Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - official trailer. Warning: potential spoilers!

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

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Just the other day, I stunned mankind by posting the trailer for the Thor movie that's currently thrilling the cinemas of the world.

However, in the wake of all that, it was pointed out to me that there's another Marvel trailer on the loose.

And that's for Wakanda Forever, the Black Panther movie that, for obvious reasons, is going to have to get by without its titular character.

Can it pull that off?

Judging by the trailer, it looks like it can, with Angela Bassett, in particular, happy to give it some welly.

I must confess I've still not seen the first Black Panther movie yet and, so, can pass no judgment upon either its style or its quality but this one looks like it's going to be highly dramatic and its trailer's noticeably devoid of the flippancy that defined the Thor one.

I'm assuming, from it, that Wakanda and Atlantis are going to find themselves at war with each other. I also assume that'll be down to the Machiavellian machinations of some villain or other.

Either way, it's good to see the Sub-Mariner finally turning up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, complete with green swimming trunks. And for him to have his trident with him - even if it seems to only have one prong.

Does that make it a unident?

Frankly, I have no idea.

Thor: Love and Thunder! With added Lou Ferrigno!

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

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By Heimdall's bushy beard! It's come to my attention that Marvel Entertainment's just released the trailer for its latest masterpiece Thor: Love and Thunder!

Can it live up to the standards of previous Norse adventures?

Who knows? I thought the first Thor movie was OK, I can remember nothing of the second - other than that Christopher Eccleston was in it - and I've still not got round to seeing the third one.

Admittedly, when I say, "just released," it seems the trailer actually came out a full month ago and the film's knocking 'em dead in cinemas, even as I type. But what's this? It seems it's not going down too well with audiences or critics?

Looking at the trailer, it does feel like it's gone a bit overboard on humour, and those fonts do look a bit He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. But who can judge a film by its trailer?

Regardless of any of that, we have solace because, even if the critics prove to be right, we have our memories of a real Thor movie. The one that co-starred the Hulk.

After all, who can forget the first time those two titans met on screen - way back in 1988 - when films were so awesome they didn't need the magic of competent special effects to entrance the public?

Screen Junkies hasn't forgotten it. In fact, right below, is where the channel reminds us how that masterpiece went.

Strangely, in retrospect, the feel of that movie doesn't seem that different from the direction modern Marvel movies are going in. Clearly, it was a work that was ahead of its time.

 

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Official trailer. (Spoilers ahoy!)

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

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By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth! Mere days ago, Marvel Studios unleashed the trailer for its latest venture into cinematic carnage, with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Can it ever hope to live up to the excitement of Eternals? Only time will tell.

The first thing that hits me, from it, is that Cambuslang Splungiepatch is still doing his, "Hugh Laurie is House," voice. I must confess it's a fact which aggravates me greatly, as he sounds all wrong doing it. For that matter, why is he even doing it? If any American Marvel character could get away with having an English accent it's Dr Strange. It's not like he's Captain America or The Thing who'd sound ridiculous with an English accent.

The second thing that strikes me is it's massively CGI-heavy. Given the nature of the character, that's inevitable but the question is always can CGI ever genuinely be compelling?

The third thing that strikes me is it would appear we get a bus fight between the sorcerer supreme and Shuma-Gorath, which is not a thing I ever thought I'd live to see. Still, I'm always happy to have a bit of Lovecraftian vehicle-flinging in my life.

And the fourth thing that strikes me is it's directed by Sam Raimi. As I loved Raimi's first two Spider-Man films, it gives me great pleasure to see him being let loose on an official Marvel Studios movie.

The Scarlet Witch is in it but I managed to totally miss WandaVision So, that doesn't really provoke any great emotional response in me.

What does provoke a response is my assumption that the character who shows up at the end is Nightmare. I've always loved Nightmare and will be highly delighted if it is indeed he.

But wait! What's that? Halfway through the trailer? The mystery voice? Could it belong to the star of a certain franchise that exists in the strange and alien dimension they know as The 20th Century Foxyverse? And, if so, how does it affect the already tangled continuity of that series?

Only you can decide.

Well, no, admittedly, you can't. And neither can I. Only the big film studios can decide that. What we can do is decide whether we like it or not.

And we can do that in the comments section below.

Flo Steinberg RIP, plus the SDCC Thor, JLA and Inhumans trailers (Potential Spoilers)

Fabulous Flo Steinberg by Lopaka42
[CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

It's a strange thing how you can find yourself feeling attached to someone you know almost nothing about but, thanks to that mysterious phenomenon, it was oddly saddening to learn, a couple of days ago, of the death of Fabulous Flo Steinberg, Marvel Comics' legendary Corresponding Secretary of the 1960s.

It was Flo who answered fan mail, dealt with enthusiasts who visited the office in the hopes of seeing where the magic was created and acted as intermediary between Stan Lee and the company's various freelancers.

Not only that but, in 1975, she became a key figure in the rise of indie comics when she published the infamously ribald mag Big Apple Comix, using the services of such industry titans as Neal Adams, Al Williamson and Wally Wood.

For  a woman so closely associated with the heyday of Marvel, she was there for a surprisingly short amount of time, from 1963 to 1968 but she clearly made her mark, becoming a household name for all readers of that company's output.

In the 1990s, she returned to Marvel, as a proofreader and continued to do such work up until her death.

It probably says it all that her demise made The Daily Express, The Mail and The Daily Mirror, and it's hard to think of any other comics company secretary who could manage such a feat.

Her other great claim to fame was, of course, acting as link woman on the Voices of Marvel Comics record from the 1960s and if you've never heard it or her magnificently Bostonian tones, you can find that very recording by clicking on this very link here.

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In lighter news, a few days ago, it was the San Diego Comics Convention, an event that, if it works hard at it, looks fair set to rival the Sheffield Comics Convention one day.

And that can mean only one thing.

That a whole bunch of trailers were released for display at that very get-together.

Obviously, all sane people only care that a trailer for the Doctor Who Christmas special was unleashed. However, even I've grasped that, this being a comics blog, I should probably concentrate instead on the Marvel and DC trailers that were debuted.

The big ones were the latest trailers for Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League.

Of the two, you can't get round it, Thor:Ragnarok looks like a way better movie. In fact, the trailer contains just about everything you could ever want from a Thor movie - including a total lack of Odin - and the closing moment has to be surely the awesomest shot ever included in a super-hero flick.

Not only that but it turns out that Hela's antlers move.

This is the second Thor trailer now where my main concern has been with Hela's antlers. I can only conclude that I should only ever watch films about reindeers.

I must also confess that, every time we see Hela spin round, I start wanting her to start singing the old Wonder Woman TV theme tune. I'm the sort of man who knows how to wreck any film.

Regardless of all that, my incredible magic powers tell me this film will probably be a walloping great big hit.

In contrast, I have to say the Justice League film looks about as much fun as filling in your tax return but I am intrigued to find out why it seems to feature a member of the Borg in it.

Granted, I do suspect he's not really a member of the Borg and that the film doesn't involve a crossover with the new Star Trek show that's on its way. I also suspect that if I were any kind of comics blogger, I'd know full well who he is, but I don't. The truth is I am a kind of comics blogger. A useless kind.

We've also had the release of a new Inhumans trailer and I have to say I'm still not feeling it. In this one, we get to see Medusa's hair moving, which is an improvement on the previous trailer but, otherwise, the project's still leaving me cold. I also feel that putting Rag 'n' Bone Man on the soundtrack is such an obvious (and an already clichéd) thing to do that it merely has the effect of exacerbating the gnawing sense of a lack of inspiration about the project.

But those are just my opinions and may well be wrong. The trailers are below and you can share your thoughts on them if you so wish, or not share them if you do so not wish. As always, there is no pressure upon you to do either.

The Black Panther movie trailer.

By the chilling mists of Serpent Valley! Is there no end to how many super-hero movies we can take?

Seemingly not - because, hot on the heels of eighty five billion and one other comic book adaptations, we've now been blessed with a teaser trailer for Marvel's Black Panther.

Well, the last Marvel trailer I saw was the one for Thor: Ragnarok. Given that the Panther is noticeably more Earthbound than the thunder god, can this possibly hope to live up to that for thrills, chills and spills?

Here's were we find out...



Well, that was all every nice, wasn't it? It all looked suitably photogenic in the way you'd expect it to. Otherwise, it's hard to have an opinion really. As far as I can see, all we really learn from it is that the Black Panther is in it and Wakanda is in it. Call me psychic but I sort of took those two things for granted.

But what else is in it?

Is Killmonger in it?

Is Baron Macabre in it?

Is Monica Lynne in it?

Is that bloke who's in the chair, talking about Wakanda, Klaw before his transformation?

I have no idea.

All that apart, my main impression from watching the teaser is of a strange and annoying visual gloom. It has to depict the most underlit sequence of events I've seen since Aliens v Predator 2, a film that was so dark that we had to take their word for it that there were actually even any aliens and predators in it. I trust the entire movie won't be shot in such gloom and that the scenes where they remembered to turn the lights on simply failed to make it into the trailer.

Still, if the trailer doesn't really tell us anything, there's nothing in it that sets the alarm bells ringing. For instance, there's no sign of Jack Kirby's Black Musketeers or of King Solomon's Frog.

Then again, there's no sign of Hatch-22 or whatever he was called, who I would love to see show up in a Marvel movie.

But, good grief. I'm so stupid that I've only just realised that, "Hatch-22," is a pun on, "Catch-22."

Then again, it took me forty years to realise, "The Cod War," was a pun on, "The Cold War." How different the past seems when you suddenly realise these things.

Thor: Ragnarok, New Teaser Trailer (SPOILERS!).

By Niffleheim's nifty nipples, it's time for me to stumble into a Nordic cave, bash a gnarled stick against a wall and unleash my mystical blogging powers - because Marvel Entertainment have unleashed the teaser trailer for their upcoming epic, Thor Ragnarok.

I must confess I have mixed feelings about the Thor films we've been given so far. I greatly enjoyed the first one, which I found to be far lighter on its feet than I'd expected but the second one mostly left me confused and bored. I still don't have a clue who the bad guys were, where they came from, what their plan was or how they got to wherever it was that they'd got to. For that matter, I didn't even know where they were.

Still, I enjoyed Iron Man 3 more than Iron Man 2, so perhaps the same pattern will occur with the thunder god's movie career?

As for the trailer itself, I'm not overly excited about his clash with the Hulk. We've already had that in The Avengers and I was kind of taking it for granted we'd see another punch-up from them at some point.

Call me a grizzled old fashionista but I must confess that what really excites me about the trailer is that Hela gets to wear her big fancy hat.

I know that finding such a detail the most thrilling thing in a trailer that's packed with incident and Led Zeppelin makes me the saddest man alive but, I mean, come on, as fancy hats go, that's the fanciest - and it'd make a great place to hang your washing from when you need to get it dry in a hurry. If I were a death deity - which I still hold out high hopes of one day becoming - I would definitely wear a hat like that.

Is it my imagination or is Chris Hemsworth sounding more Australian with each film he does? At this rate, by the next Avengers movie, he'll be talking like Steve Irwin and riding into battle on the back of a kangaroo.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on the matter. If you have opinions on the whole thing, you are, of course, free to share them in the comments box below.

If you don't have opinions on the whole thing, you're free to share that too. That's the kind of blog this is. One that stirs up apathy at every opportunity.

Logan movie trailer (possible spoilers).

Mere days ago, I rewatched X-Men: Days of Future Past, thanks to some channel or other showing it and, even though I'm still not sure it all makes any real sense, I do - thanks to its likeable characters - still find it enjoyable.

But that sounds like a cue to watch the trailer for the latest X-Men film, which is called Logan which is possibly the least exciting title for a film since John Carter.

Clearly, with it starring everyone's favourite walking cutlery set, it's unlikely to suffer the same box office death as that movie did. But, given that other Wolverine movies haven't always gone down well, just how does it promise to do?

There's only one way to find out.

And that's to press the Play button...



I have to say that's one of the most uninteresting movie trailers I've ever seen. So, basically, it's an X-Men film that doesn't have any mutants in it and seems to have been made by a director who's suicidally depressed. Also, there's a girl in it but we don't know who she is or why she's important - assuming she is important - and she doesn't get to say anything, and it's anyone's guess if there's any decent bad guys in the film or what's at stake or why or how.

On the plus side, it does have Johnny Cash's Hurt playing all the way through it but that does have the effect of making the trailer look like it's nothing more than an alternative video for the song. Unfortunately, that just makes you realise how much more interesting the original video for that song is when compared to the trailer.

Of course, this apparent dullness won't prevent me from watching it when I get the chance, just like I've watched the other Wolverine films. But it doesn't fill me with hope that there's actually anything in the film that'd make it worth watching.

I now sit here secure in the knowledge that it'll get rave reviews from the critics and be the most commercially successful X-Men movie ever; proving once more that, when it comes to judging film trailers, I don't have a clue what I'm talking about.

First Official, "Spider-Man: Homecoming," trailer!

Hooray! Marvel have released the first official trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming. And, with skills to match any super-villain, I have, by some means, managed to steal a copy and smuggle it onto this site.

Well, OK, I admit it, I found it because Edo Bosnar pointed it out on the Back In The Bronze Age blog and I simply followed his link. Thank you, Edo.

My first thoughts are that it all looks fun and lively and it's good to see Spider-Man integrated into the Marvel Universe for the first time in cinema history.

Not only that but Aunt May manages to get through the trailer without having a heart attack. I am, though, somewhat disappointed by the shortage of Marisa Tomei in it. I hope this isn't reflective of a lack of screen time for Peter's glamorous granny in the actual film.

Spider-Man looks and sounds like he should. I especially like the underarm webbing when he, "flies." That takes me back to my early comics-reading days.

Is that person with the wings the Vulture? If so, I'm not convinced about the design for him, though I accept it must be difficult to get the Vulture right on screen. Just showing him as an weedy, old, bald bloke might, admittedly, provoke more amusement than awe amongst a theatre audience.

Liz Allen looks rather fetching (I'm assuming she is Liz Allen and just not some random girl who just happens to be called Liz).

I do worry there's a lack of angst in the trailer and that the tone might be a little too knowing and too flippant. After all, where would Peter Parker be without monumental levels of self-pity?

Most of all, I love that it uses Time to Pretend by MGMT all the way through, because I've always been a sucker for it.

Those are my thoughts. You might have others. If so, feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

Wonder Woman. Latest trailer. Possible spoilers.

Hooray! The entire world's talking about the release of Benelux Crumblethumblethatch's Dr Strange movie!

That can only mean one thing!

That I'm sat here looking at the latest Wonder Woman trailer!

No wonder they call me, "The man the Zeitgeist bypassed."

Still, I have to say it all looks rather super. I do approve of the World War One setting, which lends her a certain timeless quality, and it all looks to have an appealing visual style - although I hope there'll be more to it than just, "Wonder Woman fights World War One," as that would be a little lacking in doings of a superhuman nature for my liking.

I like that Wonder Woman has a non-American accent. I like that the film appears to mix drama with humour, with a bit of real-world social history thrown in.

So, so far, I declare that it looks promising and like it might be a good deal more entertaining than some recent DC offerings have been.

I must confess, though, that I did get a bit over-excited when I saw those white cliffs and thought it meant the Amazons live in Dover.

Tragically, subsequent shots in the trailer would suggest they don't.

I have now cancelled my holiday in Dover.

More new movie trailers! Justice League and Suicide Squad!

It's certainly a busy time for trailer fans lately. Just two days ago, I was looking at the new promo videos for Dr Strange and Wonder Woman, and now, lucky me, I get to do it all over again.

This time, the trailers are for Justice League and Suicide Squad. So, don't read beyond this point if you don't want to be spoilerised.




Having taken a look at them, I have to say they both look somewhat less promising than the Dr Strange and Wonder Woman movies.

The Justice League one seems to be the better of the two but still feels somewhat lazy and dull with no hint at all as to just what menace it is they're going to be facing. Call me overly-conventional but I do feel that super-hero trailers should make some sort of effort to create the impression that there's actually some sort of peril to our heroes or to others. The trailer's total lack of such menace creates the impression that they're just going to spend the whole movie stood around saying hello to each other. I suspect that may not be the case and that there must be some degree of threat involved at some point in the proceedings.

The portrayal of the Flash looks like it's going to get annoying quite quickly. On the other hand, it's good to see Conan playing Aquaman.

I know I'm going to invite the wrath of all sane humans but, overall, viewing it felt eerily like watching that Justice League TV movie of about twenty years ago; only, shot with more style.

Having said that, I actually enjoyed the Justice League TV movie of about twenty years ago, so maybe I shouldn't complain.

As for Suicide Squad, other than the presence of Will Smith, there's nothing in the trailer that gives me any reason to want to see the movie. It all has a sense of random pointlessness about it that suggests intellectual waywardness on behalf of those who bankrolled it.

Its only other point of interest to me is that Margot Robbie's in it and she used to be in Neighbours and I always find it strangely exciting to see people from Neighbours turn up in American TV shows and movies. The power of Jim Robinson to turn up in seemingly everything over the years has always been a source of wonder to me.

Anyway, that's just my opinion. If you have thoughts on the two movies, feel free to express them in the comments box below.

New movie trailers! Wonder Woman and Dr Strange!

No one could accuse me of not keeping my ear to the ground when it comes to the latest movies. Hence it's only taken me five years to get round to watching the first Thor movie, which I enjoyed a fair bit, especially the portrayal of Loki.

Therefore, it's come to my attention that, yesterday, new trailers for two upcoming comic book movies hit YouTube and certain other places. One was the new plug for Wonder Woman and the other was for Dr Strange.

So, let's take a look at those trailers. If you don't want to be spoilerised, don't read on past this point.




Having taken a look at them, I am intrigued by the fact that Wonder Woman takes place in World War One, which somehow feels a more interesting setting than the World War Two milieu that I grew up with and it clearly provides for some dramatic shots.

On the other hand, I hope the entire film isn't just going to be, "Wonder Woman fights World War One," which may prove to be something of a waste of the character's potential for getting into fantastical scrapes.

I also worry that, apart from the vaguely annoying ending, I don't see a lot of characterisation going on in the trailer. I hope we're not going to get a totally by-the-numbers portrayal of our dashing dominatrix and her flyboy boyfriend.

The Dr Strange movie, I'm not sure about. I do feel that Benilux Slumberparty should have been allowed to keep his English accent, as Dr Strange is one of the few Marvel heroes who could work as an Englishman. Plus, I can't hear him do, "American," without thinking of Hugh Laurie in House.

Also, the visuals look to be somewhat lacking in the weirdness I'd like to see from a Dr Strange movie. I see, for instance, no echoes of the visual style of Steve Ditko which so defined the strip.

Initially, I didn't like them replacing the Ancient One with a not-so-ancient Briton but, in retrospect, he was a somewhat clichéd concept, so it may not be a bad idea after all.

The lack of a certain flame-headed demon does, however, disappoint me.

As for which film I feel most tempted to see, I must confess it's the Dr Strange one, as I have more interest in the character than I have for Wonder Woman, even though I probably find the Wonder Woman trailer more intriguing.

That's just my opinion. What's yours? Feel free to use the comments section below to let the world know.

Marisa Tomei is Aunt May!

Marisa Tomei, by David Shankbone
[GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0],
via Wikimedia Commons

As we all know, the greatest casting decision in the history of Hollywood was the one to hire John Wayne as Genghis Khan in The Conqueror.

Who better for that part than a man determined to play a medieval Mongolian warlord as if he were the sheriff of Dodge City?

But now there's an even greater casting decision been made - because the internet has informed me that Marisa Tomei is to play Aunt May in the next Spider-Man movie.

I would put it to the world that this is not only the greatest casting decision in the history of humanity. It's probably the greatest decision of any kind in the history of humanity.

Quite frankly, this is an act of perverse genius.

It's perverse because, on the face of it, it makes no sense at all to cast a woman who is sex on legs as an ailing octogenarian widow.

On the other hand, it's genius because it means we presumably won't have to endure the sight of Aunt May doddering around, clutching her chest and declaring, "My heart!" every time anything exciting happens. Something she managed to do almost every month for all the years in which I was a reader of the strip.

I can understand that having a character constantly on the verge of death does add dramatic tension to a strip but it also, like Aunt May, does tend to get old very quickly.

The casting also deals with the problem I've moaned about before on this blog. Which is, just how exactly can a boy who gets his powers in his mid-teens possibly have an aunt who appears to be in her eighties? To achieve this, she'd have to be older than her own mother. In fact, she'd probably have to be older than her own grandmother.

But of course the thing that really makes it a stroke of genius is it's Marisa Tomei. Unlike John Wayne, Marisa Tomei is a brilliant actor and should, by law, be in every film ever made.

And that's why it's a great decision.

Because, in the end, it's how good the cast are that'll make the film work. Not how old they are.

I therefore - despite the hornets' nest the casting has stirred up - give a great big Steve Does Comics thumbs-up to the greatest casting choice ever.

The Guardians of the Galaxy movie trailer.

These are exciting times for those of us who have the maturity levels of a ten year old.

First we get the senses-shattering Lego Movie and now we get the trailer for the Guardians of the Galaxy. Has any film of the last ten years ever been more eagerly anticipated than this one has?

Well, yes. Even as one who liked the 1970s version of the strip and possessed several issues of it, I have to admit it's not necessarily the super-hero movie that's most cried out to be made over the years. But, still, as long as it's Marvel and there's super-heroics, it's going to hold a certain frisson for some of us.

Sadly, of course, it's not the Guardians of my youth. The likes of Vance Astro, Yondu, that wide bloke, that bloke who was made of diamonds, that woman with the flamey hair, and whatever the others were called, are notably absent.

So is Starhawk. But, given how annoying he was, that's probably no bad thing. And it can't be denied that, potentially silly as they are, the current bunch are a more diverse - and threaten to be a more interesting - set of characters for a cinema audience than the originals would have been.

I first encountered the Guardians as a very briefly run strip in Marvel UK's Planet of the Apes comic, in a Gene Colan drawn origin tale that didn't exactly bowl me over; mostly because the villains were called the Badoon and it all ended with a sing-along.

Karen Gillan not being blue.
Photo by MangakaMaiden
 [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Fortunately, things were looking a lot better when they re-emerged with their own series in the back of Marvel UK's Star Wars comic where they'd had something of a makeover and put the Badoon behind them to have a bunch of unlikely adventures in space that lent them the same sort of appeal as Steve Gerber's other regular strip The Defenders.

The trailer's an odd thing, depicting our heroes as a bunch of losers and misfits - a role I'm not used to seeing the likes of Gamora and Drax being fitted into - and whether it'll turn out to be a fun romp or a film let down by its inability to take its leads seriously, only time will tell.

Will we get to see Warlock?

Will we get to see Thanos?

Only time can tell.

But, of course, for Dr Who fans, the real appeal of the movie is we get to see Karen Gillan painted blue. If you don't want to see a blue-painted Karen Gillan, then, frankly, I fear there may be no hope for you in life.

The Spider-Man 2 Superbowl trailer.

As I roamed the historic pitch of Bramall Lane football ground today, showing the players how to do the Cruyff Turn, people often said to me, "Steve, you're clearly quite the sports maestro. Did you see the Superbowl the other night?"

"What?" I said. "Those little black round things you could get in the 1970s and you'd throw them at the floor and they'd bounce right up and hit the ceiling?"

"Not the superball, you brain-dead dolt!" they cried. "The Superbowl! It's the hip new thing among all the kids - thirteen hours of rugby interrupted by Bruno Mars."

Reader, I must confess, tempting as that sounds, I hadn't seen it. But, thanks to the Bronze Age Babies, I am now aware that, somewhere during it, they showed a trailer for the new Spider-Man 2 movie.

This of course gives me a chance to inspect it with the critical gaze that has oft-times awed the world into slack-jawed wonder.

The first thing I have to say is it's extremely long. I sort of feel like I've now seen the whole film.

The other obvious thing that strikes me is I'm not sure why the Rhino looks like a robot or why they need three villains in one tale. I'm hoping they're pulling a fast one and that the reason it's called Enemies Unite is because it sees Spidey having to team up with the trio of villains to face a bigger threat, which would at least add a surprise twist to the reasons for the movie's seeming overpopulation.

It does look better than a previous trailer I saw which made the film seem like some sort of computer game. This time, there's plenty of the kind of characterisation we all associate with Spidey - and, with its electrification antics, it certainly looks exciting.

But does Electro really get his powers from falling in a vat of eels?

Emma Stone still looks very nice as Gwen Stacy, Andrew Garfield still looks like Andy Murray, and Aunt May looks a lot more sprightly than she really should do. These, to my mind, are good things. Harry Osborn looks a bit weird but I'm hoping that's because he's going through his druggie phase and is meant to look like that.

Emma Stone by Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, USA
(Emma StoneUploaded by maybeMaybeMaybe)
 [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Meanwhile, here's a random picture of Emma Stone, posted for no good reason other than that pictures of attractive women seem to lure more people to this blog than do pictures of 1970s comics.

What that fact says about the state of this world, I can only surmise.

She certainly looks very happy in the picture. I can only assume that someone's just started to demonstrate the magic of the superball to her. Look at it, Emma! See how it bounces!

PS. Thanks to Dougie for giving my post about The Horrific World of Monsters a plug on his Materioptikon site.

And here's that very post I once wrote about that very book.

This is my post about the death of Gwen Stacy.

And these are all my posts about Spider-Man.

Here's an eBook I once wrote. It's fab. Both the people who've ever read it have said so.

Super-hero movies you want to see!

Because I always follow Casey Kasem's advice and keep both ears to the ground and my feet in the clouds, I happen to have noticed there's an Avengers movie out at the moment.

Such is my attentiveness that I know all about it.

Apparently, it was written and directed by the late Bert Weedon and stars Scarlet Johnsen as Emma Peel, while Patrick McNee reprises his old role of the Incredible Hulk. I think we all remember his classic line from the old TV shows; "Grab my bowler, Sarah Jane, I do believe I'm turning irradiated."

Sadly, being a low-budget movie with little publicity behind it, it's not likely to do much at the box office. Such is the way with these home-grown British movies. However, coming as it does after a spate of comic book adaptations, it does raise the question of what other super-hero movies one would like to see.

There was a time when I'd have loved to have seen a Killraven movie. Admittedly, that was before I'd reacquainted myself with the comics and realised just how unfilmable they probably were.

I bow to no one in my admiration for Ant-Man but fear the multiplex masses may not be ready yet for one man's battle to escape from within a glass tumbler.

Therefore, I must bow to the inevitable and demand a Defenders movie. Who wouldn't thrill to the sight of the least coordinated super-team of them all fighting the forces of fiendomness?

So, that's me accounted for, but which super-heroes who've yet to hit the big screen would you like to see immortalised in celluloid?

Captain America movie poster revealed.

As I'm sure you know, Marvel Studios have unveiled the new Captain America movie poster and I can't deny I like it.

From what we've seen of the film so far - which is admittedly just a load of photos - I have to say that of all the Marvel movies in the pipeline Captain America's the one that's looking most promising to me - and I never would've thought that a while back.

Meanwhile, the Spider-Man movie manages to look worse with every image released.

Spider-Man Reboot: new costume pictures released.

When I say released, I don't know if they've been released or if they escaped but I do know they have copyright notices plastered all over them and I'm a raging coward, so no way am I posting them on here. They can however be found at this site and I have to say that, from these pics, the costume looks absolutely dreadful.

What's with the red stripe running down Spider-Man's legs - and the metallic carpet slippers? As for Spidey's mask, I do wonder if they're trying to make his costume look even worse than the old 1970s' Nicholas Hammond TV version in order to win some sort of a bet.

Obviously, the costume isn't everything but the stills we've seen so far mean my hopes of the film matching up to the first two Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies aren't exactly stratospheric.

All the latest movie news from Planet Comic (Potential Spoilers).

Being a fan of comics, I do of course take an interest in all the latest super-hero related movie news that washes up on my front beach of belligerence. The world is still trembling from my recent coverage of the latest images from the new Spider-Man flick. Sadly, more often than not, I find myself failing to be impressed by super-hero movies. However, every so often one comes along that actually gets it right. So, will the next crop of super-hero flicks be hit or... ...erm, something that rhymes with "hit" but isn't quite the same word?

It seems Anne Hathaway's been cast as Catwoman in the new Batman film The Dark Knight Rises. On the one hand, speaking as someone who only knows Anne Hathaway from her time as William Shakespeare's wife and from certain "interesting" photos of her on the Internet, this intrigues me. On the other, the fact that we're getting Catwoman and Bane in this film fails to light my candle. Will I never get to see Killer Croc on screen?

Meanwhile, More photos of Captain America in Captain America: The First Avenger have come to light. There've been some complaints about his costume but I like it. It has the look of the 1940s to it and my disappointment that - like Thor - Cap's to lose the wings from his head has been largely assuaged by the fact that he will at least have them painted on his helmet.

Meanwhile there's always the Thor trailer that's up on Youtube. Admittedly It's been up for months but no one ever accused me of rushing these things. I won't bother getting into the, "Oh My God! Heimdall's black!" arguments, as everyone with any sense knows the Norse Gods aren't even human, let alone Scandinavian, so they can be any colour anyone wants them to be. I do worry it might all turn out to be a bit dry and humourless and therefore ultimately uninvolving but it does mean we get to see the Destroyer smashing things up.

Elsewhere, there're pictures of January Jones as Emma Frost, on the set of X-Men: First Class. Well, I suppose it's better than some of the outfits Emma's been lumbered with in the comics over the years but my fashion senses tell me it's a look that'll never catch on. Being the red-hot Hollywood-watcher I am, I don't have a clue who January Jones is but it probably doesn't hurt that her real name makes her sound like a comic book character from the get-go. Apparently it's a prequel, so it probably won't be any good.

Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy. New Spider-Man movie photos.

News has reached the Steve Does Comics throne room that on-set shots from the new Spider-Man movie can be found here. Personally I'm pleased they decided to reboot the franchise. Ted Raimi's first two Spider-Mans are my favourite super-hero films of all time but, for me, Peter Parker should always be a teenager and therefore they can't stick with the same cast members forever.

Big hair aside, Andrew Garfield looks much more like Peter Parker to me than Tobey Maguire ever did but I do have to admit that, as far as Emma Stone goes, that's not really how I see Gwen Stacy. Isn't Captain Stacy's favourite daughter supposed to have eyes?

Still, she's got the Gwen Stacy boots on and, as my more long-suffering regular readers will know, for me, when it comes to comic book characters, it's all about the boots. Sadly, it would appear there's no place in the movie for Mary Jane Watson.

Supposedly the villain's going to be The Lizard. This is good news. This site has and will always have a large place in its heart for The Kangaroo but, in that heart, Doctor Curt Connors' evil alter-ego will always rule supreme.

But will the herpetological heel be defeated by talcum powder as he once was in the original comics?

Only time - and the insanity of the scriptwriters - will tell.