the Disney Design Group. And these figures certainly did not disappoint. They arrived at one of the most exciting times for collecting Vinylmation, and showed amazing detail and representations of characters that blew even extremely “vocal” collectors away. The set became an instant hit, and quickly sold out. It wasn’t long until Series #2 was released (focusing on Spider-Man and his foes), which continued to push the envelope for how licenses could be represented on the platform.
The newest series was released on May 1, 2015, tying in perfectly with the release of Marvel’s biggest movie to date, “Avengers: Age of Ultron”. While being careful not to refer to itself as Marvel Series #3, this new Avengers Series featured six character designs including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Hawkeye, and Black Widow, each sporting their MCU look. Sprinkled in the set were variant figures of a few of the designs. Unique to the set was also an interesting distribution method, with all of the commons (except Iron Man) having the same distribution rate, the Hulk chaser and two of the variants having 1/24 odds, and an even more rare variant having 1/96 odds. I originally wrote a scathing review of this series, however this was based on blurry and leaked photos. It wasn’t until I got the set in hand that I realized how amazing some of these designs were. And seeing as how we are beginning to get character redesigns, I thought I would go figure-by-figure, noting the similarities and differences and deciding which I liked better. So here we go!
IRON MAN: Iron Man was the breakout hit when Marvel Studios began making their own films in-house, and therefore, was one of the most popular figures in Marvel Series #1. The detail on him is great, ranging from the bolts on his chest plate to the lights inside his hands. But to me, I think I like the MCU version better. This is a great example of how the Vinylmation artists are continuing to improve their craft. The designs on the suit are so much smoother, especially the helmet. The look in the faceplate is captured perfectly!! Definitely one of my favorite figures in the set.
HULK: This one is very tough. With Marvel Series #1, we have a perfect representation of the Jack Kirby design, especially in the ears. On the other, we have the chaser of the MCU set, which, in person, you can actually see Mark Ruffalo’s face behind that Hulk rage. I think, in the end, I have to go with the Hulk from Series #1, there’s just too much nostalgia painted all over this guy. (But special recognition to the hidden ‘A’ logo on the MCU Hulk’s pant pockets!)
BLACK WIDOW: This is where things start getting difficult, because we are dealing with variants. Starting with Black Widow I will now have to compare three designs of figures. Series #1 featured just one design of Black Widow, and I thought the artist, Thomas Scott, did a really good job with her. Females are particularly hard to draw on the platform because their faces tend to look fat. But using hair to cover up the sides usually works really well. This is the example here and I think Thomas Scott did a great job. However, I’m leaning toward the common in the MCU series being my favorite out of the three. You can really see Scarlett Johansson in the face here, the hair is drawn on perfectly, and I LOVE how the suit is lit up, wow!! The variant here is an interesting choice, where it’s pretty much the same design but a non-lit up suit, thus omitting my favorite part of the figure (side-note, the MCU version includes an electric night-stick)
HAWKEYE: Hawkeye was chosen to be the combo topper in Series #1. The design chosen for this version of Hawkeye is his look in his newer run of comics, a series that Thomas Scott told me he was a huge fan of. I really like this choice, and I think he is one of the stronger figures in this set. In terms of the MCU version, I think the Jeremy Renner attempt here is a total miss. The entire expression is wrong, and I think it is the weakest design in the series. Hawkeye does, however, have a variant in this series, which I think is much stronger, and bears a resemblance to the combo topper from Series #1. Still, I think the original wins out for me here.
THOR: The Series #1 design of Thor is a pretty basic design, although at the time it was a hugely detailed figure, and extremely popular. The Hammer accessory he comes with is an amazing touch. He even had a variant in this series, featuring a beard on his face. The Thor that was released in the MCU series looks more like the variant (since Chris Hemsworth is bearded), but I still like the variant from Series #1 better than this design. I really don’t think this looks like Chris Hemsworth at all, proving just how difficult it is to replicate an actor onto the Vinylmation platform, as opposed to the comic book version. The bearded Thor variant is definitely a must have!
CAPTAIN AMERICA: Last but not least, Captain America. The Series #1 version of Steve Rodgers looks great. He comes with a shield accessory that attaches to his arm, which is still one of the coolest accessories I’ve ever seen on a Vinylmation. He’s also one of the best figures in the series. The detail on him is insane! And I love the expression on his face as well. The MCU version definitely had its work cut out for it. However, I think it’s also one of the best ones in its respective series. I absolutely love Chris Evan’s suit in the new Avengers movie, and Thomas Scott did an amazing job replicating it here. What really shines in this series though, is the 1/96 variant of this figure. This figure features an unmasked Chris Evans design, and it is easily one of my favorite figures I own. I’m a sucker for unmasked designs, and this one looks fantastic. Therefore, it has my vote for best Captain America vinyl.
So while the first set of Marvel Vinylmation definitely pushed the envelope in terms of what we can expect from licensed merchandise being transferred to the platform, I definitely think this new MCU series continues to show how the medium can evolve. Transferring actors onto the Mickey platform is no easy task, and I’m glad that, for the most part, Thomas Scott did a great job here. In terms of the future, I’m still holding out hope for an X-Men set for Series #3. However, at this point I feel like a Guardians of the Galaxy set is becoming more and more likely. Only time will tell, True Believers!
I was fortunate enough to get a review copy of Put Me In The Story’s new book, “Avengers’s: Black Ops Field Guide”. Geared towards children, this is a unique way of personalizing an adventure just for your young ones. You get to enter in their name, photo, and even a dedication in an easy to use online format, and then order a hard copy of the book with all of the info sprinkled throughout. It’s a really cool idea, but since I don’t have any kids of my own to dedicate the book to, I had to get creative. I chose to dedicate it to myself from Nick Fury.
The first thing you see right on the front cover is some of the most popular Marvel characters with your name underneath. It’s a great way to make you feel involved right from the beginning, like this is your own personal guide to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Opening it up, the first thing you get is a page that can be ripped out, with a name tag that includes your own photo and identification info. Pretty cool! Next comes the dedication, which is more info that is filled out online beforehand, followed by a special decoder used to decipher secret messages throughout the book. This is all followed by a special message from Nick Fury himself (I guess, in my case, this is my second message from Nick Fury).
Next up is the Mission Brief, which is the heart and soul of the book. It explains to you all the information that is going to be included with each hero throughout the book, as well as the scoring system. It looks a little confusing at first, but once you start going through the almost endless pages of heroes, it all starts to make sense.
I could see a child looking through this for hours, trying to learn everything they can about their favorite heroes (and villains!!!). There’s even space for you to write in your own “notes” about each hero or villains, which I’ll definitely be working on later. I included some of my favorite pages in pictures below.
At the very end of the book is a chance for you to evaluate yourself! You can choose to be “sneaky” like Black Widow, “strong” like the Hulk, or a combination of both. You can use this to see how you stack up next to your favorite heroes.
After going through my own personal “Field Guide”, I think this would be an awesome gift for any young Marvel fan. Put Me In The Story does a great job of really personalizing this to make it feel like your own, and I can’t believe how quickly the book came to me after I placed my order. The decoder at the beginning is really cool, and its fun to use at the end of every page. Also, there’s a great assortment of characters here, and I love that even some villains made an appearance. To order your copy of the Avengers: Black Ops Field Guide head over to www.putmeinthestory.com.
Marvel and Sony Pictures have made it official that actor Tom Holland (“The Impossible”) has been cast in the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the upcoming Spider-Man film, which is expected to be released July 28th, 2017. They also announced that Jon Watts (“Cop Car”) will direct the film.
Tom Holland is 19 years old and is an English actor best known for his performance as the title role in “Billy Elliot: The Musical”.
From Marvel:
Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios are proud to announce that after a full worldwide casting search, Tom Holland will play Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the next Spider-Man film, in theaters in IMAX and 3D on July 28, 2017. The film will be directed by Jon Watts, director of “Cop Car,” the upcoming thriller that made its debut earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival.
Marvel and Sony Pictures, and producers Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal conducted an extensive search for both the actor and the director. The studios and producers were impressed by Holland’s performances in “The Impossible,” “Wolf Hall,” and the upcoming “In the Heart of the Sea,” and by a series of complex screen tests. Following Marvel’s tradition of working with the brightest next wave of directors, Watts also went through multiple meetings with Feige, Pascal, and the studio, before winning the job.
Commenting on the announcement, Tom Rothman, Sony Pictures Motion Pictures Group Chairman, said, “It’s a big day here at Sony. Kevin, Amy and their teams have done an incredible job. The Marvel process is very thorough, and that’s why their results are so outstanding. I’m confident Spider-Man will be no exception. I’ve worked with a number of up-and-coming directors who have gone on to be superstars and believe that Jon is just such an outstanding talent. For Spidey himself, we saw many terrific young actors, but Tom’s screen tests were special. All in all, we are off to a roaring start.”
Feige commented, “As with James Gunn, Joss Whedon, and the Russo brothers, we love finding new and exciting voices to bring these characters to life. We spent a lot of time with Jon and find his take and work inspiring.”
Pascal added, “Sony, Marvel, Kevin and I all knew that for Peter Parker, we had to find a vibrant, talented young actor capable of embodying one of the most well-known characters in the world. With Tom, we’ve found the perfect actor to bring Spider-Man’s story into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”
There was still no announcement made as whether we will first see Tom Holland portray Spider-Man in “Captain America: Civil War” but have a feeling that that announcement will come soon.
Source: Marvel
