Paul Rudd as Ant-Man

The comic-book-movie news side of the internet was abuzz (pun intended, sorry) with news that actor Paul Rudd has reportedly been cast to play Hank Pym in Marvel Sudios' upcoming movie Ant-Man, due out July 2015. The film would kick-off the third phase of Marvel movies following Avengers: Age of Ultron. Rumors have Rashida Jones, known for her roles on Parks and Recreation and The Office, slated to play the role of Pym's on and off lover and fellow Avenger, the Wasp, although those rumors are far from confirmed. Rudd can currently be seen reprising his role of Brain Fantana in Anchorman 2.

#SherlockLives and that's definitely a good thing

Sherlock season three is due to broadcast in the US starting in January on PBS.

 

Go Catch that Fire: Hunger Games 2

The second addition to the film series adaptation of Susan Collins' Hunger Games trilogy was well executed and worth watching on the big screen. Stronger than the first installment, the film was bolstered by more mature acting, better directing and a bigger budget. All around it was a good film, but it is the middle chapter of a book trilogy (although they are making two films out of the third book- should that be called 'Pottering' because of Deathly Hallows or 'Hobbiting' because of the egregious expansion that book went through in coming to the screen in three parts?) so the ending does not provide much closure to the broader narrative. Jennifer Lawrence delivers a great performance along with the rest of the cast. I'm excited to see more from this series.
On a scale of muffins to Monkeys, A-.

On a related note, if you missed Ms. Lawrence on The Daily Show, it's also worth seeing. Jon Stewart makes a great point about Ms. Lawrence's acting ability and depth and about how her talent and many projects have helped her form a career not defined by the Hunger Games series. Plus, Jennifer Lawrence is a joy to see doing pretty much anything, so you should watch the interview.

Marvel/Pulp Fiction Mashup

What was in Marcellus' case

Thor 2: Dark World Worth Visiting

Thor 2 was pretty good. Definitely worth watching, although it was perfectly fine in only 2 dimensions, so I wouldn't spend the extra on 3D. While the movie had issues that many critics have pointed out, the film felt cohesive, epic and exciting. It was a good addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Tom Hiddleston really did as good a job as everyone is saying. Chris Hemsworth plays a more mature role, Natalie Portman looks good in her role, and great actors like Anthony Hopkins and Idris Elba get more screen time than the previous Thor iteration. Overall, things get darker and more perilous while the movie stays fun and entertaining throughout. On a scale of 6 to Beyonce, B+.

Iron Man 3: Why Tony Stark destroyed his suits.

(SPOILER ALERT from here out for Iron Man 3)

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man

Iron Man 3 came out on DVD, Blu-ray and every other digital whichever this week, rocketing from theaters into people's homes and movie collections. While there were some elements of the film that were controversial to fans, the largest of those was based in interpretation of the source material. One other, the destruction of Tony Stark's amassed army of Iron Man armors (which some refer to as 'The Iron Legion') along with the removal of the shrapnel from his heart, made some fans wonder how he could be Iron Man any longer, lacking both his chest-embedded power source and the suits it powered. Despite fan criticism, and personal uncertainty, I would posit that the destruction was not just a silly means to a Merry-Christmas-Pepper-fireworks-display, but something that was very much in character and a predictable move for Tony Stark. 

#CoulsonLives, But That's Not Necessarily a Good Thing

Clark Gregg (left) as Phil Coulson in The Avengers

As the excitement builds for Marvel's TV show Agents of SHIELD which premiers this Tuesday, I think it's important to really grasp onto one thing: Coulson Lives.

It's not really news that Agent Coulson survived his apparent death in The Avengers. #CoulsonLives has been the hook and tagline of the new ABC TV series for quite some time now, which has Clark Gregg playing leading man for the super-secret team and serving as the chief character tie-in to the Marvel movies. He's appeared in many of the Marvel films, so using him makes sense; he's very recognizable. With the show's aim to look at the human side of the super-human universe, it makes sense to use one of the film franchises main non-super humans.

Marvel Update: Friday Aug 30th 2013

As we now know, James Spader has been cast to play the mechanical villain Ultron in the next Avengers movie, according to a Thursday announcement from Marvel. If you're not a huge Avengers follower, that may leave you wondering who Ultron is and then who the smiling purple guy at the end of the first Avengers movie was. Wired.com has a nice little synopsis as to who Ultron is, and as for Thanos, who was featured in the credits of The Avengers, he may not be the villain of the next Avengers movie (although he's supposed to be in Avengers 3), but he's still going to play a role in the Phase 2 Marvel films. Kevin Fiege, godfather and supervising emperor of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, said in an interview with Empire that Thanos will be involved in Guardians of the Galaxy:

"We’ve already said that Thanos plays a part in it and is a character in it. That in and of itself should tell you [Guardians] is connected to the other worlds. Ronan The Accuser (Lee Pace) is very much the main bad guy. And Thanos is lurking above it all. You will learn more about Thanos in Guardians, for sure. Certainly you’ll get more than the one turn-around-and-smirk. You’ll get much more than that."

DC Update: Friday Aug 30th 2013

The internet is still reeling from hearing that Ben Affleck is going to be Batman in the Man of Steel sequel. The news has been circling the drain of internet conversation since the news was broken a week ago, with some (alright, tons) crying out in protest and others waiting hopefully for the Oscar winning actor and director to do a good job. Affleck has garnered support for his position as the new caped crusader from all sorts of people: Matt Damon (of course), Joss Whedon, former Batmen Val Kilmer, Michael Keaton and Adam West. The film is set to film in Michigan, according to The Hollywood Reporter, beginning next year.

James Spader To Play Avengers Villain Ultron

James Spader has been cast to play (or voice?) the mechanical villain Ultron in the next Avengers movie, according to an announcement from Marvel. The film is to be released May 1 of 2015, and will feature the Marvel heroes once again teaming up to battle for the fate of Earth.
Spader is an Emmy Award winning actor for his work in TV series such as The Practice and Boston Legal. He also appeared more recently in the second to last season of The Office.

(Non)Marvel Movie Guide: X-Men, Spider-Man and the Fantastic 4

There are some Marvel Comics' films not under the banner of the young and ambitious Marvel Studios' Marvel Cinematic Universe that kicked off with Iron Man in 2008. Some properties, such as Daredevil, Elektra, Ghostrider, Punisher and Blade, have reverted back to the waiting arms of Marvel and away from outside studios that produced their films in the past. Rights to the character of Namor the Sub-Mariner are still held by Universal, but no known film project is underway.

The names left outside of Marvel Studio's universe are Spider-Man, the X-Men, and Fantastic 4. While it's easy to list the three and count them on one hand, these are no small properties, which is why they continue to be held onto by the other movie studios. Sony Pictures holds the rights to Spider-man while Fox holds control of all things X-Men and Fantastic 4. Spider-Man recently experienced an 'Amazing' reboot (to be followed by a star-studded sequel) after Sam Raimi's Spider-Man Trilogy came to an end in 2007. Spider-Man is a very popular Marvel character and one that garners a ton of merchandising money for Marvel, so it is definitely a film series to keep track of.

The larger properties of Fantastic 4 and X-Men belong to Fox. The Fantastic 4 had two not-so-fantastic films back in 2005 and 2007, and recently there's been a buzz about a future reboot for the series that could include a tie in to the established X-Men universe. It is that larger universe of the X-Men that requires a little breakdown. Spanning several films that encompass many story lines, the X-Men Cinematic Universe does not have the continuity that its Marvel counterpart holds. It can be confusing and conflicting, so with that in mind, here is a guide to the X-Men movies, a film series that may be home to the next Fantastic 4 films as well:

Avengers Movie Timeline Guide

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is an ever growing one. With that in mind, here is a guide to the Marvel Studios series films:

1. Iron Man (2008)
Billionaire weapons manufacturer Tony Stark finds himself at odds with both his death dealing enterprise and his debaucherous, alienating lifestyle. He is forced to make life changing, and saving, decisions that throw him into the new identity of Iron Man.
The film both marked the emergence of Marvel Studios and Robert Downey Jr.'s launch into stardom with a new generation of movie goers. It showed that Marvel was taking control of its film endeavors, no longer relying on outside studios to bring characters to the screen, and also hinted at more to come.


2. The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Dr. Bruce Banner transforms himself, by way of a gamma radiation experiment, into a hulking green monster. Triggered into the uncontrollable hulking form by anger and stressful situations, Banner flees the country while the US Army tries to both control and replicate the results of Dr. Banner's experiment.
Following the huge success of Iron Man, the film offered both an expansion to the Marvel movie universe as well as a welcome replacement to Hulk from 2003. Edward Norton delivered a compelling performance, and director Louis Leterrier did a better job than previous efforts at balancing the Hulk's potential to be more of a monster movie than a superhero flick, although some still were disappointed at the films efforts. A cameo by Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark solidified the new films' shared continuity.

Pirates 5 has a name

The Pirates of the Caribbean film series has long been rumored to hold a fifth chapter, and more money, for Disney and star Johnny Depp. It would now seem that that ship is beginning to sail, as the title to the fifth film was revealed to be Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales in an exclusive interview with This Is Infamous.
Speculate all you want as to whether this will be a movie worth watching, but for now we at least know the poor bugger's name. Yo Ho Ho.

Ben Affleck is going to be Batman.

So, Ben Affleck is going to be Batman in the Man of Steel sequel. That's about it. That's all it needs to be, because that's news enough. If this is the first you've heard of it, then either this blog is a lot cooler than I thought, or you need to get out more.

Any doubt that DC's new strain of films is divorced from the continuity of the Dark Knight trilogy should be erased now.

Also, everyone's going to be thinking this, but the last man in tights that Affleck played was in Daredevil in 2003, so...
Here's a link to a copy of the official press release: http://goo.gl/DRnmJx

Parallel Universes: Arresting Supermen

Remind me how effective handcuffs and armed guards are when dealing with super human strength.

Loki in The Avengers (2012)

'John Harrison' in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Superman in Man of Steel (2013)

Lucasfilm: New Star Wars Animated Series

Rumblings came from the Star Wars side of the galaxy today. It's pretty cool news for fans of The Clone Wars animated series: Fall of 2014, on Disney XD, a new animated series called Star Wars Rebels will be set in the time period between Episodes III and IV. Many of the same production and creative design team from the Clone Wars series will work on this new project.

I'm excited. It'll be fun to see more animation out of Lucasfilm since they showed an increasing ability with the medium over the last few years, plus now they've got all of Disney's resources to work with.
You can view the entirety of the official press release here. 

Disney's Lone Hope

The Lone Ranger, due out early July, needs to be good, for Disney's sake. While they may not admit as much, Disney's live-action brand has been suffering. Their most recent endeavor Oz: The Great and Powerful garnered some pretty harsh reviews, squeaked out marginal box-office profits, and did not come close to achieving the (expected) same success as Disney's 2010 addition of Alice in Wonderland. By any account, Oz did better by far than last years John Carter, which lost Disney around $80 million and tarnished their studio's season. That followed on the heels of the fourth installment of the Pirated of the Caribbean series and the sequel/reboot Tron: Legacy, both which were good enough to have sequels in the works, but while Tron and Pirates 4 made money at the box-office, they had mixed reviews form critics. The Pirates of the Caribbean movies have gotten worse and worse reviews as the series progressed (most agree that the first Pirates was a very strong film, but that was released ten years ago).

Adver-Treking

You've probably seen plenty of ads for the new Star Trek due out this weekend, but have you seen all the commercials with a Star Trek theme? It would seem that there's a lot of joint-advertising going on, and some of it is a lot of fun.

Boldly Going This Friday

Initial reviews for Star Trek Into Darkness are good. Despite some detractors, Rotten Tomatoes has the film at a commanding 88%.

If you're pumped up for the release later this week, here's some Star Trek morsels to keep you hungry.

There's always somebody trying to compare Star Trek to Star Wars, something that really shouldn't be done as one is good science fiction and the other more science fantasy, and its begin done more and more with the prospect of Abrams lined up to direct the first of Disney's new Star Wars films. CNN ran a bit on their website, but it didn't really do wither franchise justice. Neil deGrass Tyson lent his opinion to the debate, letting us know that he grew up loving Trek never really could get into Wars, landing him in the camp that enjoys a dose of real science fiction over its cousin science fantasy. That's different from Abrams, who admitted to Jon Stewart on Comedy Central's mock news program The Daily Show that he grew up loving Star Wars but could never quite get into loving Star Trek, at least until he really got involved making the new films. Maybe Neil deGrass Tyson just needs to be cast as a Jedi in the new Star Wars film to figure out he can love it too.

Also, there's this: Karl Urban has stated emphatically that J.J. Abrams will be involved in future Star Trek film projects, even if he isn't in the director's chair. Star Wars duties aside, Abrams will continue to be involved at some level with the future of Star Trek, which is a good thing, considering he fits the formula for nerd-in-control means a good film.

For something else, here's a short clip of J.J. Abrams talking about the film title:

Go Ape

In the world where apes rule over men, the biggest news this past weekend was the first officially released photo from the set, featuring Andy Serkis in his motion capture gear riding a horse. A month ago there were a bunch of set photos that got passed around the web, but this one's getting the most buzz. According to some, it signifies a tying into the original films, a good sign for fans of the classic '60s film series.

Besides this, a casting list and general plot outline was released by Fox. It looks like the film is a promising one:

“A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier.  They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth’s dominant species.

Andy Serkis, celebrated for his performance in the last film, reprises his role as Caesar. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes also stars Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, EnriqueMurciano, Kirk Acevedo and Judy Greer.”

Modern Marvels

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a fun one. With all that's going on, and its divisions between studios with X-Men still under control of FOX, there's certainly a lot to talk about.

There's Disney Animation's announcement of a new Marvel film, the apparent prologue to Iron Man 3, studio advice to DC on how to do a Justice League movie justice, and tweeted pictures from the X-Men set, including Wolverine and a very groovy looking Professor X.

However, the biggest buzz is following the release of Iron Man 3 and speculation as to who will return in future films, especially considering how different contracts have been negotiated and which ones are currently up, specifically golden boy of the franchise, Robert Downey Jr.

The most recent news came from some comments made by Mark Ruffalo, who said that fans shouldn't worry to much, although the actors would really be some of the last to know the outcomes from different casting decisions. This came after all sorts of discussion about the contracts, which apparently favor some actors over others to a very large degree. Robert Downey Jr. reportedly got paid $50 million for Avengers compared to cast mates getting up to $200,000 for the picture, something he may push to even out in future films. There have been rumors of his impending retirement from the franchise, but so far that seems more likely to be at least after Avengers 2. Marvel Studios has said that someday they will have to move on from Robert Downey Jr. and do a sort of James Bond things, indicating that there may be no end in sight for the ever growing franchise.

S.H.I.E.L.D Your Eyes

What do you do when you own both a major studio linked to a huge world of characters that have been shaped into a multi-billion dollar movie franchise and also one of the big 3 original TV networks?

You use them of course.

Coming this Fall, on ABC, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is being brought to you by Joss Whedon, the man behind the Avengers and TV cult favorites like Firefly. While there have been rumors abounding, and much excitement at this first look, now we have a preview. 

Check this out:

We'll see how this plays out. While comic fans will be familiar with how S.H.I.E.L.D. work, as a TV series, it might work a bit like Fringe or The X-Files set in the Marvel universe, and that could be really cool, especially considering its a tie into the already existing movie franchise. 

Time Warner certainly took advantage of their large bag of tricks when they produced the show Smallville for their own CW, but though it featured Superman and other familiar characters, there were no tie ins with any of the Superman films. There are some rumors circulating that their current show Arrow may feature a link to the Green Lantern film, but those rumblings may have to rest until we know more about plans for a possible Justice League movie (although that project could have no ties to the Ryan Reynolds version of GL).

Whatever happens in the DC world, Marvel is certainly taking bold steps in linking their film franchise to a new TV series. 

Way to use all your cards Disney. You certainly have a lot to play with. 

New X-Men Image: Kitty Pryde

Bryan Singer tweeted another picture from the set of Days of Future Past, this one of Ellen Page geared up to go as Kitty Pryde.

Here it is:

Return of the King: DC's Chosen Son is Back to Claim His Throne

Zack Snyder, the director of the much anticipated Man of Steel due to be released this June, recently made some comments about the superiority of DC heroes compared to the heroes of the Marvel universe. Snyder argues that DC heroes occupy a higher strata than Marvel's heroes, who are a rather flashy group that while fun, are in a large way just spectacle. Snyder says that DC heroes are better at being purely archetypal and aren't cheaply interchangeable. While those types of comments are surely inflammatory, it seems clear that Snyder is the right kind of fan to be behind this next Superman.

The fact is is that Superman is the king of the Superhero Movie. Superman wasn't only the first superhero movie, it was superhero movies, not just defining the genre but embodying it. It spawned four sequels (Superman Returns being a sort of quasi Superman V), and even though most people think Superman II was the last good Superman movie, the film series still stand as the foundation of superhero flicks. 

In Superman's absence, we saw the rise of Batman in several forms and the large surge of Marvel heroes. Batman movies did something in making a superhero grounded and gritty in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy that no one else has done; In a lot of ways Batman has been set apart from all other superheroes, even those, like Superman, who are apart of the DC universe. As Batman has been set apart, Superman may have been set above. He's a standard, and something hard to grasp, a difficulty we all saw when Bryan Singer, so celebrated at his work with X-Men films, tried his hand at Superman Returns. Zack Snyder has set out to reclaim Superman with Man of Steel, adapting him for the 21st century,  but ensuring he's back to claim what is his. He is king of the superhero movie, and while I'm sure he'd be happy with how Tony Stark and his Avenger pals have taken care of it for him in his absence, the king is back and has come to reclaim his genre.

Let's see if he's again ready to rule.

Also there's this: 

There is no Kryptonite in the new Superman flick, which excites me because that eliminates the single 1-dimensional weakness of previous Supermen and opens up new exciting possibilities for vulnerabilities. I talked with a friend who thinks a single weakness of kryptonite is lame, and he was then worried that eliminating it was a bad thing. While I don't know what they're going to do in the place of kryptonite, I'm excited to find out, and I think the omission is a good thing. Here with a good breakdown is IGN News:

Super Rundown 5/3/2013

So Iron Man 3 is out today. That's awesome. Here's the breakdown for some other movie news for this week:

In the Marvel universe:

• Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are set to appear in Avengers 2, at least for now, something that will surely complicate some things since they're originally X-Men characters, and Fox still has rights to all things X-Men. That'll probably change some character details if Marvel Studios fleshes them out, and also take away possible plot lines for Fox as  they continue making X-Men movies without these two characters, characters who are the children of Magneto.
• Rumor has it that Marvel is looking to cast Black Panther, which could be cool if he were also included in Avengers 2.
• Ghost Rider has reverted from Sony back to Marvel, so Marvel Studios has control of the character, something that should comfort fans of the deadly biker since its now out of Nick Cage's reach. 
• Joss Whedon let some hints slip about what's in store for Thanos in future films and ideas about Avengers 3.
• Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, had a sweet interview with Huffington Post. In it he discussed the future of Marvel movies and the joys in coordinating a shared movie universe. 
• And Bryan Singer released another image from the set of X-Men: Days of Future Past, this one including Wolverine. I'm stoked for that movie. 

In other news, J.J. Abrams is looking to John Williams to score the new Star Wars film. That should appease some skeptical fans. 

And lastly, Star Trek revealed a new Klingon look. 

That's the Super Rundown for this week. There was also some Man of Steel commotion around some comments Zack Snyder made, but that warrants its own post.

Happy weekend. Go stick it to the man and put some money in his pockets by going to see Iron Man 3. It's purportedly amazing.
Personally, I'm planning on supporting my local Hollywood investors on Saturday when I go see the movie. Should be good.

Super Rundown 4/27/13

In case you don't have time to scout down the latest about these movies, here's a breakdown:

In X-Men news, The Wolverine is supposed to be good and, although this may be easy to do, much better than its predecessor X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Its supposed to explore a plot beyond normal limits of a superhero movie constrained to fighting a new super villain or explaining an origins story. Hugh Jackman has said that he thinks the audience will probably be surprised by the new film and that they "will really dig it." Here's hoping this new turn means that this movie will take advantage of what a good actor Mr. Jackman is, rather than reducing him to a flat angry hunk.
Also from the X-Men universe, Bryan Singer has been releasing more fun things, cluing us in on characters he's adding to the new movie. He has also stated that Peter Dinklage's role will not be a CGI character, which is exciting as that will allow us more time to actually see Mr. Dinklage and his command of compelling roles.

Speaking of Mr. Singer, both he and Bryan Fuller have in the past talked about possible directions for future television projects with Star Trek. In a recent interview, Mr. Fuller talked about some of those thoughts and how any possible television project might mesh, or not mesh, with the Star Trek of JJ Abrams. This was an interesting interview in light of recent comments and statements from Rod Roddenberry, heir to the Star Trek throne, son of the late Gene Roddenberry. He feels that television is the best place for Star Trek, and so he looks forward to a transition back to the small screen. This could bode well for Michael Dorn, the actor who played Worf in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Mr. Dorn was rumored last summer to have plans to start a new Star Trek series, rumors he later put to rest in an interview with the Huffington Post. If Trek is indeed headed back to television, it will be interesting to see if Mr. Dorn, Singer or Fuller get the chance to drive the expedition.

Back in the Marvel universe, some are speculating as to the remaining future of Robert Downey Jr. in his role as Tony Stark in the Iron Man movies. However Shane Black, the director of Iron Man 3, has expressed confidence in Mr. Downey's role in future Iron Man movies. There's been a whole lot of back an forth on the future of the Iron Man series, a back and forth that's outlined nicely here on screenrant.com.

Also, Marvel Studios announced that they have regained the rights to Daredevil, a great sign for any possibility of future Daredevil movies.

Happy Weekend.

White House Fallen

Earlier this month, smosh.com put up a list of movies that were released the same year with similar or nearly-the-same plot-lines. A list like that could probably be very long if you stretched different plot points, or looked closely at smaller films, but SMOSH stopped at six titles. They started their list with Olympus Has Fallen and G.I.Joe: Retaliation, which was just a little uninformed since almost everyone had been talking about how similar Olympus seems to be to White House Down due out this summer.  People have noted that these three movies do have something in common: they're the first since 9/11 to have the gall to attack national monuments with terrorist attacks, which some see as both good and bad. Although there are differences between Olympus and White House Down, we won't know the biggest ones till the latter comes out in June.

RIP'D From Another Page

One of the biggest trailers released this last week was for the upcoming R.I.P.D. from Universal Pictures. If you missed it, don't worry. Just imagine a zombie movie crossed with the Men in Black franchise. Or MIB crossed with GhostBusters. 

The comparison isn't hard to make, and the producer admitted there were some "influences" from different sources. It should be said that the film is based upon a comic book of the same name, so credit for the story's originality shouldn't lie solely with the filmmakers.  Although if (lack of) originality lies with the comic book writer, then it should also be noted that Men in Black was a comic book also, so both films do have similar roots.

The preview does look like MIB, but it also looks like it could be an entertaining movie. I spotted Robert Knepper in a supporting role, so that could be fun to see him again. Hopefully there's some larger plot element that will distinguish the film from the MIB series. Otherwise, it might as well be a whitewashed MIB with Ryan Reynolds playing Will Smith. 

See the trailer below:

Super British

A while back I was talking with a group of friends and we decided to list off actors we like that were Americans and not British, Australian or Canadian. We didn't get too far.

If you're a fan of BBC shows like Doctor Who, Wallander or Sherlock, then you probably are already following all things super. Superhero movies are pretty cool, and the domination of actors from the UK is also apparent in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre. Here's some examples, some which should have already been apparent to you:

Martin Freeman, the very endearing and relatably fastidious (in the company of his particular flatmate) Dr. Watson from BBC's Sherlock is also, as most everyone knows, Bilbo, the hobbit of The Hobbit. I thoroughly enjoyed his performance in both and look forward to the continuation of both productions.
The Hobbit is more epic fantasy than superhero escapade, but I think there's some sort of similar element to the fantastic style and subject. Certainly Tolkien is the founding father and reigning king of fantasy, and superhero's stories are more a science fantasy than science fiction, a genre well defined by stories like Star Wars. Here's hoping we continue to see more of Mr. Freeman in the years to come beyond his two roles mentioned above.

Benedict Cumberbatch is also a star in Sherlock, his part being the title character. Besides having a such a delicious name, Mr. Cumberbatch also has a good amount of talent in exploring and conveying characters on screen. There is a lot of talk and excitement surrounding his role as a new villain (or maybe an old one?) in JJ Abrams' Star Trek: Into Darkness due out this May.
Star Trek does science fiction well, and I'm really excited to see Mr. Cumberbatch added to the ranks of Trek stars.
Oh, and Mr. Cumberbatch is also appearing (sort of) in the next two installments of The Hobbit as both Smaug the dragon and the mysterious Necromancer.



And as long as we're talking British stars in Star Trek, it should be noted that Simon Pegg also appears in the new movie, reprising his roll as the Enterprise's chief engineer Scotty. He, of course, is the funny man behind movies like Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Paul and the TV show Spaced, all of which he did with his friend Nick Frost. He's a ton of fun to watch in almost anything he does, and I thought he brought a lot to his role in Star Trek. 

Tom Hiddleston (right) rocketed into American stardom following his role as the Norse god of mischief 'Loki' both in Thor and Marvel's: The Avengers. I first saw him in the BBC series Wallander, the adaptation of the Swedish detective novels. He did a very good job playing a supporting role to Kenneth Branagh (left) in the title role. Incidentally, Mr. Branagh was Mr. Hiddleston's director in Thor. 
Out this November is Thor's sequel is set to be released, and much excitement followed the preliminary UK trailer that was released earlier this week.

And finally, we have Christopher Eccleston. Whovians should be thrilled to learn that he's going to play opposite Tom Hiddleston and Chris Hemsworth in the new Thor movie as the villain 'Malekith the Accursed.' The trailer looks promising, and I think he should add something intriguing as a Marvel villain.

So there you go, there's some UK stars you'll be seeing in American cinema for probably a while. I should probably also say that both the current Spider-Man and Superman are from the UK as well: Henry Cavill and Andrew Garfield both get to wear spandex in future films.

Old British Men with Movie Beards

So often I hear somebody wonder, "Oh, didn't he play Dumbledore and Gandalf?" Hopefully this helps clear things up. Open the image in a new tab for best resolution. 

"X-Men: Tales of Future Past" Pictures

Bryan Singer is directing again and it's supposed to be a good turn, incorporating good stuff from the first three and First Class and includes some sort of time travel to include both casts. These are 'first look' pics that Singer's been leaking via Twitter. Check out his twitter feed for more 'first look' leaks: https://twitter.com/BryanSinger 

Here's hoping this new "X-Men" incorporates what was good in X2 and First Class and sheds the undesirable qualities that showed up in Last Stand and Origins.