Moments ago, Marvel did a live-streamed press conference announcing a new seven issue series, Fear Itself, starting in April of 2011 with a preview in March 2011, starring Captain America and a few others back in World War II. Brought to life by Matt Fraction, Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger, and Laura Martin, this seven-issue series will run $3.99 per issue, except for the larger-than-normal first and last issues. Read the full story

Today, in a press release from Capcom, gamers across the world were given the news they’ve been desperately waiting to hear: the official release date for Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

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You may have heard that Marvel is going to kill Spider-Man. Except that they aren’t. We know that by now, right? Its all a sham, a way to boost sales. Things will return to the status quo eventually, everybody will have a good laugh and they’ll forget all about it. So why do they keep doing things like this? And why do we keep buying them? Read the full story

For weeks it’s been speculated, and now today it has been officially confirmed: Martin Freeman will be playing Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit.

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Comic books and video games. There is no greater combination. So, when you take an American icon like Captain America and throw him into a third person shooter, well, you know it’s going to rock!

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You wanna know what the Captain America costume looks like? You wanna see some high tech Nazi bikes? Yeah you do. Read the full story

In a move to help make sure teachers in Maryland keep their jobs (and of course scare up some votes for her reelection campaign), Senator Nancy King is running an ad showing what would happen if kids were left teacherless. Oh, and by the way, this ad make it seem like comics are only for the uneducated. Thank you Senator King.

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Unless you’ve been living under a rock, or have no interest in comic book movies, you’re well aware that there is a Thor movie in the works. Details have been scarce, and so have images…until today.

Slated for a summer 2011 release, Marvel Studios confirmed today that, like the upcoming Captain America movie, Thor will be released in 3D (ugh). Personally, I’m sick of 3D, so that tidbit of news was a major turn off, but fortunately there was more.

Sir Anthony Hopkins, Mr. Hannibal Lecter himself, is playing the role as Odin. If you’re unfamiliar with Norse mythology, Odin is the equivalent of Zeus, making him the chief god. So far, the only image released has been of Thor, portrayed by Chris Hemsworth. Fans of the Thor comic series, and those eagerly anticipating the movie, were given a second image today that featured Odin:

What. The. HELL! I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not excited by this. The armor is too much, and honestly, a simple breastplate would have done. Simple, not complicated. What we have here has a strange mech look to it, and reminds of me clock gears. Also, what is up with that eye patch? Yeah, Odin has one eye, OK. But a shiny, bright gold eye patch/monocle? C’mon people…how difficult would it have been to replicate this Odin:

Also, if you notice, we get our first look at Loki, portrayed by Tom Hiddleson, so that was nice. I’m assuming, that since everybody is together, and Thor and Loki aren’t going for each other, that maybe this shot is taken from the beginning of the movie. If I’m correct, then maybe where they are is Asgard? I always imagined Asgard would look more Nordic, with a lot of wood, tables everywhere, things hanging from the walls, and have this badassViking feel to it. From what I am able to see, which honestly isn’t much, it has this cold feel about it and appears to be concrete.

Anyways, Hopkins is a phenomenal actor, so I’m not worried about that at all. I guess I’ve been disappointed by so many comic book movies (X-Men series, Fantastic Four, etc), other than Iron Man and Watchmen. Hopefully the movie is solid, we don’t get dicked over like Edward Norton did, and we better get winged helmets!

- Me

Well, this isn’t good news! Per an official statement from Marvel Studios, Edward Norton has been dropped from reprising his role as Dr. Bruce Banner in the upcoming Avengers movie.

Marvel Studios President of Production, Kevin Feige, said in the statement:

“Our decision is definitely not one based on monetary factors, but instead rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members. The Avengers demands players who thrive working as part of an ensemble, as evidenced by Robert, Chris H., Chris E., Sam, Scarlett, and all of our talented casts. We are looking to announce a name actor who fulfills these requirements, and is passionate about the iconic role in the coming weeks.”

So according to them, it’s not about the money or his talent, because Edward Norton isn’t enough of a ‘team player’. I’m sure that’s going to go over well with him.

Last year, it was said that Norton wasn’t looking to revisit the Hulk, due to issues he had while making The Incredible Hulk. Apparently, Norton edited a lot of the script himself, but at the end of the day, the Writers Guild of America decided to give all of the credit to Zak Penn, saying that Norton’s changes didn’t drastically alter the script. In March of 2010, Norton sat down with SuperHeroHype, and things sounded like they were on the up and up. Apparently not.

Now, in just a short time span, fans of the Marvel universe will have to deal with not one (Eric Bana), not two (Norton), but three actors portraying Banner. I think it’s too much, because when you really think of it, with the section of time they are going for (and if my memory serves me correct), The Avengers don’t meet Banner himself: it’s the Hulk who is a main antagonist.

In my opinion, Marvel is making a huge mistake. If you’ve seen The Incredible Hulk, Norton delivers a solid performance, and when you look at his body of work (Fight Club, American History X, The Illusionist, Rounders, Death to Smoochy, The Score, etc) he obviously works well with others, and is a phenomenal actor.

Will this make me want to not see The Avengers? I can’t say. Am I thrilled about the addition of Scarlett Johansson, who did a piss poor job of accurately portraying Black Widow, and Chris Evans as Captain America? No, not really. Odds are, I’ll probably see the movie anyways, and when I see the Hulk finally grace the screen, I’ll be wishing it were Norton instead.

- Me