The best summary of Marvel news from Feb. 4th - 6th, 2013!
Iron Man anime sequel film set for release!
When Disney purchased Marvel in 2009 and their official ownership era began in 2010, the immediate after effects were the status of various animated projects. One of them was the line of Marvel original animated DVD projects, which were meant to compete with Warner Brothers' line of DC Universe material. Released at a clip of roughly one per year, the last one was "Thor: Tales of Asgard" in 2011. The issue was that such a deal was arranged with Lion's Gate, which a company best known for financing animation like Disney had no use for. The most recent DVD animated projects, the "Marvel anime" line, was arranged with Sony.
On February 5th, Marvel Entertainment and Sony have announced their newest project, "Iron Man: Rise of the Technovore". Animated by the well known anime studio Madhouse, it hits store shelves on DVD and blu-ray on April 16th, 2013 (a month after "Iron Man 3" hits theaters). The synopsis for the film notes the villain as Ezekiel Stane from Matt Fraction's run of "Invincible Iron Man" and will feature the titular Iron Man (voiced by Matthew Mercer of "Resident Evil Damnation") along with War Machine, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the Punisher (voiced by Norman Reedus of "The Walking Dead"). The titular Technovore is an obscure technological monster from 90's Iron Man comics who appeared in an episode of the second season of "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes". The film was written by Brandon Auman, who wrote for the aforementioned Avengers cartoon as well as NickToons' "Iron Man: Armored Adventures", and is directed by Hiroshi Hamasaki ("Paranoia Agent").
The addition of the Punisher may seem random, but it makes some sense. The Punisher used to be licensed under Lion's Gate for film, but that license has since been allowed to expire and thus revert back to Marvel Entertainment. Could his inclusion also be a slight dig at LG in regards to their prior deal of producing and releasing previous Marvel animated projects? Unlikely, but some internet speculators may believe so. It will be good to see Marvel competing with DC Entertainment in terms of DVD animation again.
Lead for 2014's "Guardians of the Galaxy" revealed!
Deadline has reported that the search for Marvel Studios' upcoming "Guardians of the Galaxy" film has reached its end. Chris Pratt, star of "Zero Dark Thirty", has been selected as the lead in the James Gunn directed space action project. Naturally, that lead is expected to be the character of Peter Quill/Star-Lord. The film is set for release August 1st, 2013 and may be the riskiest of the "phase two" of Marvel Studios film; it isn't a sequel and the franchise isn't very well known. While the team debuted in the late 60's, the film is based on the incarnation as written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning circa 2008-2010. Given the fact that these characters are unknown, casting a lead actor whose iron seems to be hot is a wise move.
Female lead for "Captain America 2" revealed!
Also from Deadline, star of ABC's "Revenge", Emily VanCamp, has apparently landed the female lead role for "Captain America: The Winter Soldier". Her character isn't known but it will likely be Sharon Carter, the perennial love interest for Steve Rogers. The only odd quibble with it is that Sharon is the niece (formerly little sister before the stretch of "Marvel time" would have aged her) of Cap's WWII love Peggy Carter, which is a borderline creepy element for a seemingly squeaky clean hero. The film will debut April 4th, 2014 with Chris Evans reprising the role of Captain America and the Russo brothers (Anthony and Joe) directing.
Marvel ships two events in one year; "Infinity" is coming!
A story Marvel Comics calls, "grandest Marvel Comics event of all time" is called "Infinity" and will be written by Jonathan Hickman (Avengers, Fantastic Four, FF) and drawn by Jim Cheung and feature Thanos as the villain. The timing is interesting as it will run parallel to the much delayed "Age of Ultron" from Brian Bendis and Bryan Hitch. The first installment will ship as Marvel's offering for Free Comic Book Day on May 4th. The cosmic yarn promises to include every major franchise from the Avengers, X-Men, and the Fantastic Four to the Inhumans.
Why a Thanos event now? Simple; he will presumably be the villain in 2015's "Avengers 2" so it stands to begin promoting him more now.
Read last week's Marvel Comics news here!
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