Iron Man Special

It’s been a busy couple of months for Iron Man fans, with the full line up of villains for his next movie seemingly revealed, as well as some surprising on set pictures. Until we get official confirmation, or a trailer, everything is purely guess work for the next 11 months, but read on if you dare as possible spoilers await.

Back in October, at the Long Beach Comic Con, Iron Man 3 director Shane Black dismissed hopes of finally seeing the Mandarin, who has been hinted at in the previous films, calling him a racist caricature. Then in April fans thought they had their villain as Variety reported Ben Kingsley was in final talks to star in the film, though no official comment came from Marvel, and insiders denied that he would play the wealthy Chinese warlord with alien technology. Kingsley was last seen in Hugo last year, and has a role in recently released Sacha Baron Cohen film, The Dictator.

Two months later and the Latino Review, after a visit to the films current filming location, claimed that Kingsley would be playing the Mandarin. Marvel is still yet to comment but sources say the character will be backing Dr. Aldrich Killian’s (Guy Pearce) research into a nanovirus.

A month earlier Geek Tyrant got official word from Marvel on the casting of Guy Pearce as the above mentioned geneticist, which almost confirms the rumours that the latest plot is based in Warren Ellis’ 2005 comic book ark ‘Extremis’, as Killian made his debut n that story. You can see Pearce on screen now in Prometheus, and last April he had the lead role in French action sci-fi film Lockout.

You’ll find mention of Extremis in almost every source of Iron Man 3 news, and its writer made his own statement back in May tweeting, “yes, IRON MAN 3 is apparently using elements of my IRON MAN: EXTREMIS comics serial. No, I don’t get money or credit.”

The Extremis story already influenced the first Iron Man film with its updated origin for Tony Stark’s heart injury, and in 2010 was turned into a motion comic. You can check out the trailer below but the basic plot is of the theft of a new Super-Soldier serum (which created Captain America). The man holding the gun is Killian.

These are only two of the villains set to appear though; once again Variety provides the details. Last month they revealed James Badge Dale had joined the cast as Eric Savin, and just a week ago added Ashley Hamilton as a possible choice to play Firepower. Dale has a had a few small roles in recent films, including The Grey, but is more recognisable from his TV work on, having leading roles in both The Pacific and Rubicon back in 2010. Hamilton on the other hand, noted as a personal friend of Downey, will be unfamiliar to UK audiences (unless you’ve heard his 2009 single, ‘Whimmin’) and most recently worked as a correspondent for EXTRA, the US entertainment show.

Neither Savin (aka Coldblood) nor Firepower feature in the original Extremis story, and Savin was actually a hero. A Lieutenant Colonel in the army Savin had a similar fate to Tony Stark, being resurrected as a cyborg after stepping on a landmine. Likewise Firepower (who wore armour similar in design to the drones featured in Iron Man 2) was not the usual villain, part of a government project designed to combat a then rogue Iron Man who was attacking anyone in armour based on his own. The Firepower armour featured in the ‘Armour Wars’ story ark from, and was recently rewritten, for Marvel’s Ultimate Comics imprint, by none other than Warren Ellis.

Iron Man #230

Latino Review has the last word on casting, with Die Hard 2 villain William Sadler apparently spotted alongside Pearce at a costume fitting. No one has any idea who he would play, and of course no comment from Marvel, but Sadler also starred with Dale in The Pacific.

I’ve saved the biggest piece of news for last, and which is causing the most speculation from fans. Whats Would Tyler Durden Do? Has got some set pictures that show Dale in costume, though not as Coldblood. Instead he looks like this, the Iron Patriot.

Iron Patriot was the name take by Spider-Man villain Norman Osborn when he formed his own team of Dark Avengers, which is why many have noted the slight differences in design between the pictures above as Sony likely has some claim to the character as they own the film rights to Spider-Man. It appears that the producers are just taking random characters from the comics and combining them with others, but the inclusion of this armour would have been enough to tide me over for a few months until official images are released. In this day and age though, it’s hard to avoid potential spoilers, but it should be another few weeks until we got any concrete Iron Man news after this recent bombardment of rumours and insider comments.

Next week its E3 so be sure to come back for some Video Game stories, and remember to join the facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/roughcutonline

Source: CBR - LBCC

Source: Variety - Kinglsey in Iron Man 3 talks

Source: Latino Review - Mandarin confirmed

Source: Geek Tyrant - Guy Pearce joins Iron Man 3

Source: Twitter - Warren Ellis

Source: Variety - Badge Dale joins Iron Man 3

Source: Variety - Ashley Hamilton joins Iron Man 3

Source: Latino Review - Iron Man Die Hard

Source: WWTDD - Iron Patriot

Comic Book News

It seems for each day I put off writing this blog we got a new piece of comic book movie news, so here’s a week’s worth in one update.

Let us start with some new footage, for anyone who doesn’t want to go see these movies. For Spider-Man fans the Australian trailer has a couple of scenes between Peter and Gwen, whilst the Lizard attacks Midtown High School.

The latest Batman TV Spot again only reveals a little bit more of the film, as Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) tries to entice the now retired Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) with some new toys, including the Batwing and a new Batsuit.









In release date news another film has been moved, this time Thor 2, but oddly only by a week and from the 15th of November to the 8th, 2013. The sequel to X-Men: First Class has also been given a date of July 18th, 2014, with Matthew Vaughn still in the director’s chair. And unsurprisingly you can already pre-order The Avegners on Blu-Ray & DVD, but amazon.com also has a listing the limited-edition Marvel Studios box set, ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe :Phase One-Avengers Assembled’. The 10 disk set includes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America, The Avengers, and a bonus disk all on Blu-Ray, as well as “Collectible packaging with exclusive memorabilia from the Marvel Cinematic Universe”. You can pre-order from the link below for $153.30, but a standard box set should appear soon.



http://www.amazon.com/Marvel-Cinematic-Universe-Assembled-Collectors/dp/B0083SBMGW/

 Next week is E3 so expect a lot of video game news, but here is the announcement trailer for ‘Injustice: Gods Among Us’. Developed by the team behind Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe this game once again uses the classic comic book characters, this time battling among themselves in the familiar one-in-one game play style. Check out Superman’s move of lifting his opponents into the atmosphere, then slamming them back down again.

More Thor 2 news comes from the president of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige, who has become the spokesperson for the franchise. In an interview with Empire Magazine, Feige gives the usual vague information you’d expect this far from the film’s release, but hinting at a darker side of Thor’s home world; "We're going to see the other side of Asgard. It's not all polished and golden in this film. And the events of Avengers will have affected Thor for sure. His relationship with Loki will continue to evolve, and the biggest part is Natalie and Thor returning with Jane Foster." Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen was rumoured to play a new villain in the sequel, and while Feige neither confirms nor denies this he does tell the magazine, “there will be a major new villain. A major, major new antagonist..."

Comicbookmovie.com has a little bit more of the interview, http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/JoshWildingNewsAndReviews/news/?a=60573

Come back again for my final Iron Man special, and be sure to check out the face book page at https://www.facebook.com/roughcutonline

G.I. Joe: Retaliation - the 3D effect explained

So a week or so ago Paramount moved the release date for the G.I. Joe sequel to March of next year (my birthday to be exact), claiming that they needed 9 months to add 3D (by reshooting the film entirely?). Deadline have now had word from an insider over what exactly influenced the decision, the biggest apparently being Channing Tatum. SPOILERS AHEAD!

According to the insiders G.I. Joe retaliation was originally scheduled for June 29^th merely because there was a slot free for the summer, when films usually make more money, which dictated “the film not being in 3D even though we knew that would be the most commercial version of the film”. Next came the poor performance from John Carter, taking in $72,523,731 domestically, but just over $200,000,000 internationally, helped by its 3D release. Combined with similar results we’re seeing from Battleship this “was just a wake-up call that said…we need to offer the best version of the film… to ensure the best possible performance”.

This we cold pretty much guess, 3D equals more money and early test screenings for the film questioned the lack of it, but a 9 month delay still seems long considering the 13 day move for the release of Clash of the Titans.

A possible reason, the rising star that is Channing Tatum. SPOILERS! “Channing Tatum had a breakout spring, starring in The Vow and 21 Jump Street. In our first screening of the film the reaction from audiences was good but with 2 big concerns: 1) They didn’t like the fact that Channing and The Rock really didn’t have any time to develop a friendship before Channing died”. The inside goes onto state that extra scenes were filmed between the characters, but still no time was left for 3D conversion. From the trailers and posters already available to watch you can barely tell Tatum was even in the film so presumably the large delay will add even footage involving Duke (possibly he will fall into a coma rather than die, then he can come back for the next sequel).

You can read the whole article here, http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/big-problems-behind-g-i-joe-2s-big-delay/, which goes into greater detail over the extra costs the company is likely to carry.

In other G.I. Joe news retailers have been asked to return toys based on the film to Hasbro. Variety has the full report here, http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118054684, but stores are most likely annoyed after discounting existing products to make room for stock they no longer have, though The Avengers line of products is still doing well enough to cover the extra space some managers stated.

LEGO Batman 2 - Gameplay Trailer

I liked the LEGO Star Wars games when they first came out, but thought they could be too short, and LEGO Indie was fun but a little boring at times. LEGO Batman though, released back in 2008, was the first game to feature an original story, as well as doubling the number of levels and offering a wider range of characters with their own unique moves and characteristics, and is my favourite. Out next month is the games sequel, with its first trailer revealing Superman as a playable character, and IGN has a host of new game play footage available for you to watch, the video below showing some more of Batman's Justice League team mates, Green Lantern, The Flash, & Wonder Woman. This isn't even the best part, the game is now open world with tasks and challenges scattered around for you to find (once you've unlocked the right character, costume, or gadget of course), split-screen makes a welcome return (as the environment is now large enough for it not to seem obtrusive), and for the first time ever, in the licensed games at least, the characters can talk (which hopefully will mean a LEGO Batman movie, like The Padawan Menace Star Wars special). A demo will hopefully arrive in the coming weeks and I'll be sure to let you know how it plays.

LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes is due for release on June 27th, but you can already enjoy the new toy line, be sure to look out for more game play footage.

Welcome to the Blog

Welcome to the first blog post for Rough Cut Online, I've decided for now that this could be a better place to rant than on the facebook page nobody visits. To celebrate this occasion here is the latest trailer for the tenth season of my favourite web series of all time, Red vs. Blue.

Though not official part of the Halo universe, Microsoft have commissioned Rooster Teeth on multiple occasions to promote tha latest release in the franchise, and Elijah Wood joins the voice cast as you can see in the trailer below, enjoy.



For those not familiar, the show is set in a fictional version Halo universe where two human teams battle for supremacy with comical results (including a spanish robot, time travel, and arguments over who's turn it is with the sniper rifle). Originally created by the Rooster Teeth team, adding scripted dialogue to footage recorded in Halo's multilayer mode (machinima), after nine seasons has started creating its own animations with a companion piece to the usual comedy with a more action orientated story about an elite covert ops group. You can still enjoy the show if you jump on from season 9, but I'd recommend watching from the very beginning and since the early episodes are only 3-5 minuets long it's like a mini movie. If only the would release the dvds over here, sigh...