Fans of the critically acclaimed Breaking Bad are finally getting their wish for more Bryan Cranston. The actor, who picked up an Emmy for his work on the AMC series, has just been signed to fight alongside the titular hero in the upcoming John Carter Of Mars.

Cranston will play a Civil War colonel who clashes with Carter in the early moments of the film. The movie is based on the series of novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs about a Civil War veteran who is transported to another body on the red planet of Mars, where he embarks on an epic journey.

This is quite late casting, as the film reportedly begins production next week. Cranston will join the ranks of an impressive ensemble cast including James Purefoy, Mark Strong, Dominic West, Thomas Hayden Church, Lynn Collins, Willem Defoe, Samantha Morton, Polly Walker, and Taylor Kitsch as Carter.

The screenplay comes from Michael Chabon (Spider-Man 2) with Andrew Stanton (WALL-E) taking the helm. Disney is expected to give the film a mid-2012 release date.

This week I am personally fired up for the new Marvel series S.W.O.R.D. #1 by new Thor writer Kieron Gillen and Steven Sanders. The last time I saw Sanders he did the Five Fists of Science with Matt Fraction that feels like it was a century ago. The series is a spinoff from Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men where we follow Agent Brand, Beast and Lockheed through the cosmos.

Following that is the new Doctor Strange spinoff, Strange by Mark Waid and Emma Rios. Being a nut for all things Deadpool, the latest issue of Amazing Spider-Man guest stars the Merc with a Mouth. But that’s not really why I’m buying the issue, its ’cause the awesome Eric Canete draws the issue.

For Matt, this week we have a Doc Savage special guest starring Batman. Written by the brilliant Brian Azzarello and drawn by Phil Noto, the Man of Bronze encounters the Dark Knight in non-period specific Manhattan.

A personal favorite of mine is the new Escapists trade paperback. This is a fairly old story, written by Lost’s Brian K. Vaughan and based on a Michael Chabon character. The Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Chabon created a new character called the Escapist.

This comic is about the character being re-imagined by Cleveland indy comic creators.  Its a fun read about friendship and comic creator rights written by the superb Vaughan through Dark Horse comics. I can only give it my highest possible recommendation.

As always, we here at The Flickcast care about what you read, so leave us a comment and let us know what you liked/didn’t like from this week’s comics. For a more complete list of what comes out this week, check out the one at Midtown Comics.