Oh shit! Fresh off of Catwoman speculation comes a significant reveal. In an interview published minutes ago, Nolan dropped the title of the third Batman flick: The Dark Knight Rises. Not only that, but dudebro shoots down the potential for the Riddler, writing him off as appearing.

Slashfilm:

The news comes from Geoff Boucher over at Hero Complex, who was able to score a coveted interview with the secretive director. “It won’t be the Riddler,” Nolan said of the third film’s villain, squashing earlier rumors and speculation to the contrary. He also noted, “We’ll use many of the same characters as we have all along, and we’ll be introducing some new ones,” a fairly self-evident   yet cryptic statement.

Evidently, Boucher and Nolan also chatted about convincing Warner Brothers to go with IMAX instead of 3D for the film, which I find incredibly encouraging. Boucher says that information will be made available later today. We’ll update you guys when we hear about it.

Thoughts? Hit the comments box with your take on it. Me? I dig it. Simple enough, penciling out the (obvious) arc that has Wayne finally rising above the turmoil of the second flick. They call that a well-traced trajectory in a trilogy. I mean, if you weren’t expecting him to triumph in the final installment of a three-part saga, you probably haven’t been paying attention to narrative in the last three-zillion years.

Oh shit! Apparently Christopher Nolan has been quietly interviewing women, searching for someone to play a female lead in the upcoming Batman 3: The Darkest Knight or whatever. Intriguing, to say the lead. What exactly is Christopher after? Nolan is looking for an actress in her late twenties or early thirties to helm this big role, and I think we can all agree on one thing: motherfuckin’ Catwoman is about to strut it up on the big screen.

Right? No? Right? Maybe?

Let me crack a controversial comment (maybe) all over your dumb faces; I would much rather see Talia al Ghu in this flick than a latex-bound vixen strutting around as Selina Kyle. And that’s saying something, since a lot of people know my utter fetish for latex, attractive powerful women, and uh, cats?

Perché, Ian!, perché!

The Bones and I have spent a good amount of time brainstorming the plot for Batman: Pretty Much A Dark Knight for Wayne since TDK dropped two years ago. And one of the things we kept coming back to is the idea that Talia rolls up into Gotham to avenge her Poppa Qui-Gon’s death at the hands of Wayne. It’s pure fanboy masturbatory wishing, but isn’t that what dork conversations are for? Hell to the yeah! Fuck yeah to the fucking speculation!

I should be clear that I am an unabashed Nolan fanboy, and if my time on Earth has taught me anything, it’s that the creators I place absolute faith in never, ever, let me down. Except for Lucas, Raimi, the Wachowskis, Peter Jackson post-LOTR, and a laundry list of other Fallen Heroes. I think it’s safe to say my brother and I have developed a complex over this.

But still.

Catwoman? Talia al Ghul? Whoever it is, I place my little, perpetually-innocent heart in Nolan’s hands.

Jesus fucking Christ. Just when I thought that Rob Liefeld couldn’t rock any harder, the dude is bringing us Zombie Jesus. His webcomic is designed to tackle this passage from the Bible:

MATTHEW 27:51-52:

The earth shook, the rocks broke and tombs opened and many men and women who had died came back to life again. They left the cemetery and went into the city and appeared to many people there.

Fucking. Fantastic. This shit is far too amazing to be true. But it is. Oh, yes, it is. I know I’ve always sat around and scratched my head at this scripture. Sitting here, a Man of the Lord, wondering what exactly happened after My Lord and Savior was nailed to the cross, but prior to him self-rezzing and rocking out to the Pentacost and shit. And now religious beacon and soothsayer Rob Liefeld is ready to unveil what is obviously the Truth.

After the crucifixion, supernatural warfare tore apart the Roman Provinces. Zombie Hordes attacked Jerusalem in search of the corpse of Christ. The Disciples were under siege as the Undead tore apart the countryside and an unlikely hero, LAZARUS THE IMMORTAL emerged to combat the Legion of Dead!

Phew. No really, he’s writing this. I can’t make this shit up. And I’m grateful to Mr. Liefeld, who is unafraid to spit the true gospel and illumination upon us, the sheep of our Lord.

Again, Jesus fucking Christ, this shit is bananas. Like, I can’t believe that this is being done, and I’m so grateful that this insanity is puking out of his mind that I want to shake his hand and let him know what an amazing act of absurdity his existence has to be considered. Rob Liefeld, you are a god damn saint. Saint Hoof Feet.

Want to see a fucking preview of this insane bullshit? Of course you do. hit the jump.

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Chris Samnee’s artwork on Thor: The Mighty Avenger is some of my favorite work in years. I hadn’t been drawn to the artist prior to this title, out of both ignorance and stupidity. But his lighthearted approach matches Roger Langridge’s scripts perfectly, and every panel seems to bleed the whimsical, expansive world of T:TMA. With that in mind, I was pretty stoked to come across this video over on Comics Alliance. This video is sped-up, but his actual work took only twenty-seven minutes. A feat apparently accomplished because, like me, Samnee is a Caffeine Warrior. A much, much, much more talented Caffeine Warrior, but nonetheless.

Comics Alliance:

Ever since I witnessed Thor: The Mighty Avenger artist Chris Samnee confess to downing inhuman amounts of coffee on a regular basis at this past summer’s Comic Twart panel at HeroesCon, I feel like I’ve had a better understanding of his equally inhuman art output (The man gets pages done!).

Amazing. Hit the jump to check out Samnee’s super-fast Batman drawing. And if you haven’t check out The Mighty Avenger already. For the love of god(s of Asgard).

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[Source: karismatic]

What the fuck is going on here, exactly? Unlike last week’s reveal of Kobe Brytant wielding the Infinity Gauntlet, 2/3 of this picture makes no sense. First off, there’s no way a self-absorbed douchebag like Lebron James would wield Captain America’s shit. Fucking preposterous. He’s someone like Norman Osborn. For years, he was totally tricking everyone, casting a spell so they thought of him virtuous. But now we all see his god damn goblin visage. Unless they’re riffing on Rob Liefeld’s classic Captain America atrocity. In which case, yes, James’ ego is as out-of-proportion as Liefeld’s anatomy.

And Kobe in Iron Man garb? Well, I suppose they’re both talented and self-aggrandizing douchebags. Still though.

I’m totally sold on Durant wielding Mjöllnir though. Like Thor, he’s a third beast that’s often overlooked, but still carries some righteous fury in his frame.

Alright, I’m totally done being a dork about this. Artwork is dope, too.

When Disney bought Marvel, we knew there could be some dope repercussions. Last week, it was seeing the NBA get Marvel-inspired artwork to promote the upcoming season. This week? This week we’re seeing Marvel comic books get Tron-based variant covers to promote the big Disney movie in December. Shit is hot! Nothing like taking your favorite Marvel characters, and fetishsizing them with latex and 8-Bit retroglory. Hit the jump for the covers.

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From the moment I awake, there is no reprieve from the Beast. He chases me on my way to work, his hot breath burning the hairs off the back of my neck. All day he skulks about my place of business, steaming up my glass door and flexing his gargantuan muscles. He drools all over the floor and the janitor gets a second degree burn trying to mop it up. My co-workers lock themselves in their offices and bolt for the exit when they think he’s not looking.

Most of them make it out alive.

Finally, I clock out for the day. I pack my bags and grab my wallet. Walking to my car, I have no fear for I know I shall defeat the Beast.

His name is Comics and we battle every Wednesday.

Welcome to Variant Covers!

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[images & words is the comic book pick-of-the-week at OL. equal parts review and diatribe, the post highlights the most memorable/infuriating/entertaining book released that wednesday]

[cue the music]

KRAKKA-BOOM!

The lightning cuts the atmosphere in half. Believers raise their eyes skyward as they suck in a whiff of ozone, an affirmation of their hopes and dreams. Skeptics raise their eyes skyward, incredulous no more. There is a new presence in the air. A force to be reckoned with. A beautiful blond with a heavy fuggin’ hammer.

THOR. As written by Matt Fraction. And illustrated by Pasqual Ferry.

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Well, I wasn’t expecting this. Despite covering the announcement of Marvel television with Jeph Loeb helming it, I had sort of forgotten entirely about its existence. I was reminded today like fucking woah when it came out that not only is the Hulk being prepped for a television series, but Del Toro himself is making a pitch for it.

slashfilm:

Deadline and The Live Feed have the news, announcing that Marvel and ABC are currently in very early stages of development of a live-action (most likely hour-long) series adaptation of the comic book character. The project is part of a push from Marvel to enter the TV realm, kicked off last summer with the launch of Marvel Television. Heroes exec producer Jeph Loeb is the head of the operation, and The Hulk was among two high priority projects they settled on.

Slash points out an obvious but good question: isn’t this just inviting confusion? Dude’s gone through a fucking ludicrous amount of iterations within the last ten years alone. First Eric Bana, then Edward Norton, and currently Mark Ruffalo in the movies. But now they’re tacking on a separate television universe? Aren’t the mouthbreathers going to get confused? Dur! Where is that there guy from the TV tube! Why aren’t he one of them Avengers!

Two different Hulks existing in two different mediums? I don’t know, it seems to be muddying the waters a bit. But there’s good news at least! Fucking David Eick of Battlestar Galactica and Guillermo Del Toro are pitching a take? That’s fucking fantastic. Almost too good to be true.

Somehow I missed the news that Marvel and ESPN have teamed up to produce promotional materials for the upcoming NBA season. Dopest part? They’re referencing classic Marvel shiznit. Like the Infinity Gauntlet! Somehow, this makes sense, since Marvel and ESPN are both owned by Disney, through way of ABC or uh, something. I can’t keep track. But whatever the case, it’s dope. And here’s hoping Kobe-Thanatos can take out LeBron James and the Uncanny Douchebags this year. Yeah, I said it.

Speaking of which, hit the jump for a LeBron James riff on the classic Amazing Spider-Man issue where Peter gives up the costume.

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