Comic Movie News: Heath Ledger Wins Oscar for The Dark Knight

Heath Ledger: Oscar winner.

As many believed would happen, Heath Ledger won an Academy Award Sunday night for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight.

His role in one of history’s highest grossing films is now immortalized with the award. His father, mother and sister accepted on his behalf. Not to speak in cliches, but you could hear a pin drop in the room when they spoke.

It sounds weird to say congratulations to the late Ledger, but perhaps this will help convince people that they’re not just ‘comic book movies’ after all.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Trailer – see it here!

It’s not an exclusive, but I had to give y’all this. This looks insanely good. Look for Wolverine, Sabretooth, The Blob, Gambit, young Storm and more.

We finally managed to get the video posted so have a look and let us know what you think …

And don’t forget about Episode 7 of the Near Mint show…scroll down for details!

More Movie News: Kick Ass Photos and a new Watchmen trailer debuts

When comic book movie news rains, it pours.  Right on the heels of Marvel’s latest directorial announcement, two other upcoming comic movies make a splash: the biggest and wettest being the new trailer for Zack Snyder’s Watchmen, due out on 03.06.09.  The trailer debuted on Yahoo! Movies (and of course, neamintcomicshow.com) just hours ago and it’s already generating some great buzz. Don’t know why iTunes and the movie’s own website were snubbed, but it sure looks dope!

First Look: Kick Ass Photos

In other movie news, the first photos were released from the Toronto set of Kick Ass.  The film adaptation of Mark Millar & John Romita Jr.’s current series will star Aaron Johnson as Dave Lizewski (a.k.a. “Kick Ass”) as well as Nicolas Cage and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (a.k.a. “McLovin”)

Kick Ass in Action

NY Comic Con/MTV, Captain America Director Named

-If you are planning on attending February’s NY Comic Con like Ben and myself, you know how much fun it can be. If you’re between 16-28 and a hardcore fanboy/girl, you can apply at the Con’s official site to be part of the MTV True Life documentary series. The person they choose will be their guest and followed around by the MTV True Life production crew all weekend. Don’t forget the NYCC takes places from February 6-8th, 2009, at the Javits Center in NYC.

Also, Geoff Johns, Jim Lee and George Perez were recently added to the roster of celebs appearing at the event.

-Marvel announced that Joe Johnston has been signed on to direct the Captain America movie, slated for release in May 2011. Johnston is used to bigger-budget action movies including ‘Jumanji’, ‘The Rocketeer’, ‘Jurassic Park III’ and the legendary ‘Honey, I Shrunk The Kids.’ He’s a former Academy Award winner, taking home a 1982 Oscar for the visual effects in ‘Raiders Of The Lost Ark.’ You’ve heard of that, right?

Avengers movie to feature Downey Jr., Cheadle, Favreau

Iron Man....'nuff said.

There’s no stopping this Avengers movie now! News came out this week that Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle and Jon Favreau have added The Avengers to their calendars in addition to Iron Man 2.

Here’s some additional clarification points:

-Downey’s deal was for four movies, meaning that he’ll be wearing the armor in another film after the sequel and Avengers are complete.

-Favreau is directing Iron Man 2 and will executive produce for Avengers.

-Cheadle will play James Rhodes in the sequel, Avengers and other sequels. I’m still confused as to why Terrence Howard was relieved of his duties in this role. I thought he was really good in the first film.

-Release dates are May 7, 2010 for Iron Man 2 and July 15, 2011, for Avengers.

Kick-Ass movie: already casted?

This may fall under the ‘Duh, we knew that already’ category, but in doing a look-around for some details on how many issues Kick-Ass is doing, I found some interesting information on the movie via Wikipedia that everything has already been casted…

HBO’s “True Blood” has a familiar taste

The 2004 Vertigo series, "Bite Club" will feel familiar to fans of HBO's new series, "True Blood"

DC’s Vertigo line has long claimed to be “the HBO of comics”.  With the debut of HBO’s newest series, True Blood, it may prove to be just that.  While there is no direct relationship, True Blood bears some striking similarities to Vertigo’s 2004 mini-series, Bite Club.  

True Blood, the latest brainchild of writer/director Alan Ball (American Beauty, Six Feet Under),  follows Louisiana waitress Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) through a world where Vampires have gone public and become part of society. Thanks to the invention of a synthetic blood substitute called – you guessed it – Tru Blood, vampires have made themselves known and are accepted (albeit hesitantly) into our culture. In the first episode we see a TV interview with Nan Flanagan, a spokesperson for the ‘American Vampire League.’

In Bite Club, co-written by Howard Chaykin and David Tischman with art by David Hahn, we’re introduced to the Del Toro crime family a vampire mafia operating in Miami.  Vampires in Bite Club have similarly made themselves known and enjoy a place in society thanks to the blood substitute/illicit drug, ‘Plasmagoria’. The vampires of Bite Club have turned their hunger away from human flesh and towards money, power and fame.  The tenuous relationship between vampires and humans leads to the development of the ‘Vampire Crime Unit’ – the subject of the second Bite Club mini-series.

Promotional artwork for "True Blood"

Even the promotional art for True Blood looks familiar, when viewed alongside the cover of Bite Club‘s first issue, penciled by Frank Quietly (All Star Superman).  Other promotional efforts behind True Blood include viral sites for both the Tru Blood beverage and the American Vampire League as well as an online comic.  

True Blood is not based on Bite Club but rather on the novels of author Charlaine Harris.  Still, the similarities are undeniable and fans of Bite Club will likely enjoy HBO’s latest original series.  Moreover, if the masses respond to True Blood, Bite Club and Vertigo could provide a hook to turn TV viewers into comic readers. The serialized storytelling of comics and trade paperback collections will be very familiar to fans who’ve grown accustomed to  HBO’s seasonal installments.  And the Vertigo line serves up a similar buffet of sex, violence and adult themes that HBO fans will love.  

The recently finished Vertigo series, Y: The Last Man was long-rumored to become and HBO series but will instead see a 2009 theatrical release. Marvel writer, Brian Michael Bendis (Avengers, Ultimate Spider-Man) is currently working on a pilot for HBO that, while not comic-based, could be another crossover opportunity to bring in new readers.  And as comics continue to creep in to the mainstream, it’s clear that there are plenty of comics-fans-in-waiting. So the next time you’re at the water cooler, talking the Wire or Lost with coworkers, suggest a trade of your favorite series and see if anyone bites.

Spider-Man 4 and 5 moving ahead, Raimi and Maguire sign on

Thwip! Krak! Swing!

Great news revealed over the weekend as Deadline Hollywood Daily broke the news that director Sam Raimi and actor Tobey Maguire have signed for Spider-Man 4 and that Sony may film 4 and Spider-Man 5 (!!!) at the same time. Other notes include…

-Zodiac screenwriter Jamie Vanderbilt is working on the script for 4.

-There has been no formal villain speculated, but the post says their source explains we’ll know who is playing it after it is announced. Perhaps the Lizard (played by Dylan Baker) or Man-Wolf (Daniel Gillies) is being considered based on their roles in past movies, but that seems to lack some sizzle.

-No news on Kiersten Dunst, but the blog doesn’t seem to think she is getting a shot based on ‘rehab’ issues.

-Light launch date is May 2011.

Spidey is coming back! Yes!