Between some casting news and a few choice interviews, it was a busier 24 hours than most in the entertainment news cycle. Here are the headlines of interest for the weekend:
– CBS’ Supergirl added a few Superman franchise vets yesterday as both Dean Cain (Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman) and Helen Slater (Supergirl, the movie) have signed on for the series. It isn’t the first time these two have re-joined the DC Universe, both appeared in Smallville at different times: Cain as a Vandal Savage-like immortal scientist, and Slater as Lara-El. Their roles are being kept under wraps this time around.
– FOX’s Lucifer has found its lead as well, as British thespian Tom Ellis (Rush, Miranda) will be playing the former Lord of Hell who now helps the LAPD punish criminals.
– On the Avengers: Age of Ultron side of things, we have some new character posters promoting the film including The Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, and Nick Fury:
– Collider also has a great interview with Chris Hemsworth that’s worth a look at if you’re curious where Marvel may be taking Thor specifically. There’s one bit of exchange I found interesting, where Hemsworth slightly hints at why Thor: The Dark World wasn’t as necessarily successful as the first Thor:
What’s something Thor gets to do in this film that he hasn’t done before in the other fims?
HEMSWORTH: He’s loosened up a bit. I think we lost some of the humor and the naïveté, that sort of fish out of water quality of Thor from the first film into the second one. There were things I loved about what we did in the second one too, tonally, but that sense of fun… I would have liked it to be there a bit more, and Joss I think felt the same way. So there’s more humor in Thor or at least because he’s been on Earth, he’s a little more accessible now. He’s off Asgard now so he doesn’t have to be as regal and kingly as he is in that world, which is nice. I enjoy that more. It’s sort of a box, which is tough to step out of on Asgard. You know, that stuff just looks out of place whereas here, he can have a gag with the guys and he can throw away lines and be a party scene with them in civilian clothes, which is nice.
– Speaking of regal superheroes, Jason Momoa chatted briefly with EW while promoting Sundance TV’s The Red Road, and of course Aquaman came up. At one point he compares his DCU experience with that of Conan The Barbarian:
The whole mythology of Aquaman is pretty amazing. There’s so many things to tell, and there’s a whole backstory that’s just amazing. There’s a lot of surprises coming. I think, yeah, he’s been cast aside. But, um [laughs] times are going to change now, buddy. Conan was really hard, because you have 15 different types of fans and so many things to respect and honor. To do it right it’s got to be bloody-bloody-bloody-bloody-bloody, and not a lot of people go see that anymore. It’s not the ’80s anymore. It’s a really hard format. We busted ass, but there were a lot of cooks in the kitchen on that one. What’s great about this is Zack, man. We don’t want to just reinvent it, but he’s a got a whole idea of what Aquaman should be and I’m really honored to be playing it. I’m excited for the world to see it.
He also more or less confirmed that Aquaman’s role in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is fairly small and filming for Justice League has not begun yet.
Bryan Q. Miller’s transfer of the Smallville TV show to comics has been praised by most, with particular acclaim coming from his decision to not have Superman wear jeans, to not have him be annoying and cynical, and to not have him be boring. Radical thinking! And the digital-first series has now pulled off a coup you would never have seen from the TV series: the introduction of a certain dark knight into the story, who broods and dispenses vigilante justice over rolling intervals.
Yep, Batman’s going to appear in the book, starting with September’s issue #5! Here’s what he looks like, as drawn by artist CrissCross:
Oh and by the way the girl in the Nightwing outfit is Stephanie Brown dunno if that might interest you or not… I hear she has a fanbase or something.
By Todd Allen
Joss Whedon started something when he decided to continue Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a comic. Now DC/Warners is following that lead and continuing Smallville as a comic, with Season 11 set to drop in April or May, depending on which format you want to read it in.
The comic will be written by Bryan Q. Miller, who was part of the Smallville writing staff and ended up as the Executive Story Editor. He also spent a couple years writing the Batgirl comic. Miller is as authoritative a Smallville vision as was available and he’s written comics before, so it seems like a good match there. The art will be by Pere Perez. Perez was on Batgirl with Miller and has done a few other things, notably some work on the Nightwing and Flamebird Action Comics run a couple years back.
The release schedule has a little bit of a quirk to it. Weekly digital comic “chapters” starting April 13, 2012 (a Tuesday) and then collected into a print edition starting on May 16. Offhand, I’d say the digital is there to do two things:
- Trying to find the Smallville fans that are certainly dedicated enough online, but don’t seem to have a presence in the Direct Market. Cat Staggs is the cover artist for the digital edition and Gary Franks for the print. Having Franks, much more famous in the DM, for the print comic does speak to different audiences.
- Mimicking the weekly schedule of a TV show.
Buffy started out with huge numbers as a monthly comic and settled into merely very good (for an independent comic) monthly numbers and a lot of trade paperback sales. It will be interesting to see if Smallville can find similar success.
We also have an answer to an old question. What will it take to get DC to do a regular Smallville comic? The show getting cancelled.
Official announcement follows:
Fans of the smash-hit TV series Smallville haven’t had much to cheer about since the show ended its critically acclaimed 10-year run on The CW last May. That’s all going to change with the upcoming new comic book series from DC Entertainment: SMALLVILLE SEASON 11. Written by former Smallville show scribe Bryan Q. Miller, the new digital first series will be published digitally on April 13, 2012, with new digital chapters released weekly thereafter. Additionally, the online chapters will be offered in a print periodical, along with an episode guide to the hit television series, with the first print issue released on May 16.
The new comic book series picks-up where the show left off (with Clark officially now as Superman!) and features other fan-favorite characters including Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, Chloe Sullivan-Queen, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and General Lane. The book features an all-star creative team – in addition to Miller, SMALLVILLE SEASON 11 creators include print cover artist Gary Frank (SUPERMAN SECRET ORIGIN), digital cover artist Cat Staggs and interiors by Pere Perez (BATGIRL).
“Six months after Clark Kent donned the cape and took to the skies to save Earth from Apokolips… enter Season 11!” enthuses Miller. “New allies abound! New enemies afoot! And old friends return where they’re least expected! Pere and colorist Chris Beckett have done a fantastic job of capturing the look of the
Everyone who has been complain about Constantine should look at that description of Lucifer and marvel at how much worse it could have been. Not that Constantine is perfect by any means, but why the heck would you pay to license Vertigo’s Lucifer only to then change it so much? He’s the devil! No one company owns him!