It’s being reported that Josh Schwartz, creator/writer of shows like The O.C., Chuck, and Gossip Girl, will be penning the next X-Men movie, to be tentatively titled either “X-Men: First Class” or “Young X-Men”, depending on which news article you read. All that seems to be established so far is that it will be a story of teenage mutants dealing with their powers — hence the reason for bringing Josh Schwartz on to write the script. Whether those teenagers will be younger versions of the adult X-Men that have already been in the films or the New Mutants from the 80s or the lesser-known characters from the recent “Young X-Men” series, it remains to be seen.
So … take that for what it’s worth. I’ve actually been enjoying Chuck, and having watched more of The O.C. with my wife than I care to admit, I have to say that when Schwartz himself wrote the episodes, they seemed to work well. He’s a comic book geek, so he “gets it”, and hopefully he’ll carry that over into the franchise. As far as character development is concerned, he really can’t do much worse than Brett Ratner did with X3, as far as I’m concerned. The X-Men comics have always worked first and foremost as a metaphor for 1) racism/intolerance and 2) the anxiety of puberty. And I feel confident that Schwartz can at least pull off the second half of that equation.
To date, no director has been attached to the film yet.
Word has it that Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire have been signed on for the Spider-Man 4 and Spider-Man 5 movies. This will perhaps come as a disappointment to those who feel that Raimi dropped the ball on the last Spidey movie, but I’m actually looking forward to seeing him pick the ball back up and run with it again.
When I saw the first movie, I thought it was the best superhero flick to date. Then the second movie blew my socks off, and I had to transfer the crown. So the third movie left me more perplexed than angry. How did Raimi manage to go so far off track? I tend to believe rumors that he was coerced into including Venom as a primary bad guy, even though it it didn’t fit his previously stated overall plan to work with only old school supervillains for the first few movies — the result, a story that went on too long, with too many bad guys.
So prove me right, Sam. Make these next two as solid as the first sequel, and all will be forgiven (even that whole dancing thing). Follow through on that Lizard subplot you’ve been building up to. An army of genetically altered lizards rising up from the sewers of Manhattan would be an awesome use of CGI, don’t you think? Oh, and be sure to include Bruce Campbell cameos. Lots of Bruce Campbell cameos. People like those. I’m even fine with an Iron Man cameo. Just remember, with great power comes great responsibility — so please don’t frak these movies up. Thanks!
I’m prepping for a trip to Vegas today, so I’ve asked a special guest to post for me …
Hi kids. Guest poster Bruce Banner here. In honor of the new Incredible Hulk movie releasing in a couple of weeks, I’d like to offer some guidance for those of you who may have recently been exposed to gamma radiation. Are you confused or worried? Not clear about exactly what will happen to your body during the thirty seconds or so it takes to transform from a mild-mannered dude into a giant green car-smashing, pants-splitting monster? Then by all means, read on …
Over at WizardUniverse.com, Tom DeFalco, Peter David, Rob Liefeld, and some others have decided to chime in about “The 10 Most Controversial Costume Changes That Rocked Comics’ Fandom”.
One of these changes was before my time (my comics-reading time anyway), two of these I wasn’t even aware had ever happened (or if I was, I blocked it out of my memory), and one I have to say I kind of liked … and I’m probably not the only one. I’ll let you guess which is which (and no, the one I liked is not the half-naked woman). Continue reading →
Marvel.com did a cool thing with Astonishing X-Men #1, in honor of the Giant-Sized final issue of the Whedon/Cassaday run, due in stores on May 28th. It’s been a great 24 issues so far, and if you haven’t read this series yet, I encourage you to buy the trade paperbacks and check them out.
Over at 