Walmart Leaks Avengers: Season One

Both Marvel and DC are always searching for new ways to attract fans of their respective movies and convert them into comic readers. This year, Marvel has focused a significant amount of attention on the Season One line of graphic novels. These standalone hardcovers offer streamlined, contemporary versions of early Silver Age adventures. So far, the Fantastic Four, Daredevil, X-Men, Spider-Man, Ant-Man, and Hulk have all received the Season One treatment, with Doctor Strange next in line.

Oddly, there is one strange omission in that lineup. What about the Avengers? Especially considering they just had an extremely popular movie, one would think Earth's Mightiest Heroes would be a natural fit for the Season One line. As it turns out, there is an Avengers: Season One in the works, and it's coming sooner than fans might expect.

Walmart's website revealed the book's existence over the weekend. It turns out that the retailer will be selling a special bundle that includes the Avengers Blu-ray and the Season One graphic novel. The set is listed with a $39.99 MSRP and is currently available for pre-order for $25 on the site. The release date in September 25, the same as the regular DVD/Blu-ray release.

Initially, the question was whether Avengers: Season One would actually offer an original story lie the others, or merely provide reprints of older Avengers material. But Peter David soon set the record straight on his blog:

Bleeding Cool announced yesterday that Marvel is releasing a special edition through Walmart of The Avengers on Blu-Ray and DVD, packaged with an all new, original “Avengers” graphic novel. But who (they wondered), WHO could possibly have been involved with the creation of it?

Yeah, uh, that would be me. One hundred page original Avengers graphic novel. I’ll let you find out the artist(s) on your own, but the entire story is by yours truly.

That still leaves a number of other questions, not least of which the identities of the art team. The cover illustration was rendered by Adi Granov, but did he also provide the interior art?Also unclear is the exact size and format of the graphic novel. Will it be a standard-trim hardcover like the rest of the Season One line, or will it be a smaller, cheaper volume with dimensions similar to the Blu-ray case? Will the book eventually be made available at other retailers or digitally? We expect that Marvel will have an official announcement forthcoming.

Thanks to Bleeding Cool for the original tip-off on this story.

Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and IGN Movies. He can't wait until he's old enough to feel ways about stuff. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Cronenberg: Not a Big Dark Knight Fan

David Cronenberg and Robert Pattinson are out and about promoting Cosmopolis, which means they're spending a good amount of their time not just talking about their movie but also getting hit with KStew and superhero questions. But Cronenberg ain't having it, and in particular he does not appear to be a big Batman fan… at all.

When asked whether he would consider making a superhero movie, Cronenberg responded as follows: "I don't think [directors] are making [superhero movies] an elevated art form. I think it's still Batman running around in a stupid cape. I just don't think it's elevated. Christopher Nolan's best movie is Memento, and that is an interesting movie. I don't think his Batman movies are half as interesting though they're 20 million times the expense. What he is doing is some very interesting technical stuff, which, you know, he's shooting IMAX and in 3D. That's really tricky and difficult to do. I read about it in American Cinematography Magazine, and technically, that's all very interesting. The movie, to me, they're mostly boring."

They're probably already burning him in effigy on some comic book movie forum somewhere, but Cronenberg doesn't stop there. When asked if he thinks "the subject matter prohibits the elevated art form," the helmer points to Hollywood as part of the problem.

"Anybody who works in the studio system has got 20 studio people sitting on his head at every moment, and they have no respect, and there's no… it doesn't matter how successful you've been," he says. "And obviously Nolan has been very successful. He's got a lot of power, relatively speaking. But he doesn't really have power."

Certainly Cronenberg knows the industry, and you can be sure he's had some crappy interactions with studio suits at one time or another. But his next quote paints him as being biased against comics in general, which sounds an awful lot like "Get off my lawn you darn kids" talk. That's disappointing from the guy who made films like The Fly and Videodrome -- not to mention A History of Violence, an R-rated adaptation of a comic.

"But a superhero movie, by definition, you know, it's comic book," he says. "It's for kids. It's adolescent in its core. That has always been its appeal, and I think people who are saying, you know, 'Dark Knight Rises is, you know, supreme cinema art,' I don't think they know what the f**k they're talking about."

All that said, he ends the conversation with the following: "As an actor, I would play Batman."

Now that's something I would love to see.

Via Next Movie

Talk to Movies Editor Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottIGN, on IGN and on Facebook.

Source : ign[dot]com

Doom 3 BFG Edition: More Horror-Action Than Horror-Survival

When it was first released in 2004, Doom 3 was terrifying. In part that was due to its dark corridors and seemingly endless amount of shock scares as demons spawned from the shadows. If you remember, Doom 3 was state-of-the-art back then, so much so that the remastered BFG Edition still looks really good. It was such an affecting game because, at the time, nothing else looked so authentic.

With the BFG Edition id Software has updated the base game, included the Resurrection of Evil expansion content as well as built in new levels, called The Lost Mission. The BFG Edition is also the first time Doom 3 will be available on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, so if you had a really sad PC in 2004 and never bothered with the original Xbox but pick this up, you'll no longer have to feel left out when your friends get into an argument about the Doom 3 flashlight mechanic.

Speaking of the Doom 3 flashlight mechanic, it's changing in the BFG Edition. Instead of forcing you to use either a flashlight or a gun, id lets you turn a flashlight on whenever you want. The flashlight has a limited charge so it can't stay on forever, but at least you don't need to put your weapon away to shine a light into the darkness. As id Software's Tim Willits recalls, the original flashlight mechanic was "not the best call." He said, "At the time [of its original launch], Doom 3 was pushing PCs to the max. We could not have had that dynamic light at the same time as all the weapon effects. But now we have lots of horsepower. But I've gotten some hate email about switching the flashlight. There have been some people that are pissed. It's kind of cool that care enough after so long to send me an email and say 'I can't believe you're screwing it up.'"

The new missions take place in Hell, where you shoot rockets and plasma pulses at screaming, charging demons as they attack wave after wave and you circle-strafe and hunt down health packs and armor to survive. It feels appropriately Doom-like, but even if you are very familiar with Doom 3, there'll still be some noticeable changes throughout.

"The whole world's a little bit brighter," said Willits. "We upped the player speed, upped the ammo counts, and just by doing those small things have pushed it more towards horror-action instead of horror-survival. One of the big criticisms [of the original] was that people spent way too much time hunting for ammo and not enough time shooting demons, which is what it's all about."

In 3D running on a PlayStation 3, Doom 3 looks surprisingly pretty and runs very smoothly. The 3D effects enhance the fights at times, particularly when you're in larger combat spaces and imps are throwing fireballs and you're returning rocket fire, giving the scene a noticeable sense of depth.

The BFG Edition will also include Doom 1 and 2, so if this is a series that you've somehow completely missed out on so far, the BFG Edition seems like the best way to catch up. It'll be available on October 16.

Id Software still will not comment on what's happening with Doom 4.

Source : ign[dot]com

Comic-Con: New Teenage Mutant Ninja Cast and Creator Promise "It’s Made By Fans for Fans"

It’s a daunting task to take on a popular, long-standing franchise like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The fan base is huge, and there’s a certain amount of pressure that goes with bringing something that big back. Executive producer Ciro Nieli and the voice cast – Rob Paulsen (Donatello), Greg Cipes (Michelangelo), Sean Astin (Raphael), and Jason Biggs (Leonardo) – spoke with IGN at Comic-Con to discuss the support they’ve been receiving and what it’s like to be a part of a new TMNT series.

The friendship between everyone, especially the guys voicing the Turtles, was apparent. Paulsen is thrilled to be back and working on this project again. He provided the voice for Raphael in the original series and is playing Donatello this time around. Regarding the gig, he remarked, “It’s really fantastic. The interesting thing about the first go round is that none of us had any idea that it was going to turn out to be this 25 years later. And now, with this batch [of fellow actors], I’ve got guys who are already established. I’ve known Gregory Cipes for years, and we have two bona fide movie stars. It’s been a hell of a run; I’m a very lucky man.”

Astin said the fact that they all really like each other makes creating the series a blast. He said the show has heart behind it from the actors to the crew: “They have heart with it. Decisions get made, someone wants to go in a different direction or they’re not happy with this particular thing – there’s no negativity about adjustments. Everyone is,  the chain of command – it’s just a well run show. It’s organized, disciplined, the writers deliver on time for everybody. It makes it easier, and the temperament just makes its fun.”

The recording sessions sound like an enjoyable place to be, and the overall tone seems to match that. Clips show a lighthearted series. Nieli confirmed that it wouldn’t be all laughs though. “I feel like its split kind of equally. A lot of what’s happening just with publicity is that we’re trying to get the lighter stuff out there but the shows have deep moments throughout, episodically.”

No matter which tone he takes with the series, TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman is part of the stories, directly or otherwise. Nieli said, “You know, I always go back to his comics so he’s at the heart of it whether we talk to him or not. I run stuff by him, and every once in a while he gives me – almost through osmosis – I get inside of the characters and who they are. Like, I was having trouble trying to figure out Casey Jones, and he said something to me that just made so much sense.”

Nieli and others working on the series are big TMNT fans. Paulsen and Biggs both emphasized that it was important for the viewers to understand that about the series. Paulsen said,  “One of the things that’s really important for the audience to know is that the folks who are creating the show and putting it together all grew up watching our show and reading the comics, so they get it. In other words, you could argue that they get it more than the people who made the first cartoon show.”

Biggs added, “It’s made by fans for fans. It’s not like a new venture where you’ve got people coming in who are unfamiliar with the series, and everyone’s kind of learning as they go. This is established, and these guys are such fans of it. They are respecting the original franchise and bringing their own new cool designs and ideas and stories to it.”

Paulsen summed it up best by saying that it’s an “absolute joy” it was to be a part of this series. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will premiere on Nickelodeon on September 29.

Source : ign[dot]com