TNI has a couple of interesting interviews up that both touch upon DC Comics action figures. First up is Ryan Mansaur, brand manager for DC Superheroes at Mattel. Next up is Georg Brewer of DC Direct.

I thought it was interesting to find out just how hamstrung Mattel is on the DC Superheroes line (the first decent answer to Marvel Legends from Mattel so far). DC Direct is similarly limited in their control since they contract sculptors instead of doing all the sculpting in-house like Toy Biz did. I always had reservations about DC Direct because of their inconsistency from line to line. Apparently, the outsourcing is the main reason at fault for that, but they are looking to correct that. I still think they underestimate the need for better articulation, but I’m a pretty hardcore Marvel Legends fan so you’d have a hard time convincing me otherwise.

Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil #1 (of 4)
story and art by Jeff Smith

What’s that? Can’t read the title of the post? Well, thank God you’ve got your handy dandy Secret Decoder! What’s that? You don’t? Oh. Well, thank God I’ve got a spare!

This is the kind of effort that Jeff Smith (known for his career-defining work on Bone) is putting into this book. He’s been providing regular updates on his blog, using the code-speak as an added treat, and he says it’ll even be handy when you’re actually reading the book. For example, take a quick glance HERE, and see not only his mindset about putting Talking Tawny in the book, but also the process of creating the art for the page. And hell, you even get another chance to use the decoder. Interested? Don’t even know who Captain Marvel is? Want some preview pages? Well, read on for more!
[Read the rest of this entry…]

Hot on the heels of the announcement of Goyer’s dismissal, the Hollywood Reporter brings us news of the new director – Shawn Levy. So, what’s the man done before to warrant helming such a film? Well, according to IMDb, his most recent movies are: Night at the Museum, The Pink Panther, Cheaper By The Dozen, Just Married, and Big Fat Liar.

Holy. Crap. What an unimpressive list of action-movie/comic-movie credentials. Now, don’t get me wrong – I thoroughly enjoyed Night at the Museum, but I know some here at Powet cringe at its mention, and that’s not even touching the rest of the movies on that list. To be fair though, Levy did direct one episode of the short-lived Birds Of Prey show. And maybe it was a really well-directed episode. I’m pretty sure no one ever bothered to watch it, so it’s hard to say.

In the end, it’s only fair to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, especially until we find out a lot more (like, say, the writer). But this doesn’t exactly strike me as a step in the right direction.

Joss Whedon (who really needs no introduction at this point) was previously set to write and direct the upcoming Wonder Woman movie. David Goyer (whose recent movie-writing includes Batman Begins) was previously set to write (and potentially direct) the upcoming Flash movie. Now? Both have been de-attached from these two films. The reason – for both of them, it turns out – had to do with the studios having a different vision than them. Ah, non-creative executive types telling successful, proven creative types how to create. DC’s already a couple steps behind in the movie-franchise game, and these kinds of decisions really can’t be helping.

Regardless, new writers and directors have yet to be announced; read on after the jump to see what each of the two writer/directors had to say as they broke the news. [Read the rest of this entry…]

After watching the awesomely amazing Batman Begins I was completely under the impression that Katie Holmes‘s character Rachel Dawes would not be returning in the next movie. Not for contractual reasons or anything like, that but rather simply because they seemed to insinuate that her relationship with Bruce as we had known it was not possible anymore, and that she was moving on with her life without him. For more on this see the last 5 minutes of Batman Begins.

Well as various sources are reporting Katie Holmes was offered 2 million dollars to reprise the role and turned it down, presumably to star in an intellectually devoid comedy starring Queen Latifa, and on top of that the studio is still looking to cast someone else as the character as Rachel Dawes.

It’s nearly impossible to tell where fact starts and speculation begins in all this. The fact that Katie was offered 2 million to star in the Batman Begins sequel Dark Knight, and turned the role down due to “scheduling conflicts” seems all we can be sure of. The question of whether her doing this retarded Queen Latifa movie is the source of her conflict could be mainly speculation as could the talk of there still being a desire to cast someone else as Rachel Dawes instead of simply working around the charcter not being in the film, as there is no reason for a sequel not to be able to work if she weren’t returning.

[Read the rest of this entry…]

UPDATED – 1/26/2007, 10:47 PM
DC sent out a new teaser image today, coupled with the sentence, “Let the battle cry be heard in the land, a shout of great destruction.” It’s unclear exactly what this ties to, but keep reading after the jump for a full shot of the image, and a rundown on the surprisingly shocking characters present for it.

WARNING – “52” AND OTHER POTENTIAL DCU SPOILERS AHEAD… [Read the rest of this entry…]

Green Arrow from Smallville has his own show! Sort of. But it’s very strangely animated. And episodes are only about 2 to 4 minutes long. AND they’re only available on “Sprint TV’s mobile video service.” But don’t worry! Once all of the 6 episodes have ‘aired,’ they’ll be available on the CW’s website, starting February 22nd. You can even watch the official trailer for the show HERE, and catch a glimpse of the painfully odd animation in action.

If the video’s not at that link anymore by the time you read this, go to the Smallville main site, and look under the main picture. Of the four smaller boxes lined up underneath, it should be the one on the right, titled “Smallville Legends.”

As for me, while I have no intention of paying anyone, ever, to see this; that trailer remains a sight to behold. As annoying as the kid sounds in it (Waaa! I don’t want a stupid bow and arrow! Waaaaa!), the visuals alone strike me as too strangely disjointed for anyone to punish their senses with for 2 to 4 minutes. So obviously, if I still remember this a month from now, like a good rubbernecker, I’ll totally be checking it out online when I get the chance.

In this review Batman himself talks about the Batman Begins HD DVD as well as some features of HD DVDs in general.