Thus far, Beenox has proven their love of working on the Spider-Man franchise between Spider-Man: Edge of Time and Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. Between the alternate versions of Spider-Man and the original takes on some of his villains, Beenox has shown a deep understanding and respect for the character. Now, they face a new challenge with the tie-in to the Amazing Spider-Man movie. While some major points of their story are often dictated by the events of the movie, Beenox has chosen to open the world up to players much like the previous developer Treyarch had done but has taken steps to improve on their much beloved formula.

In previous titles when a player shot their web, players were forced to let the game instinctually choose an appropriate target for them to sling off of. This was also the case in combat where the foe most often closely centered in the screen became the default target for Spidey to aim at. Now, Beenox has decided to give this control to the player instead with the feature they call the Web Rush for the Amazing Spider-Man game.

Using the Web Rush, time slows down for players, presumably to represent Spider-Man’s hyper-fast reflexes like it was seen in Sam Rami’s Spider-Man film where Peter Parker dodged the bullying of Flash Thompson. During this slow down, players are given all possible targets on screen where they can aim themselves. This can be a great resource for strategically setting themselves into different combat situations.

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This is an open letter to anyone at 20th Century Fox, with how I would handle their X-Men Universe in the wake of The Avengers and their successful First Class Pre-Boot-quel-thing. 

The X-Men cinematic universe was the first major franchise launched in this modern era of comic book blockbusters. The original X-Men film managed to successfully lay in the groundwork of how these types of films can be a success without losing their comic book soul.

The sequel was a massive leap forward in both action and general cinematic quality. While the other sequels have received mixed reviews, it was clear that despite the reboot happy tendencies of modern hollywood. Fox remained committed to the continuity of the universe they established in 2000.

Just a few weeks ago The Avengers made more money than conceivable in its debut, representing the culmination of a five-year, 6 movie plan. The newly established ‘shared universe’ model demonstrated by Marvel Studios could be a new gold standard for what a studio can do with these types of properties.

So it is with that context that I present my plan for a smaller scale ‘shared X-universe’ that can allow Fox to use it’s already established property in an exciting new way.

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Before I recount the gory details of Battleship‘s disastrous opening weekend, it behooves me to let you know yet again that The Avengers won the weekend. I adore The Avengers, but it has made so much money so fast that we are just about out of things to say about it in the Box Office report.

It settled a measly 46.6% for another $55+ million at the domestic box office. The Avengers scored a few more speed records, such as fastest film to $450 Million domestic, in 10 less days than the next best film. Next weekend will be interesting though, its first (potentially) non-first place hold will give a decent indication of how big of a final total we can expect.

The good news for Battleship is that it isn’t a complete and utter disaster worldwide. With its international release weeks in the film has already made over $200 Million. Of course it made a paltry $25 Million here in the states and will be viewed as a the new John Carter (and THAT film’s reign as biggest cinematic black eye might end up short-lived).

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Last night during the season premiere of America’s Got Talent, all five of the NBC viewers were treated to an extended ‘super’ preview of The Amazing Spider-Man. Basically it super-sized the most recent trailer with an extended scene, some dubstep-ish cues and a couple of choice new shots.

The movie is in an odd place for the general public. We are not that far removed from the Raimi series, and despite the vocal internet backlash to the third film, it was a success. So Sony has to win over a skeptical public on top of the already difficult task of competing with this summer’s other two comic book goliaths.

To Sony’s credit this extended trailer marks the most interesting and inciting glimpse at their reboot. It showcases one of the most important aspects of Peter Parker that was almost missed completely in the Raimi films, the personality of Spider-Man.

Spider-Man is a wise-cracking, naive, and most importantly noble hero. There is a duality to Peter that is much more subtle than in a character like Batman, but is no less important. If the Marc Webb reboot can tap into that, we can all be in for a very pleasant surprise this summer.

Check out the full trailer after the jump.

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Idris Elba will be returning as Heimdall in the Thor sequel. While that might seem like a bit of ‘well duh’ kind of news, it is nice to hear none the less. Considering the man is a very talented and very busy actor, whose role in Thor was pretty small, it would not have been terribly surprising if he didn’t have the time for another minor role right now.

However, Mr. Elba recently chatted with Collider who got the confirmation direct from the man himself:

Yes, I am.  I’m definitely going to do my man in a suit film… I’d just like to get to know him a bit more.  Who is Heimdall?  He guards the gate.  Okay.  Is there anything else?  I don’t know what is in the script because I haven’t read it yet.  But, the audience has responded to Asgard and wants to know more about who lives there and what it’s about.  I’m sure, if they do that, Heimdall will be featured more.

Not only is he coming back, but clearly Elba is eager to explore his character more. It would be really great if they allowed him that opportunity, especially the way the story is set up. Heimdall guards the Bifrost, the Bifrost has been destroyed.

That could make for some juicy stuff for Elba to sink his teeth into, and maybe a far more interesting way to incorporate another famous Asgardian who has a few obscure ties to Heimdall, Amora the Enchantress.

If there’s one thing Marvel has proven over the last several years it’s that Iron Man is as popular as ever. With the character’s succes in movies come a renewed level of interest in his comic book exploits as well.

Fortunately, Marvel isn’t resting on its laurels and keeps turing out great stories for its major characters, Iron Man included. Now, with things heating up in the Marvel U and Tony Stark having problems, a new Iron Man is coming to take matters into his (or her) own hands.

That’s the story in Marvel’s upcoming Invincible Iron Man #518. The story, from writer Matt Fraction and artist Salvador Larroca, concerns “the Spymaster’s rampage within Stark Resilient and that incident’s bloody end. The Mandarin is throwing everything he’s got at Tony Stark including amped up super villains. With a big target painted on his back, can Tony Stark make it out alive? Can the new Iron Man save him in time?”

I guess we’ll see when Invincible Iron Man #518 hits comic shops, the Marvel Comics app, and Marvel Digital Comic Shop on June 6. In the meantime, check out some previews for the comic after the break.

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Skimming close to a billion dollars worldwide after a mere 14 days, Marvel, Disney and Paramount are proving that you can indeed make a movie mashup with other characters and pull it off. With that in mind, and that massive payroll coming into the Marvel Studios bank account, you had better believe there are already plans for a sequel to The Avengers.

Deadline has the official quote:

Disney CEO Bob Iger just announced that the company is developing a sequel. The film’s success “is a great illustration of why we like Marvel so much.” Demand for Avengers merchandise has been strong, he added.

While there is no official word, you can expect that Disney is courting Joss Whedon to return to the pen and/or direct for the second film, but we all know it’s going to be a bit far out. The next batch of sequels you can expect to take off will be Shane Black’s Iron Man 3, Thor 2, and the sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger.

If you’re one of the millions of people who read comic books on your iPad or iPhone, this post should be of particular interest to you. That’s especially true in this case if you love Marvel Comics.

Why? Well, today ComiXology and Marvel Entertainment have announced a multi-year deal where Marvel will distribute its digital comic single issue titles excessively through ComiXology. According to the report and interview with Marvel SVP and General Manager of Digital Media David Phillips, the deal was actually signed on May 1 but the announcement was delayed to coincide with the release of Marvel’s The Avengers.

“This partnership will allow us to innovate and advance the digital storytelling and reading experience,” said ComiXology co-founder and CEO David David Steinberger.

Phillips added that ComiXology’s “technology is by far the best.”

In addition to the Marvel deal, ComiXology also announced that over 65 million digital comics issues have been downloaded on all of its platforms, including mobile and desktop. That number is quite a jump from the 50 Million the company announced in January.

Certainly there’s other options for reading comics on the iPad, but it would seem with this latest deal, and the one they already have with DC, ComiXology is definitely asserting its dominance in the digital comics space.

In salute of this weekend’s debut of Marvel Comic’s The Avengers, it’s time to rediscover another Marvel character who’s had three different film versions and hopefully one of these days, they’ll get it right. Dolph Lundgren stars in the first adaptation of The Punisher (1989).

The Punisher was always my favorite Marvel character because he didn’t have superhuman strength, he couldn’t shoot webs out of his wrists, or defeat evildoers with a metal alloy suit; he was nothing more than a badass vigilante who went out and wasted criminal scumbags left and right. He was one of the darkest characters that ever came out of the Marvel universe. So with this first film version, the writers decided to take some extra crappy liberties and change the story around.

In the comics, Captain Frank Castle was a decorated U.S. Marine whose family was killed by gangsters. Broken, disillusioned by the corrupt justice system, Castle decided to take the law into his own hands and became the Punisher who over the years forged some uneasy alliances with other Marvel heroes like Spiderman, Daredevil, and many others.

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Normally this is a report about the top 10 in the weekends Box Office, a celebration of the entire spectrum of the week’s best performing movies. That will not be the case this week as The Avengers just demolished even the most generous expectations and became the first film ever to rake in over $200 Million dollars in a debut weekend.

You read that correct, The Avengers made an estimated $200.3 Million this weekend at the Box Office. For reference the next closest film was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 which brought in over $169 Million in its opening frame. Kudos to me for the prediction last week.

There is a fitting symmetry for Marvel this week, as it was the original Spider-Man movie in 2001 that was the first to breach the $100 Million Dollar plateau. In the twelve years since that first triple digit weekend five of the films to achieve the mark were based on Marvel properties, the most of any single franchise.

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The films put out by Marvel Studios have been excellent in most ways possible. Really nailing the tones of a wide variety of Marvel superheroes. One thing these movies have been lacking, however, is a strong musical presence.

Going back to the original Iron Man, these films have not really had the same level of film score heights that we have come to expect from comic book movies in the last decade plus. The tide began to turn with the last released film, Captain America, which brought in the fantastic Alan Silvestri, but even that didn’t really live up to its potential.

Well Mr. Silvestri is back with the biggest and most epic Marvel film yet, so can he deliver on the promise his name and this property offers? In one word, yes. In seven words and three exclamation points, hell freaking yeah! he totally nailed it!!

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And there came a day, a day unlike any other, when Earth’s mightiest heroes and heroines found themselves united against a common threat. On that day, the Avengers were born—to fight the foes no single super hero could withstand! 

Yesterday in select cities nationwide, thousands of people were treated to a back-to-back marathon screening of all six Marvel Studios films. From Iron Man all the way to the midnight premiere of The Avengers, this epic, butt-busting extravaganza was sold as THE best way to celebrate the arrival of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

The roster of films was impressive, but the time commitment was daunting. For true Marvel movie fans was this celebration a good thing? Is the act of subjecting yourself to hours upon hours watching these films worthwhile? Does it diminish the quality or enhance the context when you watch them all back-to-back?

These were all questions I had to ask myself before settling in on my seventeen hour quest through the Marvel Movie-verse, and they were all questions that were answered quite emphatically by about the fifth hour.

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