We told you last week that Marvel and Fox were in talks to make a trade of sorts. Fox would get an extension on their Daredevil rights and Marvel would recoup certain specific character rights from the Fantastic Four universe, including Silver Surfer and Galactus. This seemed like a no brainer for both sides and was potentially step one for cross studio cooperation.

Of course when something seems to good to be true it often is. Word is now out that the talks have fallen through and Fox will lose the Daredevil rights and retain their full Fantastic Four catalog. This development is the very definition of a good news, bad news situation.

On one hand, any time Marvel Studios gets a chance to pull in the rights to one of its characters and their universe it is a good thing. It is unlikely that Matt Murdock will be fighting alongside The Avengers any time soon, but Marvel Studios is ever-expanding, and it is likely we will see a faithful Daredevil adaptation in some form or another eventually. Plus keeping Silver Surfer and Galactus with the Fantastic Four allows for the chance that a proper FF reboot can use two of their more important in-universe characters.

By now everyone realizes that the cinematic rights to certain characters and franchise within the Marvel Pantheon are not actually held by Marvel Studios. They are spread out among several other major studios, most notably Sony and Fox, with those studios holding lucrative deals that allow them to keep the franchises so long as they are using them.

This means that as Marvel Studios blows everyone’s collective minds with their spectacular feature films, several key characters are off-limits to them. Up to this point that was not really a big deal because Marvel had plenty of their own marquee heroes and villains to play with. However, now Marvel is looking to expand into the cosmic corner of their universe with ‘Phase 2’ and the two most popular and known cosmic characters are currently held by Fox.

Under normal circumstances this would simply mean Marvel would have to find replacements for Galactus and Silver Surfer as they move forward with their cosmic phase, but timing might just be on their side. Fox is under a tight deadline to get their Daredevil reboot off the ground, and they just recently lost their director. Instead of simply scrabbling, Variety is reporting that Fox has proposed a trade with Marvel Studios to extend the Daredevil rights, a deal that would bring Galactus and Silver Surfer back home to Marvel.

One of our favorite comic book writers, Matt Fraction, has a new series coming out from Marvel and we are, of course, excited to bring you a preview of it today. The new comic, called Defenders, takes the superhero genre and bends it in a brand new and very fun way.

But don’t take our word for it, here’s the official scoop from Marvel:

When the impossible is everywhere and the very fabric of reality is threatened by insanity, the world needs more than super heroes…they need Defenders! Enter Defenders #1, from the top-selling creative team of Matt Fraction (Fear Itself, Invincible Iron Man, Mighty Thor) and Terry Dodson (Uncanny X-Men), as Doctor Strange assembles a new team of heroes to face a new kind of threat that will leave readers shocked.

Doctor Strange, Iron Fist, Namor, Red She-Hulk, Silver Surfer and more of your favorite Marvel Heroes will band together exploring corners of the Marvel Universe you never knew existed for missions so deadly they have to be kept secret. Once a Defender, always a Defender – no matter the cost or sacrifice.

Fraction is joined by artist Terry Dodson and to help get you as excited as we are, check out poreview pages for the comic after the break. Look for Defenders #1 in comic shops on December 7.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Asgard around here as we start to see more and more from our friends at Marvel featuring the God of Thunder, Thor. Earlier today we brought you more on the upcoming game featuring the character. Now, with the big screen Thor slated to drop soon, Marvel hasn’t forgotten the character’s comic book roots and is set to devote more pages to him with an all-new comic book series.

Written by the Eisner Award-winning Matt Fraction with art by superstar Olivier Coipel, this new Thor will usher in “a bold new era for the kingdom of Asgard. But when the Silver Surfer suddenly appears to herald the arrival of Galactus in the Odinson’s realm, can the combined might of Thor and his brethren push back the devourer of worlds?” I don’t know but I bet it will be one heck of a fight.

To get you prepared for this struggle, we’ve got some preview pages for the comic to share today. Looking at them you really get a sense that this story is going to be pretty epic.

Check out the preview pages after the jump. The Mighty Thor hits store shelves on April 27th.

Even though Valentine’s Day has already come and gone this week that doesn’t mean you still can’t get your favorite person some cool new comics as another way to show the love. Speaking of new comics, as usual, this week sees the release of a bunch of new ones from our friends at Marvel.

Let’s take a look at what they have for us. Among the new ones coming out, we’re most interested in SHIELD #6, Avengers Academy #9, Silver Surfer #1, Uncanny X-Force #5 and Wolverine #6.

As with most weeks, new comics arrive on Wednesday, so hit your nearest comics book store early for best selection.

Don’t know where your nearest comic store is? Use this handy guide to find one.

Comics On-Sale:
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #654.1
ASTONISHING X-MEN: XENOGENESIS #5
AVENGERS ACADEMY #9
CAPTAIN AMERICA: MAN OUT OF TIME #4
CARNAGE #1 2ND PRINTING VARIANT
CARNAGE #2 2ND PRINTING VARIANT
DAREDEVIL: REBORN #2
DEADPOOL MAX #5

Once again, we’re back with another character profile from Marvel’s animated show for kids (and kids of all ages) Super Hero Squad. This time around, we’ve got a profile video of another character on the squad, the Falcon. Be sure to check out this new video after the jump.

And also, as we do, here’s the “official” word on this character directly from Marvel:

Falcon

Falcon flies with wings made of “hard light” (a solid type of hologram). He’s upgraded them with Stark-built “feathers” that shoot out as projectiles. Falcon communicates telepathically with birds, particularly his pet falcon REDWING. He can even “see” through their eyes, which comes in handy when the team needs recon. T

he original adrenaline junkie, Falcon loves anything that moves fast, flies high or causes severe motion sickness. Passionate and optimistic at 17, he’s a born hot-dogger who’s finally made it to the big leagues. Beneath his jokester persona, he’s got a lot to prove.

Falcon’s going to figure out, over time, that he’s as powerful a hero as any and it’s got nothing to do with how much he can bench-press (260, if you must know). The others are going to learn that his tactical judgement is approaching that of his mentor, Cap.

Our friends at Marvel have sent us yet another video that we can bring you. This time, its a character profile of Silver Surfer from from their animated kid’s show Super Hero Squad, which airs weekdays on Cartoon Network.

The video is pretty cute, especially if you’re a kid and helps to understans the motivations and history of one of the most complex and interesting characters in the Marvel U. So, be sure to check out the video after the jump.

Also, as we are asked to do, following is the text the company has sent along to go with the video. And again, be sure to click through and enjoy the video.

Silver Surfer

As the Squad’s resident alien, the Surfer is a fish-out-of-water, constantly puzzled and amazed at the strange customs and culture of Earthlings. The Surfer, for all his innocence, is in hiding.

For many people, comics are thought of as something for kids. Although I know many adults who read comics and titles seem to be geared more towards adults these days, its nice to see that a company hasn’t forgotten that kids do make up a portion of their audience.

Case in point is Marvel’s Super Hero Squad TV program, which is now moving to a primitime gig on Cartoon Network. Here’s all the latest info from the official press release.

On Saturday morning, September 19th, The Super Hero Squad Show burst onto television screens across the nation on Cartoon Network to rave reviews and a huge audience. It instantly became the Network’s #1 show for Boys 6-8 and has continued its heroic growth in that demographic, increasing that audience by nearly 30%.

Thanks to the tremendous success the show has seen on Saturday mornings, the greatest Super Heroes in the Marvel Universe are ready to make the leap to primetime! Starting this past Saturday, November 7th, The Super Hero Squad Show made its heroic debut on Saturday nights at 7:30PM as part of Cartoon Network’s incredible prime time line-up.

With the Marvel/Disney deal looming, the race is on for studios to secure properties. Variety is reporting that Columbia Pictures is working on a sequel to Ghost Rider, with David Goyer reportedly in talks to create the story, as well as supervise additional writers for the film. Nicolas Cage is expected to reprise his starring role as Johnny Blaze.

The resurrection of Ghost Rider as a franchise comes in the middle of negotiations with other Marvel characters at Sony, Fox, Universal and Paramount. Studios must move on these properties now if they want to retain the rights to their Marvel superheroes.  If the properties languish, Marvel Entertainment can reclaim the rights to those characters. This is exactly what happened with the Dr. Strange, Black Panther and Iron Man properties. Iron Man languished in development hell at New Line before Marvel turned the property into a self-financed blockbuster last year. And we all know how well that went.

Although Goyer stated through a spokesman, that he has not officially signed on to a second Ghost Rider, plans are already under way to base the sequel on a script Goyer penned years ago. Goyer’s, superhero work includes successful screen transfers of DC’s Batman Begins and Marvel’s Blade franchise.

Columbia isn’t the only one getting in on the properties action. Fox plans to reboot Fantastic Four with Green Lantern scribe Michael Green; develop a Wolverine sequel and other X-Men spinoffs; a Silver Surfer film; and a revamped version of Daredevil.

Sony recently tapped James Vanderbilt to pen the fifth and sixth installments of the Spider-Man series, and Universal is continuing work on Sub-Mariner. Paramount will continue to be the distributor for Iron Man 2 and are also expected to distribute the upcoming Thor and Captain America flicks.