New Captain America Photo From The Avengers Film

With Superman, The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers in production right now, there has been a constant photo journal of the all the action taking place.

I am really trying to stay away. Yes, every now and then I do take a look, but over all I am staying away.

However, today we have a really good shot of Chris Evans as Captain America. And I wanted to see the new suit.

Also if you follow this link to SHH you'll see that the enemy is______ in a motion capture suit.

So The Avengers are definitely fighting something fun.

Oh boy...Summer 2012 will be a good one.

Happy Tuesday.

'Dark' Days Ahead for the Avengers

What makes me feel like a kid? Super team crossovers and team selection issues.

There are only two ways to properly conduct a selection process for entry on a super team: 1) One or more iconic heroes stand around a table and look at pictures or cards with mug shots of the would-be allies. 2) Same process, but all of the photos appear on an IMAX-sized monitor (when one is removed from the running, the picture does not disappear—it is covered with a capital ‘X’).

Marvel hosted one of their “Next Big Thing” press conferences—this one on the Brian Michael Bendis’ Avengers/New Avengers crossover storyline called “Hammer War.” Norman Osborn is out of prison and decides to go on the straight and narrow—just kidding! Nope, he immediately puts a new Dark Avengers team with new villains with Avengers-likenesses; there will be evil versions of Hulk, Thor, Spidey, Hawkeye and Iron-Man. What else makes me feel like a kid? Superhero teams going up against supervillain teams!

D23 to Feature 'Avengers' Panel

Marvel and Disney appear to be a match made in heaven. Both companies appear to have a penchant for being able to instill debilitating anticipation.

Today the Mouse House confirmed that their D23 Expo would include an Avengers presentation featuring some of the cast of next summer’s film on hand; all of the movie panels will occur on August 20th. I would suspect that Disney is going to put on a pretty special presentation for next summer’s comic book film, but it’s going to have to be pretty spectacular to top last year’s on-stage appearance of the entire cast and director Joss Whedon.

But that was before filming took place.

Avengers Movie Sneak Peek And Shot By Shot Images

Today Marvel and Disney have released the quasi-teaser for next years Avengers film. They have also released the shot by shot images.

Please enjoy.

SDCC '11: Marvel Releases 'Avengers' Concept Art

Our first good look at Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye.

We got a quick (very, very quick) glimpse of most of the Avengers in action in the teaser to next summer's The Avengers after the credit role in Captain America: The First Avenger. But here we have a better look at the concept art for the characters that Marvel released yesterday.

Captain America's costume gets less of an army fatigue look, and looks even more like his Ultimate Universe counterpart. The biggest change, according to the teaser seems to be Thor, whose costume is an amalgamation of his film costume and the Ultimate Thor look. I'll be interested to see if there are many changes to the look of the Hulk, who is played by Mark Ruffalo in the film.

The Avengers is set to assemble on May 4, 2012.

Christ Evans gets an updated look as Captain America.

If it's not broke (and still tight) don't fix it. Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow.

Iron Man appeared to have a new chest plate in the teaser trailer.

SDCC '11: 'Avengers' Teaser Poster Released in Time for Comic Con

Spoiler Alert!

For about twenty magical minutes on Sunday night, I was able watch and rewatch the Avengers teaser that is expected to be tacked onto the end of Captain America: The First Aveneger. I'm hopeful that a High Definition version of the teaser featuring the cast in some brief moments of actions. There was Iron Man (Rober Downey, Jr.) in his new armor, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) looking more his Ultimate counterpart, Captain America (Chris Evans) in a more contemporary costume, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson), Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders). And there was the great opening phrase: Some. Assembly. Required.

Spinoff reported today that Joss Whedon, Clark Gregg and Evans would be signing autographs on Thurday and Saturday at Comic Con. So for now, we have no teaser trailer to watch. But we do have this shiny new Avengers teaser poster that was released today by Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures.

The Avengers bursts into theaters on May 4, 2012.

'Avengers' Teaser Trailer

Spoiler Alert!

So it looks like we will be getting our first peak at 2012's The Avengers after the credits of Captain America: The First Avenger. The very low-quality clip does not give anything away really, but oh boy, does it have us excited.

The Avengers is scheduled for release on May 4, 2012.

Marvel Teases: The Mighty

Marvel has released their second teaser of the day, this time relating to Fear Itself. We've already seen all of The Serpent's Worthy and now we'll be getting their opponents: The Mighty. It appears these characters will be supercharged by Odin in order to take on The Worthy.

Most of these silhouette seem obvious but there's bound to be some trickery going on. Here's my best guess at the characters from Left to Right: Ms. Marvel, Iron First, Dr. Strange, Iron Man, Sif, Wolverine, Spider-Woman, Hawkeye, and Spider-Man (the main Avengers team plus Sif).

I know that a lot of fans are going to groan and gripe and accuse Marvel of being taken over by their Disney overlords and forced to make their characters look like they jumped out of Tron: Legacy but, personally, this image gets me extremely excited. I think we're about to see some of the most epic brawls in the history of the Marvel Universe in the next few months.

Max Beckman is a manager at Pulp Fiction in Long Beach, CA and CheapGraphicNovels.com. You can follow him on Twitter @CheapGNsdotcom and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pulpfictioncomics. Pulp Fiction can be found on the web at www.pulpfictiononline.com and at 1742 Clark Ave. Long Beach, CA 90815.

SDCC '11: The Avengers Will Not Assemble in Hall H This Year

Marvel Studios officially announced today that they will not hold a panel in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con this year to promote The Avengers, reports Geoff Boucher of the LA Times Hero Complex Blog. The studio wowed all in attendance at last year's panel (including yours truly) by assembling the entire cast and director Joss Whedon on stage and together for the first time (pictured above*), but this year the studio "wasn’t prepared to compete with its own past and wild fan expectations."

Despite the lack of Hall H programming, Marvel Studios promises a strong presence throughout the rest of the convention including a booth on the exhibit hall floor as the studio opens Captain America: The First Avenger the Friday of the convention (July 22, 2011). Boucher theorizes that the studio may, however, have a presence at parent company Disney's D23 Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center on August 19-21 and that this may be the reason they bowed out of Hall H.

Marvel fans feeling the lack of Marvel movie presence at SDCC can still look forward to Sony's presentation of their 2012 offering The Amazing Spider-Man starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone.

*(Pictured Left to Right: Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man/Tony Stark), Clark Gregg (Agent Phil Coulson), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Chris Evans (Captain America/Steve Rogers), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye/Clint Barton), Mark Ruffalo/Hulk), director Joss Whedon, and President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige)

Max Beckman is a manager at Pulp Fiction in Long Beach, CA and CheapGraphicNovels.com. You can follow him on Twitter @CheapGNsdotcom and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pulpfictioncomics. Pulp Fiction can be found on the web at www.pulpfictiononline.com and at 1742 Clark Ave. Long Beach, CA 90815.

First 'Avengers' Promtional Poster Appears Online

Bleeding Cool got their hands on a promotional image for 2012’s Avengers film, which features Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Hawkeye and Black Widow jumping into action. While the art look more like something that might adorn a Trapper Keeper file (do they still make those?), this is our first official glimpse of promotional artwork from the film.  As promised Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) looks more like his Ultimate Universe counterpart (sans the cool goggles). Cap (Chris Evans) appears to also be wearing a costume which is akin to his Ultimate duds.

The Avengers soars into theaters on May 4, 2012.

The Avengers Film May Have a HUGE Villain

There are tons of rumors going around...and after seeing Thor we can all pretty much assume that one of the villains is Loki....but per Latino Review....

See Spoiler after the jump

'Avengers' Script Available to the Highest (and Most Naive) Bidder

Nick Fury would have never let this happen.

According to Obsessed with Film someone claiming to have a hard copy of Samuel L. Jackson’s Avengers script is putting it up for sale to the highest bidder. Which begs the question, how dumb would you have to be to attempt to publicly sell property that does not belong to you? Add this to the equation—the property belongs to Disney.

Consider that a few months ago, when the site Comic Book Movie put up a review of the Thor script, Paramount lawyers convinced the site to take down review within an hour of its posting. Remember the guy who posted the rough cut of X-Men Origins: Wolverine to a file sharing program? He was sued for $250,000.00 and faced up to three years in prison.

Matt Holmes at OWF noted in his post:

“If I were to do a review of the new shooting script for The Avengers and it was exclusive to OWF, the boost in traffic would probably kill our server on that particular day but then what happens after that? Disney, one of the biggest corporations in the world will send me a cease and desist letter within 24 hours, the article will then be removed and we will be left with The Avengers script we paid several thousands of pounds for (I’m presuming that’s how much someone will pay but in reality I have no idea) that we can’t talk about.”

Holmes is right about cease and desist letter—but it would probably be received within 24 minutes. I can’t imagine what kind of money the script “owner” thinks he could rake in that would outweigh the ringer Disney’s lawyers could put him through. I say, just read it, sit on it and keep it as a prized momento on your book shelf.

And if you’re a little curious about the script, OFM did take a picture of one of the authentic looking pages that features Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow and Bruce Banner. It’s a brief scene, but it got me excited for what we’re going to get from Joss Whedon’s big superhero pic.

Please Don't Spoil My Movies!

I knew of a big end credits scene when I saw Iron Man,
but I had no idea how big!

Do you like to be spoiled?

Generally I do not mind reading spoilers as long as they are on my terms—and it can never be about a movie that I plan to see. If I’m not planning to see a movie I’ll ask you to spoil everything—partly because I’m curious and partly because I love the trepidation on the person’s face. “Are you sure?” the person asks, certain they’re breaking some unwritten celluloid law.

'The Avengers' Began Filming Today! Wait. Who's the Villain Anyway?

The cast of The Avengers at 2010's San Diego Comic-Con.

The day Joss Whedon has anticipated—and feared—has finally arrived: the first day of shooting on The Avengers.

Jerry and I had one of our diversions on the podcast this week and my co-host said something that struck me—there seems to be a veil of secrecy when it comes to next summer’s big, ambitious summer adventure. Until this point we have only heard rumors and conjecture as to who the villain is.

Bachalo Joins Bendis on 'Avengers' for 'Fear Itself' Tie-In

While I have been reading Avengers for the last year since its relaunch, I have not been loving it. Part of it has been due to Brian Michael Bendis’ apparent desire to throw everything-but-the-kitchen-sink into the action. Unfortunately, I haven’t found John Romita, Jr. to be a good fit for the title because I don’t believe his strength is big action set pieces. I’m happy to see Chris Bachalo taking on the Fear Itself tie-in arc beginning with issue #13. His current run on X-Men has been some of the best work of his career and, based on these preview pages, he seems like a great fit for Avengers and the big, fun stories that Bendis has been aiming for.

Alan Davis—who draws a great Thor—will provide the cover for the series during this run.

What's Next After 2012's Big 'Avengers' Film? Go Bigger.

Where does Marvel Studios plan to go after releasing next summer’s Avengers pic?

They plan to go bigger, naturally. IGN got their hands on an interview with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige that is going to be published in Disney’s magazine D23.

Feige hints at what is next on the horizon for Marvel after The Avengers. He says that the film will be a re-launching point for the established characters that inhabit the film, namely Captain America, Iron Man and Thor. It will be interesting to see what is thrown at the team in their first outing, because if it really is the Skrulls or Loki (as has been rumored), the world these characters inhabit would become steeped significantly more in the mystical and sci-fi.

Bendis and Hitch on 'Avengers' 12.1

Month in and month out I have knocked Brian Michael Bendis’ Avengers title—that’s the one with the all the classic and mainstream characters: Cap, Iron Man, Thor, Spider-Man, Wolverine, and all the rest.

From the outset the book hasn’t clicked with me for a couple of reasons. It’s been due in part to the art by John Romita, Jr., who I don’t feel is up for a big, bombastic, high-octane adventure book. My other problem is that Bendis has tried too hard to make the book a big, bombastic, high-octane adventure book.

Every time I decide, maybe this is the month I drop it, I get remind myself that this is one of those Marvel cornerstone books that sets up stories that may have repercussions in other stories. I decided I would continue reading through the current storyline involving the Hood’s acquisition of the dreaded Infinity gems, then I might decide to stop picking it up.

Until today.

Bryan Hitch is drawing the 0.1 issue this April and I love what I am seeing. I’m certain Marvel has been reading this blog and listening to our podcast and has decided to pay Hitch a mint to keep this disappointed reader!

'Avengers' Shoots in Cleveland (and a Few Rumors)

The Avengers is readying to assemble its big bad self around the country. The latest city to get its shot to be shot in the 2012 blockbuster is Cleveland. Drew Carey must be so happy.

Spinoff is reporting that after tax-incentive deals fell through in Michigan, Director Joss Whedon and company got the deal they were looking for in Ohio. Filming is set to begin in New Mexico this April at Albuquerque Studios, followed by shoots in Cleveland and New York City (yay Big Apple).

Spoiler Alert (seriously consider not reading on):

Cobie Smulders is Maria Hill

This just in Cape Town Commuters...

Per Variety the 'How I Met Your Mother' star will be playing S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Maria Hill in 'The Avengers'.

Not sure how I feel about this one...but I am sure when all is said and done everything will come together nicely.

The Avengers is being directed by Joss Whedon and is scheduled for release in the summer of 2012.

PS: Smulders was also one of Whedon's top choices for Wonder Woman. Maybe he feels he owes her one.

Maria Hill or Sharon Carter, Who Will Be (Side) Kickin' it With Nick Fury?

Baccarin certainly has an uncanny resemblance to Marvel's Maria Hill.

Behind every great hero, there’s a great sidekick. And Nick Fury is need of some assistance as he travels around the Marvel Universe setting up deals to join Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

Samuel L. Jackson, who plays the famed one-eyed, double-barreled, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., announced on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon this week that he would be screen testing a handful of women for the role of sidekick this week (see interview after the jump). Who said sidekick is remains a mystery, but there are a couple of likely candidates.