CBR has reported that writer Dwayne McDuffie has passed away from complications due to a surgical procedure.

McDuffie started as part of the Marvel editorial staff in the late 80’s, and later went on to become a fulltime freelance writer and writing for several companies including Marvel and DC. He is best known for creating the Milestone Media brand in 1993, with the goal to expand the role of minorities in comics.

Later McDuffie moved into the world of DC Animation, where he wrote, edited, and produced on several properties including Static Shock and Justice League. More recently he was involved in writing for DC Animations’s direct to video animated movies including Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths and All-Star Superman which coincidentally was released today.

DC Comics Co-Publisher Dan DiDio had this to say about McDuffie:

“Dwayne McDuffie left a lasting legacy on the world of comics that many writers can only aspire to. He will not only be remembered as the extremely gifted writer whose scripts have been realized as comic books, in television shows and on the silver screen, but as the creator or co-creator of so many of the much-loved Milestone characters, including Static Shock. The industry has lost a true talent.

Our sincerest condolences go out to the family and many friends he leaves behind.”

Our condolences to his friends and family. Let us know your favorite work or memories of McDuffie in the comments.

A new theatrical trailer for Thor has been released, which includes everything you wish they put in the trailer that was shown during the Super Bowl.

Let us know what you think in the comments.

Fox has posted the first official trailer for X-Men: First Class, which comes out later this year on June 3rd.

Let us know what you think in the comments.

The LA Times’ Hero Complex blog has posted the first photo of Bucky from the upcoming Captain America: The First Avenger movie, played by Sebastian Stan. They have also posted an interview with director Joe Johnston who discusses how Bucky in the movie isn’t a younger sidekick to Captain America like in the comics, but instead is the same age and is a much darker character.

Waner Bros. Pictures has announced that British actor Henry Cavill has been cast to play Clark Kent/Superman in the 2012 Superman reboot directed by Zack Snyder. Cavill is best known for his role on Showtime’s The Tudors.

Press release after the break.
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It has been known for months that at the end of writer Jonathan Hickman’s “Three” story arc in Fantastic Four, one member of the classic Marvel team would die. Despite efforts to keep the news secret by shipping the issues in black polybags featuring the “Three” logo and shipping the comic a day early, several major news outlets spilled the news hours before any comic shops were open to sell the issue. Marvel themselves issued a press release with the news this morning.

Find out who dies and see preview pages from this issue after the break.
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Earlier today MSN premiered the first photo of the cast from the X-Men First Class movie, but later took the page down. Bleeding Cool News was able to save the picture before it went offline.

Left to right we see: Magneto (Michael Fassbender), Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne), Emma Frost (January Jones), Azazel (Jason Flemyng), Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Havoc (Lucas Till), Angel Salvadore (Zoe Kravitz), Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), and Charles Xavier (James McAvoy).

Entertainment Weekly has posted the first picture of Chris Evans in full Captain America costume from the upcoming Captain America movie. The design of the costume was leaked several months ago, and Evans appeared in costume without the helmet on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, but this is the first picture of Evans wearing the full costume in the movie.