Fan Rants

Well the Internets were abuzz yesterday with Super-Hero news!

Currently Sony is filming the reboot of the Spider-Man franchise. In the reboot we now have Andrew Garfield playing Peter Parker and now we see what he looks like in the Spidey suit (click through for larger image).

(courtesy of bleedingcool.com)

And next up is a great image of Captain America coming from Entertainment Weekly.

Related articles

• ‘Spider-Man’: First look at Andrew Garfield (herocomplex.latimes.com)

So this news came out yesterday, but dangit I have been busy! Andrew Garfield, most recently known for his appearance in The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, has been chosen as the new arachnid boy wonder. Frankly I don’t know much about him, but in that sense I am happy. Its better to have a relative unknown than someone to place expectations on. Here is the official press release from Sony:

CULVER CITY, Calif., July 1, 2010 – After a comprehensive worldwide casting search, Andrew Garfield has been chosen to portray Peter Parker when Spider-Man swings back onto the screen in 3D on July 3, 2012. The new film will begin production in early December directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt. Laura Ziskin and Avi Arad will produce the film from Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios.

Today’s confirmation culminates what has been one of the most eagerly anticipated casting announcements in recent memory. Bloggers, pop culture speculators, and everyday fans have pored over and analyzed every conceivable online rumor in an attempt to discover the identity of the next actor to play Peter Parker. Garfield will immediately begin preparing for the coveted role.

The Spider-Man franchise is one of the most successful in film history and the three previous motion pictures have collectively grossed more than $2.5 billion in worldwide box office.

On selecting Garfield, director Marc Webb said, “Though his name may be new to many, those who know this young actor’s work understand his extraordinary talents. He has a rare combination of intelligence, wit, and humanity. Mark my words, you will love Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker.”

Commenting on the announcement, Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Matt Tolmach, President of Columbia Pictures said, “Spider-Man is a classic superhero — a young man who balances his responsibility to serve humanity and crush evil with the shyness and normalcy of someone struggling to find himself. The role demands an extraordinary actor. You need someone who can magically transform himself from Peter Parker into Spider-Man. An actor who will depict the vulnerability of youth and the strength and confidence of a legendary figure at the same moment. We have found that actor in Andrew Garfield. From the first time we saw him in the upcoming film The Social Network, to his glorious screen test, which floored all of us, we knew that we had found our new Peter Parker.”

Producer Avi Arad added, “I’m incredibly excited about Andrew Garfield. In the Spider-Man tradition, we were looking for a smart, sensitive, and cool new Peter Parker who can inspire us and make us laugh, cry, and cheer. We believe we have found the perfect choice to take on this role and lead us into the future.”

Producer Laura Ziskin said, “We are thrilled to have Andrew Garfield for this new incarnation of Spider-Man under Marc Webb’s direction. We were fortunate enough to meet with a group of fantastically talented young men. In the end, we all agreed that in addition to being an extraordinary actor, Andrew had the right mix of humor, youth, and pathos, along with an underlying sense of strength and power necessary to bring Peter Parker and Spider-Man to life on screen.”

The selection of Garfield was revealed at a press event in Cancun, Mexico for international journalists attending a media tour promoting upcoming films from Sony Pictures Entertainment. B-roll footage of the announcement will be available via satellite later this evening — see uplink times coordinate information below.

Garfield is fast becoming one of the most respected and sought-after young actors working in the industry today. In a short career, spanning only five years, he has already been directed by, and starred alongside, some of the greatest names and received a BAFTA for a role that won him international praise.

Garfield most recently worked with director David Fincher on the upcoming film The Social Network. He previously starred for Spike Jonze on his robot love story I’m Here, which premiered at Sundance this year. He plays the lead male opposite Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan in Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go, due for release later this year.

Other notable screen credits include Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus playing opposite Christopher Plummer, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law and the late Heath Ledger, Robert Redford’s Lions For Lambs, where he starred alongside Redford, Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep; Revolution Films’ “Red Riding Trilogy – 1974” directed by Julian Jarrold, where he lead a stellar cast including Rebecca Hall and David Morrissey, and his unforgettable portrayal of a young ex-con in John Crowley’s “Boy A,” for which he earned the best actor BAFTA in 2008.

Garfield’s career began in theatre and in 2006 his performances in “Beautiful Thing” (Sound Space/Kit Productions), “The Overwhelming,” and “Burn / Chatroom / Citizenship” (Royal National Theatre) won him the Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer at the Evening Standard awards and the Jack Tinker Award for Most Promising Newcomer at the Critics Circle Theatre Awards. Other notable theatre credits include “Romeo and Juliet” (Manchester Royal Exchange) and “Kes” (Manchester Royal Exchange), for which he received the Most Promising Newcomer Award at the Manchester Evening News Awards 2004.

Well it has been an exhausting day at McCormick Place. Not only at the convention center but around town. And we really haven’t stopped until this weeks podcast was finished being recorded around 2am this morning.

The day started out well with a good breakfast and a lovely trip on the local bus to the convention center. Okay, strike that last part…our bus had someone previously throw up on it and it was NASTY smelling. But at least the breakfast was good before that. Welcome to Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (that’s me with my arms raised)!

I ran through most of the panels we attended today in individual posts. Overall we were impressed with the various companies and what they had to offer. All the comic publishers had some type of freebie to hand out. And DC really broke the bank by handing out about 15 of their newest comics, very cool!

At the Marvel booth we were graced by their editor in chief Joe Quesada. He was busy with an interview at the time but was very friendly with the fans. Oh, and they had some booth babes handing out comics and even Spider-Man showed up for a bit!

The Dark Horse booth had a special BPRD event going on, the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense from the Hellboy universe. We got honorary agent badges and pins. They also had Mike Mignola, creator of Hellboy and Guy Davis, one of the major artists in his books, signing items. Great couple of guys. Another cool item they had at the booth was a mini-bust from the TV show Dexter showing Dexter looking at a piece of evidence while holding a knife behind his back. This statue will be released this fall.

On one side of the show they also had two vehicles on display, the classic Batmobile and the Delorian from Back to the Future. Very cool displays even if poor Batman looked quite cold in this tights.

Kevin entered a raffle for a custom tattoo to be inked on Sunday. Unfortunately he did not win, but the money went to charity so its still kinda a win…even if it was my $5!

After a long day of hanging out at the convention center we headed out for some time on the town. I have to say Chicago is definitely growing on me, hope to spend more time here in the future.

Straight from the movie magazine Movieline, we have reports for the next Spider-Man movie installment, Spider-Man 4! As has been the case in the past, more villains in a movie is better…or at least that is what Hollywood tends to think. Personally I think the last Batman film showed the world that if you have a good story and a great actor, you don’t need to muddy the waters with extra bad guys.

But I digress…Movieline reports that John Malkovich is in talks to become the Vulture in the next arachnid installment. I certainly like John, and he doesn’t have to go far to look like the Vulture from the comic books. For those of you unenlightened, the Vulture is one of Spider-mans old school villains, an engineer inventor who designs a flight suit that allows him to soar above the rabble below, and enhances his strength dramatically. This could make for some excellent air combat as Spidey swings between buildings battling Malkovich.

Now comes the odd choice…apparently Anne Hathaway is looking to be in the film also, perhaps even as Felicia Hardy (known to the comic readers as the Black Cat). But the role that seems to be involved for her is a new character called the Vulturess. Really Marvel…can’t you come up with something better than that!?

Regardless I am still curious as to see what they are going to do with Curt Connors, played by Dylan Baker for the last two features. He eventually becomes a villain (misunderstood) called the Lizard in the comics. They gotta throw this guy a bone eventually! (no pun intended)