Not many know that Terminator: Salvation hitting theaters in less than a month isn’t just another tale in the legend of John Connor, but hopefully the starting point of a whole new cinematic trilogy. The director of the film[s] (and regular persona-non-grata in the fan community), McG recently sounded off in an interview with Film Journal on his thoughts for a sequel, which will count as the fifth film in the Terminator franchise, and probably the most confusing: (Possible Spoilers)

I strongly suspect the next movie is going to take place in a [pre-Judgment Day] 2011. John Connor is going to travel back in time and he’s going to have to galvanize the militaries of the world for an impending Skynet invasion. They’ve figured out time travel to the degree where they can send more than [just] one naked entity. So you’re going to have hunter killers and transports and harvesters and everything arriving in our time and Connor fighting back with conventional military warfare, which I think is going to be fucking awesome. I also think he’s going to meet a scientist that’s going to look a lot like present-day Robert Patrick [who famously played the T-1000 in Terminator 2], talking about stem-cell research and how we can all live as idealized, younger versions of ourselves.

While this is great news for anybody who was a fan of Robert Patrick in T2, this doesn’t sound like very good news for fans of the franchise, or even coherent time-travel stories. This throws out the Terminator rule that “only living flesh can be sent back in time”, which is why we got gratuitous Arnold butt-shots back in the 80s. If one were to break down McG’s statement, there are plenty more holes in our Terminator universe. So does this mean he’s just messing with our heads in an attempt to be hip? And where is Summer Glau??

There are very few constants in this world, but moviegoers can rest easy knowing that, for the past 21 years, Bruce Willis has made consistent action films and while they may not all be consistently “good” (I’m looking at you, Hudson Hawk), John McClane keeps going strong, spitting out quips and blowing up city blocks. According to The Hollywood Reporter, at the fresh age of 54, Willis is once again setting his sights on the comic book world, as he’s now in talks for the lead an adaptation of Warren Ellis’ graphic novel RED.

Published by Wildstorm and DC, the story revolves around Paul Moses, a retired CIA agent living in seclusion. A new director is appointed to the CIA, who uncovers all of the heinous activities that Moses had done under employment of the agency, and changes the status of former Agent Moses from “Green” to “Red”, thus signing for his assassination. (Sounds a bit too close to the plot of the USA series Burn Notice, right?)

The adaptation of the series was initially announced in June of last year, when Summit Entertainment picked up the rights for the Ellis’ book. The film is being scripted by the team of Eric and Jon Hoeber, who just finished the script for this year’s Whiteout, starring Kate Beckinsale and The Spirit‘s Gabriel Macht. Bruce Willis will next be seen in the Disney thriller (?) Surrogates, and is also attached to Kevin Smith’s buddy cop film A Couple of Dicks, and a live-action adaptation of the video game Kane & Lynch. Busy guy!

Check out last week’s Pull List comic reviews here and here. Part two of this week’s list will be out tomorrow.

Pull of the Week

Dark Avengers #4 – Marvel – $3.99
Score: 8.0

After reading just about every Dark Reign book, one thing has become very obvious to the reader, and that is that the status quo has changed. Villains teaming with villains to take on other villains. Something about that picture just doesn’t sound right on paper… but it works in this issue. Without a single “hero” to cheer for, the reader shouldn’t be rooting for anyone in this book, not even the anti-heroes. With the exceptions of Ares and the Sentry, every other character is a murderous, psychopathic lunatic in one capacity or another. Somehow, though, writer Brian Michael Bendis makes the reader hope for the success of the centerpieces in this issue; Norman Osborn and Doctor Doom. Yes. You read that right. The guy who killed Gwen Stacey and ol’ iron face himself are the people who you are hoping win big in this issue. But like Norman likes to remind us, he did kill the Skrull queen so he can’t be THAT bad of a guy right?

Artist Mike Deodato couldn’t have been placed on more perfect a project, given his style. Many of the pages in the issue revolve more around shadow as he allows these villains to hide in plain sight. Call it a gut feeling, but this type of book most likely wouldn’t have been able to work in a style like recent issues of The Runaways, Deadpool or The Avengers: The Initiative with thick outlines and cartoonish colors. Every character’s appearance has a sense of grit and a feel of realism to them.  The cold dead stare of Hawkeye (or Bullseye, whichever you prefer) makes you believe he can–and will–kill you without a second thought.  Deodato has also done a great job with his take on Doctor Doom as he has been able to get so much expression out of a stiff iron mask.

Over the coming issues, it remains to be seen if the titular team is destined to ultimately fall apart due to outside conflict or internal quarrels.  As with many of Bendis’ stories, the issue ends, not with a cliff hanger, but a moment that leaves the reader questioning the thoughts and mentality of the issues key characters. Are they really as insane as we think they are? Is there the potential for them to do some good? Are they beyond redemption? Do they even want it?

Other Pulls:

Thunderbolts #131 – Marvel – $2.99
Score: 7.0

In a market where $2.99 books are becoming fewer and farther between, it’s almost impossible to pass up any Marvel book featuring the Merc with the Mouth for such a reasonable price. Deadpool has proven he is a character that he can elevate any book with a subpar cast (if under the right writer). Deadpool is able to rub some of his popularity on to some of the lesser known characters like the Headsman and Ghost, who have yet to be greatly explored.

Since the team’s roster change, the Thunderbolts are no longer about redemption as they once were. Instead they are a group of black ops killers at the beck and call of the highest bidder, their boss Norman Osborn. Picking up with “Deadpool”, (actually the Taskmaster in disguise),who is in the clutches of the Thunderbolts and Norman, this issue concludes the crossover arc between Deadpool and the T-Bolts. He even attempts a stirring rendition of a Bon Jovi classic. (Well, not that I could actually hear how it sounded, but I imagined the song being done in Ryan Reynolds voice.) Diggle seems to enjoy working with Ant-Man on the team as he has been given a spot as one of the more clever members of the team despite Kirkman’s creation not originally having such tactical insight.

The only real weakness of the issue that prevented it from reaching it’s real potential was the artwork. Understandably, the editors must have wanted a more lighthearted feel to the book, as opposed to the dirty, dark style of Dark Avengers, to help fit Deadpool’s insane nature. This, however, was taken too far as the issue resembled Saturday morning cartoons more than it did a comic book. The characters are surrounded by bold, thick black lines that often are so stark, they distract from the rest of the panel. Often times the characters faces and poses don’t resemble human anatomy anymore or the way a person’s body can actually move.
Gears of War #6 – Wildstorm – $3.99
Score: 6.0

I know what you are thinking. “A video game adapted into a comic book… There’s no way it can be good.” While the series has, by no means, been mind-blowing, it has been enjoyable read for any fan of the video game franchise. (One nice thing about the comic series has been the exclusion of Dom’s hopeless–and often annoying–stories about his wife that he hasn’t found in ten years that plague the narrative of the game.) The book is comfortable to read for anyone who enjoyed the game as it has a similar pacing. The group of heroes known as “the Cogs” find themselves traveling between locations only to be forced into a series of battles against the locust horde. Marcus and Dom drop a few four letter words and shoot their way out of the situation as the supporting cast comes and goes. While the story is told from the perspective Jace (one of the cogs), it is obvious that the real hero of the story is Marcus which was smart since he is the most recognizable figure of the franchise.

Scribe Joshua Ortega and artist Liam Sharp together bring this normally interactive story to the page in the same spirit as the creators of the famed Xbox 360 series.  One very interesting aspect of the book comes from the perspective of Jace as he describes his thoughts during the issue’s encounter with a Berserker. As he describes the mad locust destroyer, his sentiments echo the thoughts of many gamers who recall their similar encounter from the first Gears game.  Sharp captures the violent nature of the game in a way that it doesn’t feel gratuitous, which is surprising considering the level of bloodshed often seen hitting television screens during the game.

Gears of War as a comic, like all others come before it, inevitably faces the fact that it will be compared with its parent property. Unfortunately for the comic, this property is not known for its rich mythos and compelling characterizations. Gears of War as a whole is best if taken in small doses as a source of mindless fun action sequences. The comic carries along that tradition as well, despite attempts at the underlying emotional strings that Jace’s story tries to bring with it. A fan of the game is much more likely to enjoy Gears than a casual reader but anyone looking for a quick, violent read can enjoy the series as well.
Uncanny X-Men #509 – Marvel – $2.99
Score: 7.5

Not since Joss Whedon’s first issues of his run on Astonishing X-Men has a writer connected to an X-Men cast like Matt Fraction. Something about Fraction’s style captures many of the lesser known mutants in the series and instantly makes the reader care about them. While Northstar, Dazzler, Pixie or Hank McCoy’s genetic genius team “X-Club” won’t be receiving any series of their own any time soon, they are the ones who help drive this book. Fraction also does a great job of splitting the book in terms of character progression and action with much of the book building smoothly to the events of the final few pages.

The issue itself is layered with multiple stories going on in the X-Men saga ranging from the relocation of the group to San Francisco, a proposed mutant breeding law and the group of scientists working to reawaken the X-gene to the return of Madelyne Pryor’s villainy and Northstar’s reinstatement to the X-Men. That has always been one of the strong suits of the X-Men’s story. While they were forced to deal with immediate problems such as a power-hungry mutant’s attack on them, they were always dealing with the underlying political climate and world view of themselves at the same time.

Greg Land does a great job of bringing Fraction’s world to life with brilliant detail. The only weakness that could be seen from his illustrations are the sometimes vacant eyes of some of the characters who are often drawn without pupils. This can easily be overlooked though because of how beautiful the rest of the issue looks. Also, bonus points to Fraction and Land for the panel of Rockslide and Colossus, wearing a Gladiator helmet at an Oakland Raiders game.

While it’s hard to say which X-story is currently the best being told, it is obvious that Uncanny X-Men takes the role as being the central hub through which all other X books are tied in to. Members of every team are present as the book works to push the larger events in the lives of the characters forward. While Madelyne villainous story isn’t the most enthralling, the return of Psylocke to the main Marvel universe and the dynamic of the X-Men make this book well worth the read.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for part two of John’s reviews of comic books coming out this week. A brand new feature right here at The Flickcast.

It seems that 2009 is the year for remakes, reboots and sequels. Even more so than in years past. With news of a reboot for the Predator franchise, a Dune reboot and a prequel to Alien, now comes word, via the Huffington Post, that Michael Douglas and Oliver Stone are on board for a sequel to Stone’s 1987 ode to greed Wall Street. According to the site, Douglas will reprise his role as Gordon Gekko and Stone will direct from a screenplay by Allan Loeb.

Regarding the story of the film, the site quotes 20th Century Fox spokesman Gregg Brilliant, who says: “We need to keep the story line under wraps, but it’s literally ripped from today’s headlines. It’s going to be very big and very cool.” Brilliant also said the project is timely and relevant given the state of the world.

Douglas is apparently very excited to reprise his role saying Gekko has endured as a character because audiences gave him the “same kind of respect we’ve got for the great white shark.” He’s a villain,” the actor continued. “Gordon Gekko is a great, old-fashioned villain. And, interestingly enough, if you look at most actors’ careers, their biggest achievement, not necessarily success, but (achievement), is playing a bad guy.”

The film, currently carrying the clever title Wall Street 2, starts filming this sumer. No word on if Charlie Sheen will reprise his role as Gekko protégé Bud Fox. However, there’s some speculation around the Internets that Shia LeBeouf may play the latest young turk to learn form the master Gordon Gekko. We’ll keep you updated.

Last week on The Flickcast, Chris, Matt and Christina discussed such exciting topics as new Transformers: Rise of the Fallen footage, the announcement that the Hobbit movie may end up being two movies instead of one, porn parodies of well-known films and TV shows and much more.

This week, Christina is out sick so Chris and Matt press on and dive right in to discuss new Predator and Robert Rodriguez news, upcoming potential blockbusters like X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Star Trek, the fate of TV shows like Dollhouse, Lost and Sons of Anarchy and lots more. They also made a couple of picks for the week including JCVD featuring Jean Claude Van Damme and the original Manchurian Candidate starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey and Janet Leigh.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques or offers of sponsorship, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter or via email. Thanks for listening.

It won’t be “officially’” released until the end of the week, but that hasn’t stopped an enterprising person, or persons, from leaking the latest Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen trailer online and posting it at YouTube. So, while you are still able to watch this and enjoy it before it gets taken down by the studio, you should, you know, watch it and enjoy it.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen hits theaters on June 24th.

Update: Well, that didn’t take long, did it? The trailer is now gone. Hope you got to see it while it was there. If not, it will be back on Friday so hang in there.

Updated again: The trailer can now be seen over at Yahoo movies. Enjoy!

Over at MTV, they’ve got some new stuff for all you Harry Potter fans anxiously awaiting the latest big-screen installment of the franchise Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which opens on July 15th.

New this week at MTV is a featurette which, well, features some new footage from the film as well as cast interviews with stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, producer David Baron and director David Yates.

There’s also lots of running, jumping, flying, fire, explosions and, of course, magic. All the things you would expect from a Harry Potter film. As a somewhat reluctant fan of the franchise, I have to say its grown on me over the years and turned into something I look forward to seeing. From this footage at least, it looks like this film is going to be the best of the series so far and a lot of fun. Check it out.

We may see a prequel Alien, one of the greatest and scariest sci-fi/horror films of all time, in the near future. At least if, according to an interview with Fox’s Co-Chairman Tom Rothman over at IESB, Ridley Scott decides to do it. Rothman gave the interview, which featured some more tidbits about a potential Alien prequel and also the reboot of the Predator franchise, while on the red carpet for the Austin, TX premiere of X-Men Origins: Wolverine last night.

During the interview, Rothman was asked about an Alien prequel and said: “There’s been some talk. Ridley Scott, Ridley is right now working on Robin Hood, but I think he’s toying with the idea and that would be great for us. I mean, it’s always been a matter of, really, if you can get the originator to do it that would be the greatest thing, so I’ve got my fingers crossed, all of them.” Rothman, when asked about the announced Predator reboot, said it was going forward and that Robert Rodriguez’ film, now known as Predators, would be under the writer/director/producer/editor/steadicam operator’s total control.

Other projects mentioned during the interview included Daredevil and James Cameron’s Avatar — which will likely have footage from it from shown at the San Diego Comic-Con in July. So, a potential new Alien film under the direction of Ridley Scott. Robert Rodriguez has total control over a Predator reboot. We will see footage from Avatar at Comic-Con and Fox may end up doing another Daredevil movie. Of those things, the first and the third most interest me. The second and last? Not so much.

I don’t know about you but we’re starting to get pretty excited around The Flickcast offices about next Friday’s release of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek. Sure, some people worry about the reboot of the franchise and are concerned it might not be what they love or remember as their Star Trek.

But no matter if you watched the original series first as a kid growing up or if your first experience with Star Trek will be the upcoming film, one thing it seems everyone can agree on is that this film looks great and its going to be a lot of fun.

To further prove this point, over at Sci-Fi Wire they’ve got three new TV spots for the movie with previously seen footage and also some brand new stuff mixed in just to give fans even more to be excited about. And, like it or not, this tactic seems to be working — even on somewhat jaded entertainment writers. Check ‘em out.

We debate quite a bit around The Flickcast water cooler about who should play various roles in upcoming films. One of the most hotly contested debates is who should, and should not, play Captain America in the upcoming The First Avenger: Captain America. In the past few months there’s been several names being thrown around that fans would like to see wield Cap’s shield. Some of these include Channing Tatum, John Cena and Wil Smith.

Now, according to a piece over at MTV Spalshpage, we can apparently add the name Matthew McConnehey to that list. According to the site, McConaughey hasn’t actually seen a script yet but still may be warming to the idea of taking on the role. “It sounds fun,” McConaughey told MTV News during a press junket for his latest film Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. But again, he admitted that no script has come his way.

I’m not sure if McConaughey is exactly right for the part, but he is an interesting choice to consider. The truth is, before Robert Downey, Jr. was cast as Iron Man I was pretty convinced that role could never be filled. Of course, it all turned out pretty well. Maybe I need to give Matthew McConaughey a chance and get on board with casting him? Might be a good idea before Marvel does something really stupid and picks Will Smith.

Here at The Flickcast we have a special place reserved for actresses like Megan Fox. Sure, her acting may be a bit on the weak side, but she more than makes up for it with her chutzpah and by being extremely hot. We’re also fans of comic books being made into movies. So, imagine our happiness when we saw these new photos of Ms. Fox, courtesy of the fine folks at SuperHero Hype, from the set of the big screen version of DC’s Jonah Hex comic book.

The photos, one of which is featured on the left, show Fox costumed for her role as Leila in the film, which also stars John Malkovich, Will Arnett and Josh Brolin as Hex. In case you’re not familiar with the story of Jonah Hex, it centers on Hex, who is a scarred, ex-Confederate soldier turned bounty hunter and his bloody adventures which usually end with a high body count.

Jonah Hex is filming now and hits theaters on August 6, 2010.

We’ve talked about the film and the controversy before at the site and on The Flickcast, so we find it highly unlikely that the person (or persons) responsible for leaking Fox’s upcoming giant new movie, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, would want publicity of any kind. Whatever their reasons for leaking the film, its now out there and their mission, be it to punish Fox, to make some kind of “statement” or whatever, is accomplished.

We certainly don’t believe that one of them would actually agree to a video interview — even if they are in disguise. Still, according to io9, that’s exactly what happened. Over at the site they’ve got the video, which popped up at YouTube, of the purported Wolverine leaker in all of his ski-mask-wearing glory.

Really though, we have a hard time swallowing this. So, if you’ve got a few minutes to kill and want to see what a hoax looks like, take a look.

The real X-Men Origins: Wolverine hits theaters this Friday.