MARVEL NOW: Uncanny Avengers and All New X-Men

Here are some more details on the new Marvel relaunch. Starting with the Uncanny Avengers

 UNCANNY AVENGERS: Writer Rick Remender mixes Avengers characters like Captain America and Thor together with such X-Men as Rogue and Havok in the flagship title of Marvel NOW!

 And more of Jean Grey's return with the All New X-Men:

ALL NEW X-MEN: Brian Bendis takes on the most eccenctric and controversy-baiting Marvel NOW! book. The pitch: The original five teenage X-Men time-travel to the present day. “Here’s the big question that the original X-Men are gonna be faced with: ‘We’re gonna grow up and this is what we’re going to to get? That is not acceptable.” NOV. 2012

So she does return, but how? And why? More to come comic fans.

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A Marvel Reboot? Jean Grey Returns? All True!

The geeks are buzzing about the possible Marvel relaunch and the return of Jean Grey. Over the weekend, I heard about Marvel's reboot rumors with interesting titles such as Uncanny Avengers and another X-Men comic.

But today, we have learned that it's true and we also have an exclusive pic of Jean Grey!

EW reports

To answer your questions: Yes, this is Jean Grey — as in, the Jean Grey who’s been absent from Marvel comics ever since dying for a second time back in the mid-00s. And yes, she is modeling her vintage blue-and-yellow X-Men outfit from her Marvel Girl days. 

Does this mean that the fan-favorite character is finally returning? We can only confirm that her presence in the Marvel universe will not be imaginary.

Yes! More will be reveal tomorrow and at Comic Con. I know some Jean Grey are excited or worried. I will keep you posted.

Lil Romeo can NOT play The Black Panther

We've heard a lot about a possible Black Panther film coming from Marvel. Of course I'm excited, but most of that great feeling died, once I read that Lil Romeo was approached for the role.

According to BlackFilm.com, Romeo Miller said this about the BP role:

I would love to. I remember that before ‘Jumping the Broom’ got released, there were some producers were talking about shopping the script to some people and I was one of the people they contacted and was asked if it was something I would be interested in. You never know. I definitely want to take in and be the next big action hero. That may be something that’s cool.

I'm sorry, Romeo, but NO, NO, NO. I'm assuming this idea was from some poo putt studio or he was approached to play another role, but not the Black Panther.

The movie would tank!

Romeo acts, but he doesn't have the acting chops to pull this off. I hope Marvel Studios are not serious considering him for T'Challa. If they are, then this movie is doomed. Get a seasoned actor please. The King of Wakanda deserves better.

Fan Art: Marvel Pride

A very talented artist, Arzeno created this great piece of work. In this illustration, we see the LGBT heroes of Marvel Comics.

Please check out more of Arzeno's work

Marvel Comics takes their Gay Marriage News to The View

More gay comics news! Today on The View, Marvel Comics will announce big wedding news about Northstar and his partner.

From Bleeding Cool:

Tune into ABC at 11a/10a E/C tomorrow as the hosts of ABC’s The View exclusively reveal a major Marvel announcement! This is your first chance to get a look at the moment in Astonishing X-Men #50 that will have everyone talking!

Well, we will see. I will post the info later, but I hope it's about Northstar.

UPDATE it is about Northstar

Whoopi Goldberg introduced the news to co-hosts Joy Behar, Barbara Walters and Elizabeth Hasselbeck in the midst of the "Hot Topics" segment that included stories like a caucasian child wearing blackface for a Martin Luther King Jr. report at school, Mark Zuckerberg's wedding photo, and the latest on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars."

"In Astonishing X-Men #50, gay X-Man Northstar will propose to his boyfriend Kyle, with a marriage in an upcoming issue," said Goldberg. Behar said "X-Men is cutting edge" about the issue, and Hasselbeck, an outspoken conservative on the show, said "It's good!" Walters echoed the statement, appreciative of the move.

The wedding front-and-back cover spread for Astonishing X-Men #51 was debuted on the show as well (we'll have that for you soon), showing Jean-Paul (Northstar's real name) and Kyle at the altar with the huge and varried cast of mutants assembled to view the happy event.

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First Look at the First X-Men

Neal Adams and Christos Gage are bring the "First X-Men" a new comic from Marvel. Bleeding Cool reported this earlier, but now we have so info from the famed artist, Neal Adams:

“You guys probably know I was at one time associated with X-Men…then they canceled the book. I had great fondness for the original X-Men, had the time of my life, then they canceled it. At the beginning, Stan and Jack were experimenting. You had Professor X, bald and in a wheelchair. These strange kids already in costume. It seems to me like this was not the beginning of the story, but the middle. Of all the mutants on Earth, Professor X could easily pass as a human. Why would he want to get involved in this? Maybe all this was going on before Professor X was Professor X…when Professor X was a teenager. Maybe mutant kids were getting abused by the military, by the government. Somebody would have been looking out for them, but maybe that person came to Charles Xavier, realizing he couldn’t protect these kids. That was my pitch. Marvel was very generous to provide Christos Gage to me, who is an expert in all this stuff. He’s taking my pitch and turning it into scripts that are in my opinion groundbreaking. 

It’s the X-Men before there were X-Men. How deeply is Wolverine entrenched in the X-Men? Why was this first team…maybe a failure? Lots of questions to answer. The natural instinct is that this is like the ‘X-Men: First Class’ movie, but it’s not. We didn’t mind stealing the Nazi Hunter version of Magneto though. There’s a character who calls himself Bombastic Aghast, but they call him Bomb. Wolverine saves him from a cave-in then gives him a leather jacket that fits like a tent. He looks ridiculous, but he thinks it’s his costume. Later, Wolverine buys him a jacket that fits, but he throws it back in his face. That jacket means so much to him and represents his relationship with Wolverine. That’s the origin of his costume… There will be early versions of the Sentinels. I did the giant ones, now I’m getting to do different one."

I don't know about this. I mean, Wolverine? Let's stop using him for Goddess' sake! And why do we need an early X-Men story? I feel like we have enough back stories, let's move forward.

No More Avengers?

The premise

Following the world changing effects of Avengers VS. X-Men #5, the Marvel Universe will face a dramatic change unlike any fans have ever seen before bringing the action packed first act to a close. Then, the comic book event of the summer kicks into overdrive as Act Two begins in  Avengers VS. X-Men #6! Thought you knew everything about the Phoenix Force and what it’s capable of? Think again, True Believer! 

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Gay Couple Hulkling & Wiccan Kiss in Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #9

After 7 years together, we see their kiss

via CBM

My List of Big Things to look out for in Comic Books for 2012

Comics will be epic in 2012. There are a lot of interesting stories coming and the results could change the game for a long time. So I'm going to touch on some of the big things coming in the world of comics.

Donna Troy - Donna has been absent from DC's New 52, or is she? Could she be the Mysterious Woman lingering in the background? Or will she play a bigger role? Remember, Donna is an anomaly in the DC universe. Her deaths and resurrections usually has a purpose. Could this be one of purposeful moments?

Phoenix - The Phoenix force is returning. What does that mean for Hope, Jean Grey and the X-Men? Everything!

New 52 - The reboot of DC Comics really caused a stir. While was fun, it was a little crazy (Wonder Woman getting a Dad, Superman in jeans, Barbara Gordon walking). It will be interesting to see where the stories will take us.

Films - 2012 will bring some BIG comic book movies like: 'The Avengers', 'The Dark Knight Rises' and 'Man of Steel'. I hope they deliver or we won't see anymore CBMs for awhile.

X-Men vs The Avengers - Someone dies and the both teams will change forever. But how? We will have to wait and see.

Watchmen 2 - This has caused a divide amongst comic book fans. The possible prequel will give us a deeper story on the 'Moore' heroes, but will it be worth it?

WATCH: The Avengers vs X-Men Event Discussion with Marvel's Artists and Writers

On Thursday, I gave a rundown of the Avengers/X-Men event from Marvel Comics. Now you can watch the whole convo from the writers and artists themselves.

FOX confirms X-Men, Daredevil and Fantastic Four Projects

Following their decent success with X-Men: First Class, FOX will press on with a sequel and other Marvel Comics projects. MTV News talks to Fox exec Tom Rothman, who says that it's all happening:

MTV News caught up with Rothman at the Gotham Independent Film Awards, and they spoke about the prospects continuing that series and how its success has changed how the studio approaches superhero movies.


"The reason, in addition to those two guys and Matthew Vaughn, that it was as good as it was that the script was really good," Rothman said. "The key to making a great continuing franchise is to have a great script, so we're working hard on it."


Rothman also commented on a couple other Marvel properties Fox will bring back to the screen, "Daredevil" and "Fantastic Four." In the case of "Daredevil," director David Slade announced this week that the script for the reboot was finally finished. Rothman confirmed before that the project is still with Slade and moving forward.

"'Daredevil' is still with David Slade," Rothman said. "It's in development now. We're working on it and 'Fantastic Four.'"

Well, they better bring it, because the jury is still out on FOX handling these films. We haven't forgot X-Men 3 or the FF and Silver Surfer mess. Plus, Marvel can still take back the X-Men in 2012. So if they don't get it up, it's could be curtains.

Marvel Comics will host a 'Phoenix' Revelation LIVE

On Wednesday, we will learn why Marvel have teased us about Phoenix for the last 8 years.

They are hosting a live event on Phoenix (possible) return:

 After two months of teases, it looks like we may get some payoff on the “It’s coming” images that Marvel started running around the New York Comic-Con. The company has scheduled a live event this Wednesday at 3 p.m. Eastern to hopefully announce the project.
(...) “The Phoenix is the spirit of destruction and rebirth,” Alonso told CBR’s Kiel Phegley during a discussion about Point One. “It razes worlds to grow something new. It’s bad news if you happen to be part of that ecosystem; good news if you’re the next stage. And, as everyone knows, the Phoenix is nothing without a host. So, the question emerges: If the Phoenix is headed somewhere, where is that? And if it needs a host, who is that host? Because we all know what happened the last time it found a host!”

I wonder what this will be, but it could be interesting.

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Interesting Quote: Axel Alonso

"If you check our record, Elflore, I think you'll see our commitment to diversity is apparent across the line, and has been for some time. Black Panther has anchored a monthly title on and off for the past 8 years, and is certain to be back in the mix in 2012, Luke Cage has been a central character in [Brian] Bendis' Avengers, and Shang Chi's role in "Spider-Island" is a taste of things to come -- and those are just three characters off the top of my head.


It's not like we've stopped trying, either. Besides Miles Morales in the Ultimate Universe, we've introduced a wide variety of multicultural characters in the Marvel Universe: the super-powered bounty hunter team, the Zapata Brothers, from "Moon Knight" and "Deadpool Team-Up"; Reptil from "Avengers Academy"; Coldmoon and Dragonfire from "Point One"; Raizo Todo from "Fear Itself: Hulk"; and "Battle Scar's" Sergeant Marcus Johnson, who is a character you'll definitely want to keep your eye on -- I mean, eyes. Also, Striker just came out of the closet in "Avengers Academy," and Wiccan and Hulkling continue to play a huge role in "Young Avengers/Avengers: Children's Crusade." I feel like I'm just getting started." 

Axel speaks on the diversity within the 616 Marvel universe

Did You Know that Marvel almost owned DC Comics?

Comic book writer and legend Jim Shooter put some interesting news on his blog the other day. Back in 1984, Marvel almost owned DC Comics.

Bill Sarnoff was the Big Cheese, I forget his exact title, of the publishing arm of Warner Communications. Among the operations under his purview was DC Comics.

Bill introduced himself, as if that was necessary. What he wanted to talk about was licensing the publishing rights for all DC characters to Marvel Comics.

Holy hegemony, Billman!

Bill said, more or less, that Marvel seemed to be able to turn a substantial profit on publishing comics, as opposed to DC, which consistently lost money, a lot of money, and had for a long time. On the other hand, LCA (Licensing Corporation of America), Warner’s licensing arm did very well with the DC properties, while Marvel “didn’t seem to do much licensing.”

I guess the few million a year we made from licensing, mostly from Spider-Man, seemed paltry to him, what with the fortune that just their big four, Superman, Batman, Robin and Wonder Woman brought in. 

Jim had a memo about this idea

 Now, I can't help but to wonder what Superman or Wonder Woman would be like under the Marvel Universe.


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Marvel Comics prepares us for Fear Itself

A peek into Marvel's big thing

Isiah Mustafa Gets to be Luke Cage for Marvel... Sort of

Check out this crazy spoof with Isiah Mustafa and Marvel Comics