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"I'm looking east," says the founder and CEO of Framestore.

The post ‘Gravity,’ ‘Dr. Strange’ VFX Studio Framestore Bought by Chinese Firm appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

A first look at Marvel's "Rocket & Groot" shorts produced by Passion Pictures.

The post Comic-Con 2016: Passion Pictures Is Making Rocket & Groot Shorts And The Test Footage Looks Incredible appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

Geek.com has an exclusive rumor: Sources close to both Geek.com and production on the film have told us that a fan favorite from the comic books will be making an appearance in the upcoming film: Ego, the Living Planet, is set to appear in Guardians of the Galaxy 2. I’m not surprised. Why? Because I […]

Marvel’s landmark Secret Wars event has been beset with repeated delays, but the House of Ideas is moving ahead as scheduled with their full line relaunch, giving birth to the All-New, All-Different Marvel Universe. We at Comics Beat are dedicated to praising great comics, and with so many potential winners out there it can be hard to discern […]

Disney XD brings the Guardians of the Galaxy from the theaters to your kids TV in their own series. Our thoughts on the series premiere.

A series of mini-shorts will debut on Disney XD tomorrow.

By: Nick Eskey

Hello again toy enthusiasts, and welcome to another installment of San Diego Comic-Con Funko releases! You know Funko, the purveyors of the highly popular POP! series of collectible figurines, who also vow to “cover as many beloved licenses and characters as possible to remind every Comic-Con attendee why they fell in love with these stories in the first place.”

Monday will be the last announcement for San Diego Comic-Con exclusives, so make sure to check back soon. And remember, there is no pre-buy option this year. So if you see any of these toys you want to get, you’ll have to visit the booth while supplies last, or cry into your Lean Cuisine.

Without any more procrastination, here’s the next installment:

Pop! TV: Arrow – The Arrow: Unmasked

We can’t get enough of the show “Arrow.” Feed the hunger with this ruggedly-handsome Arrow: Unmasked. His arrow will go straight… to your heart!

Pop! Disney: Big Hero 6 – Transluscent Glitter Emoticon Baymax

How would you rate the “kawaii” factor of this toy? The Translucent Glitter Emoticon Baymax from Pixar’s “Big Hero 6” always rates a big smiley face in my opinion.

Pop! Movies: Minions – Gone Batty

Can you imagine you’re life without a minion? Not only do they get the menial tasks done while you are plotting world domination, but they do it in historical style. Joining the large POP! minion collection is this Gone Batty. Wearing a purple cloak and showing off some pointy fangs, this blood sucker should be flying into your hands.

Pop! Disney: Tangled – Frying Pan Rapunzel and Burnt Pascal

Not too long ago, every Disney princess would be the equivalent of a damsel in distress; but not this feisty lady. Frying Pan Rapunzel and Burnt Pascal are ready for a fight. She’s got cookery, and she knows how to use it!

Dorbz: Marvel – X-Force Deadpool

The impending “Deadpool” movie has comic fans squealing with delight. Satisfy your Deadpool cravings with this X-Force Deadpool, dressed in his alternative grey onesie. If you don’t get it… well I just don’t know what this anti-hero will do to you. So, why chance it right?

Dorbz: Guardians of the Galaxy – Mossy Groot

And rounding it up, from the “Guardians of the Galaxy” we have this Dorbz Mossy Groot. We’ve already seen this fella on our list, but instead of the XL we are getting the regular size. Options are good to have.

Thanks for tuning it guys and gals, and don’t forget to come back for our last exclusive Funko releases post!

By Nick Eskey

Thanks for tuning in geeky guys and gals to this Sunday update of SDCC ’15 Funko toy release. Better known for their “POP!” line, Funko strives to “cover as many beloved licenses and characters as possible to remind every Comic-Con attendee why they fell in love with these stories in the first place.”

Just as a reminder, this year Funko will not be taking pre-buys of their products. So if there’s any of these exclusive toys that you want to get, best to get them onsite or see if a lucky con-goer buddy will help you out.

Without further delay, here’s the addition to our list:

Pop! Disney/Pixar: Inside Out – Sparkle Hair Joy

Disney’s Pixar, which arguably can be thanked for the recent revival of the Disney brand, has just recently released their newest movie “Inside out.” Involving the personified personality traits in people, this Pop figure from the movie features Sparkle Hair Joy. Don’t work, there’s enough anger and depression in the film to balance this perpetually happy and hyperactive lady.

Pop! TV: Sesame Street – 6″ Flocked Mr. Snuffleupagus

Whether he’s being an imaginary character that only a large yellow bird can see, or a real thing, this 6 inch super sized Snuffleupagus from the much beloved Sesame Street will be materializing to Comic-Con. Who doesn’t want to own a Snuffy?

Pop! TV: Once Upon A Time – Regina

Once upon a time, there was a toy who wanted nothing but to rule. Now with your help, this Regina from the Once Upon a Time series can rule your figure collection. And look, she’s got an apple for you too as a gift. How thoughtful!

ReAction: Arrow – Arrow Unmasked

Protecting your crime riddled shelves is this ReAction Arrow Unmasked. Complete with 1970’s style packaging and limited posable action, this fantastic plastic will be a must have.

Dorbz XL: Guardians of the Galaxy – 6″ Mossy Groot

Guarding the galaxy is a big job. Thankfully, this Dorbz XL Mossy Groot is the humanoid plant you’ll be wanting for the job. Featuring a healthy growth of 6 inches, this happy creature will keep everything happily dancing along.

Dorbz XL: Guardians of the Galaxy – 6″ Nova Suit Rocket Raccoon

And lastly, the big wooded Groot can’t go too far without his furry compadre. Dorbz XL Nova Suit Rocket Raccoon will be providing 6 inches of vinyl sharp tongued humor to your collection. Despite his gruff exterior, look how cute he is!

Thanks for tuning in, and see you fellow nerds for our next installment. Stay tuned!

Well the Raccoon and Starlord got their own books, so why not a tree? (And Gamora is coming, we’re told.) Jeff Loveness, usually a writer for Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Disney animator Brian Kesinger are teaming for a Groot ongoing comic—Declan Shalvey does the variant cover, with colors by Jordie Bellaire. The colorist on the interior pages isn’t credited but…wow.

Confession: this looks adorable.

Groot was created by Jack Kirby.

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“There’s a huge language barrier between Groot and the rest of the Marvel Universe,” says writer Jeff Loveness, in an interview with Marvel.com. “He may be a kind-hearted soul to us, but to a stranger, he’s just a terrifying tree-monster. He’s bound to get in trouble because of people judging him before they know him.”

It’s not all fun and games when, for the first time in years, Groot has been separated from his pal and translator Rocket Raccoon and forced to make it on his own in the big, scary galaxy. Armed with just the words “I”, “Am” and “Groot,” he’s about to embark on a new kind of adventure.

“We have the kinds of wacky situations a giant space tree can find himself in,” series Editor Devin Lewis says, “but we’re also striving to show what makes Groot one of the noblest and wisest characters in the Marvel Universe. There are as many feels in this book as there are chuckles, and it’s going to surprise people.” 

Explosions! Intergalactic Hitchhiking! Aliens! Space Sharks! And that’s just the first issue, True Believer! Bursting at the seams with action, adventure and excitement – fans will not want to miss out on this epic thrill ride. The intergalactic road trip is about begin. Hang on tight when GROOT #1 sprouts up in comic shops this June!
GROOT #1
Written by JEFF LOVENESS
Art by BRIAN KESINGER
Cover by DECLAN SHALVEY
On Sale in JUNE!

There’s snow on the ground here in Atlanta, and I can’t wait for Spring to finally arrive. Seriously.

Here are the big updates for this morning:

– This is not a big surprise, given that probably every actor that signs up for a superhero film these days has a multi-picture contract, but Suicide Squad star Margot Robbie has confirmed that she has one too. Get used to seeing lots of Harley Quinn in future DC movies, provide all goes well for the studio.

– Making the rounds yesterday was James Gunn‘s Facebook post regarding the awards-season/Birdman-birthed narrative that superhero movies are the death-knell of creativity in Hollywood, it’s pretty wonderful:

Whatever the case, the truth is, popular fare in any medium has always been snubbed by the self-appointed elite. I’ve already won more awards than I ever expected for Guardians. What bothers me slightly is that many people assume because you make big films that you put less love, care, and thought into them then people do who make independent films or who make what are considered more serious Hollywood films.

I’ve made B-movies, independent films, children’s movies, horror films, and gigantic spectacles. I find there are plenty of people everywhere making movies for a buck or to feed their own vanity. And then there are people who do what they do because they love story-telling, they love cinema, and they want to add back to the world some of the same magic they’ve taken from the works of others. In all honesty, I do no find a strikingly different percentage of those with integrity and those without working within any of these fields of film.

If you think people who make superhero movies are dumb, come out and say we’re dumb. But if you, as an independent filmmaker or a “serious” filmmaker, think you put more love into your characters than the Russo Brothers do Captain America, or Joss Whedon does the Hulk, or I do a talking raccoon, you are simply mistaken.

At this point, I have a hard time imagining that a comic-book based superhero film will ever win a live-action Best Picture Oscar (if The Dark Knight couldn’t even be nominated), but does it actually matter? Not really. Let’s just continue to hope for more Avengers, Dark Knights, Winter Soldiers and films with a nice personal stamp on them and less of the Amazing Spider-Man 2 variety.

– Telltale Games has, over the the past few years, sparked a revival of the adventure game genre with comics-based titles like The Walking Dead and Fables (along with Game of Thrones and Tales from the Borderlands). Today, Lionsgate Films and Telltale announced the former’s investment into the burgeoning game developer. What does it mean for Telltales’ output? We may see some television and video game co-development soon, particularly in terms of an original property. At the very least more Lionsgate properties will surely be headed into the development cycle.

– Former Bat-Mite voice actor Paul Reubens is bringing his famous Pee-Wee Herman character back to television, as Netflix has announced that the feature, Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday, will be coming to the streaming service. The new film is co-written by Reubens and Paul Rust (Comedy Bang Bang), with John Lee (Inside Amy Schumer) directing. Judd Apatow will produce under his Apatow Productions banner.

What if the animation Oscars were chosen by people who knew nothing about animation?

"Guardians of the Galaxy" is the film to beat this year in the visual effects category, according to the VFX Predictinator.

There’s quite a bit of discussion today regarding today’s Oscar nominations (I remain very sad for Ava DuVernay’s snub in the Best Director category), but let’s talk about the stuff that’s collectively of greater interest to the readership of The Beat, because there’s great work to celebrate there too!

Here are the nominations that include films that are based on comics, or have some kind of comics/cartooning based slant:

The lack of a nod for The Lego Movie is surprising given the critical and popular acclaim, but if I had to bet money on one, it’d be The Tale of Princess Kaguya. But, Big Hero 6 may surprise here, given that it was a huge hit and perhaps may have engendered more screener viewings from members of the Academy.

Best Short Film (Animated)
“The Bigger Picture”
“The Dam Keeper”
“Feast”
“Me and My Moulton”
“A Single Life”

And regarding this category, it’s sadly one of my big blind spots. Feast, being under the Disney brand, seems a likely choice as any.

Time to get your betting pools together, the 2015 Academy Awards will be held on February 22nd.

We present complete coverage of the animation-related Oscar nominees for the 87th annual Academy Awards.

By David Nieves

CineFix has given the 8-bit treatment to some of the most beloved things in pop culture ranging from A Christmas Story to Ninja Turtles. Today they posted a new Guardians of the Galaxy treatment with retro game music and all. Is it possible to demand something be made through crowd funding?  Take a look

The nominees for the 2015 BAFTA Film Awards, the British equivalent of the Academy Awards, were announced yesterday.

Cover for Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex Alpha #1

Hitting stores next month is Marvel’s latest cross-over between the X-Men and the Guardians of the Galaxy: “The Black Vortex”, just 12 months after 2014’s “Trial of Jean Grey” which brought together these two Brian Bendis written teams for the first time.  For this event, Bendis is following the lead of Sam Humphries, writer of The Legendary Star-Lord, who is the “showrunner” for this event which sees the two teams cross paths thanks to a powerful artifact (the entitled Black Vortex). This event, which begins in an Alpha issue written by Humphries, then spreads to titles like All New X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Legendary Star-Lord, Nova, Captain Marvel, Cyclops and other series. Both creators joined the comics press today on a call to discuss the upcoming event, how it impacts each team going forward, and to elaborate on just how central the new-found relationship between Peter Quill and Kitty Pryde is within the pages of the event.

Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: Black Vortex Alpha #1 Interior Art by Ed McGuinness

Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: Black Vortex Alpha #1 Variant, Art by Alexander Lozano

“The Black Vortex” was born out of the regular Marvel retreats that occur among its key writers and editors, says Humphries: “This grew bigger and more exciting as we shared it with our colleagues at retreats and in Editorial…It became clear that this was an event-caliber story.” The writer stated that it was his hope to challenge the Guardians, the current “it” property at Marvel, on a level on which they hadn’t yet been. The Black Vortex, as an object, has been appearing in Humphries’ run on The Legendary Star-Lord, but expressed that this escalation called for a number of great writers to work on the concept and that scribes like Bendis, Kelly Sue DeConnick, and Gerry Duggan all stated their desire to be involved in the project, and that they each had their own unique take on the concept for their given titles. Humphries also mentioned that there are big Captain Marvel and Nova moments in the story, the latter hitting a rather funny note for the character.

Bendis also made mention of the artistic talent involved, from Ed McGuinness (who is the artist on Black Vortex Alpha #1) to All-New X-Men artist Andrea Sorrentino, who is freshly joining Marvel after an incredible stint on Green Arrow. Bendis says the cosmic landscape is what really drew them in: “The artists are given the freedom within the story to express themselves. This gave us an opportunity to give quite a handful of artists who were itching for their chance to let go cosmically their chance.”

And speaking specifically about Sorrentino, Bendis shared:

You just write your ass off and then you just let him do what he’s going to do because it’s almost indescribable what he does. You just get out of his way and let it happen…it’s so exciting when the pages come in. Every artist in the group is like that. When you go into an event – even when it’s an artist you’ve worked with – there’s something about how an artist will take the opportunity to draw bigger. After an intimate storyline, they feel when they’re drawing an event.

On the subject on Sorrentino, Bendis also stated that he and the artist already have their next project lined up and compared working with the artist to his acclaimed runs with Alex Maleev, David Mack and Bill Sienkiewicz.

All New X-Men #38 Interior Art by Andrea Sorrentino

The concept behind The Black Vortex itself is that when characters come into contact with it, they become cosmically empowered, in much the same way that Jean Grey became empowered by the Phoenix Force, and Norrin Radd obtained the Power Cosmic. With certain characters obtaining this power, they also were given new designs by McGuinness, speaking on that topic, Humphries said:

I’m convinced that Ed McGuinness found the Black Vortex when he was a teenager, and that’s why he’s such an amazing artist…He didn’t just come back with new costumes. He came back with new character twists and new powers…what he delivered was so compelling and intriguing that I ended up rewriting part of the outline to give it more focus…you want to get more in their mindset and see what kind of havoc they’re going to wreak on the cosmic landscape.

Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: Black Vortex Alpha #1 Interior Art by Ed McGuinness

The impetus of the story, according to Humphries, is that Peter Quill’s father (Mr. Knife aka J’Son of Spartax), has been amassing a number of cosmic forces, and seeing himself as an “empire builder”. As a consequence of that, Quill, and his new love interest Kitty Pryde, are drawn into the power of the mysterious title object and call upon the X-Men for help. On this note Bendis said:

I don’t know if it’s the Claremont influence…but the X-Men every so often have to take an adventure that goes beyond their typical scope. But for a return trip, I didn’t want to do a “Trial of Jean Grey” sequel. I wanted to do something new if we were going to go back out there

Bendis stated that he wanted to be part of a story that had a big impact on the characters and both he and Humphries assured that not all the players in this event would land back in the place they started. Bendis particularly singled out one X-Man:

Hank McCoy is one of these characters that struggles with being the smartest man in the room, and this is a perfect example of a character that will altered because of his experience with the Black Vortex, this is something that will change the character dramatically.

Bendis also added that McCoy would obtain knowledge of a cosmic and universal nature.

According to the writers, “The Black Vortex” also leads right into Secret Wars, indicating that perhaps even bigger changes are on the horizon for Marvel’s heroes.

At this point, press questions were asked, the first among them being how the relationship between Kitty Pryde and Peter Quill affected the story given the positive reaction from fans, to which Bendis responded:

It doesn’t alter what we do with it. We have to tell the stories that the characters dictate to us, but when there’s a response like this it makes me happy…when you write relationship stuff, you’re revealing things about yourself in there…and when you put your ass out there a little bit, you want people to respond favorably to it and not go ‘Eww!’ That inspires us to go forward, but I don’t think we’d stop if we weren’t getting this response.

On whether the younger “All-New X-Men” will have a different reaction to the Black Vortex than their older counterparts, Bendis replied:

Jean Grey damn well knows what happens to her when she grows up. She knows EVERYTHING. But others are on a path – like Beast – of desperately looking for knowledge and power. And just because this power is offered, it doesn’t mean every character will have a horrible price to pay. Some will get a power up. So the X-Men are coming at it young and raw…there are also other characters, like Angel, who has his own experience with a dark power.

Guardians of the Galaxy 24 Interior Art by Valerio Schiti

The heavy Jim Starlin influence of McGuinness’ redesigns was brought up, to which Humphries responded that the artist was great fit for the task from the get-go and that McGuinness “knows the history of the cosmic stuff, and while that wasn’t something they specifically through at him (the Starlin-like look)…you could see the electricity jumping off those designs”.

Bendis also drew a very strong connection between both teams when asked about the challenges of bringing the two teams together:

There’s a connection of spirit there. They’re oddballs. Even the Guardians are the oddballs of the universe…these characters see themselves as outsiders looking in and unique. Sometimes it’s great to be unique, and sometimes it’s f***ing depressing to be unique.

He also admitted that getting the X-Men into space and on the same playground as the Guardians was the toughest task by far.

Finally the topic of possible mainstream response to their work was broached, particularly given the success of the Guardians of the Galaxy film this past year. Humphries said that he’s encountered readers who came to his work via the film, as well as the Rocket Raccoon and Guardians title, and that they liked “what they saw in the movie and they were ecstatic to find more that they could read without having to wait for the sequel.”

And Bendis was quick to mention that fans realize that the only place you’ll currently see the Guardians and X-Men cross-over is in the comics, and that adds an exciting element to what “The Black Vortex” offers, particularly for new readers and that it’s “exciting and an honor to be delivering that to readers who want it”.

Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex Alpha #1 releases on February 4th.

The below designs are all created by Ed McGuinness

Cosmically Enhanced Drax Design

Cosmically Enhanced Ronan Design

Cosmically Enhanced Beast Design

Cosmically Enhanced Gamora Design

Cosmically Enhanced Drax Design Close-Up

Cosmically Enhanced Nova Design

Well, this is a shock. The script by James Gunn and Nicole Perlman for Guardians of the Galaxy has been nominated for the very prestigious Writer’s Guid of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Superhero movies very rarely get award nominations outside of tech categories. so this is quite a kudo for a movie that the much oversued descriptibe “much-loved” definitely applies.

The WGA awards are seen as an Oscar preview although they are honored in their own right.

Other nominations in the category include American Sniper, Gone Girl, The Imitaion Game and Wild. In the Best SCreenplay category the nominatiosn were Boyhood, Foxcatcher, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Nightcrawler and Whiplash.

The screenplay was not without a bit of controversy as Perlman’s contributions—an early draft in DIsney’s screenwriting program—were mostly overshadowed by Gunn, who, to be fair, has his stamp all ver the movie.

By Matthew Jent

If you are a human and alive, you know someone who loved Guardians of the Galaxy this year. Odds are high you have a Guardians fan somewhere on your holiday shopping list, too. Whether they’re long-time comics fans or they’re new to space opera, here’s some gift ideas for cosmic Marvel fans of any level.

The Basics

Guardians of the Galaxy 3D Blu-Ray + Blu-Ray + Digital copy. The film, just as you saw it in theaters. There’s two discs, but not a lot of bells and whistles — concept art, commentary by director James Gunn, deleted scenes, a blooper reel, and all the other stuff you might look up on YouTube one day but never actually watch on your blu-ray. But still — Chris Pratt!

Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1. A real compact disc of the fake mix tape from the movie Guardians of the Galaxy. All of the songs you might have listened to secretly/ironically before they were featured in the year’s biggest hit movie. If the person you are shopping for can find an operational cd player, they will love this mix. If they live in the actual present, it exists as a digital download.

Guardians of the Galaxy: The Complete Collection, vol. 1 by Abnett, Lanning, & friends, and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Avengers by Bendis, McNiven & Pichelli. Oh, hey! Comics! There isn’t really a collection that the movie is based on, but these are the most recognizable to a Guardians fan who knows the team from the movie. The Abnett/Lanning Complete Collection collects issues 1-12 of the 2008 relaunch that introduced the new team to the Marvel Universe, bringing Star-Lord, Rocket Racoon, and Drax to the fold. The Bendis-penned Cosmic Avengers collection was released this summer and collects the Marvel Now! relaunch and also features Iron Man as a member of the team. There’s a relatively large amount of GotG collections out there, but these are two versions that look closest to the team on the movie screen.

Intermediate Studies

Infinity Gauntlet Omnibus. Not a Guardians title, but this is the cosmic Marvel event by which all others are compared. Thanos, infinity gems, Avengers, Drax, Silver Sufer, Jim Starlin, George Perez — this one’s got it all, true believer. The omnibus is the motherlode collection, collecting the complete Infinity Gauntlet 1-6, the prequel series Thanos Quest, a good dozen Silver Surfer tie-in issues, and an assortment of other crossover titles. You can also find more economical collections of the Infinity Gauntlet series itself, as well the not-quite-a-sequel collection, Infinity Gauntlet: The Aftermath.

http://marveltoynews.com/ has a LOT more Marvel toy gift ideas.

Funco POP! Groot or Rocket Racoon. Star-Lord and Gamora and Drax are nice and all, but obviously it’s Groot and Rocket that you’d want to put on your desk at work. There’s an obviously preferable dancing Groot bobblehead available for pre-order, but if you need something under the tree for Christmas morning, all you have to do is decide between tree or raccoon.

Lego Milano Spaceship Rescue. The only thing I like more than building Ikea furniture is building Lego spaceships. Maybe I like the sound and feel of plastic pieces snapping together? Maybe I just like to follow directions? Either way, the blue & gold spaceship design is neat, and there are 5 minifigures in the box, including Gamora. You’ll have to look to other sets for your Lego Groot/Rocket fix, but if you gift only one Lego Guardians set this year — this is the one.

A Doctorate in Galactic Guardians.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow’s Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy by Jim Valentino, Vol. 1. Your mileage will vary, but these are the Guardians I remember. Tomorrow’s Avengers includes the team’s earliest 1960s & 70s appearances, back when the Badoon had taken over the Earth. Valentino, Vol. 1 collects issues 1-7 of the 1990s series by Jim Valentino, chronicling the team’s search for Captain America’s lost shield. It has a time travel, a lady with fire-hair, and a peek into the Marvel Universe of a thousand years from now. I can’t really separate the contents of these books from the nostalgia-filter I see them through, but the Valentino series was from the last wave of Marvel books before the great migration to Image. Yondu aside, there’s not much to link them to the movie — but if you’re buying for someone who likes cosmic superhero adventure stories, you can’t go wrong.

Star-Lord: Guardian of the Galaxy and Rocket Racoon and Groot: The Complete Collection. The title of the movie is Guardians of the Galaxy, but the characters onscreen are a consortium of 1970s/80s characters created and fleshed out by folks like Steve Englehart, Bill Mantlo, and Jim Starlin. These volumes collect some of the wonderfully weird space adventures that inspired the characters in the movie. Star-Lord is introduced in a Claremont/Byrne adventure from the 1970s, and Rocket Racoon and Groot collects everything from a Jack Kirby Groot story to Bill Mantlo’s 1980s Rocket Racoon mini to some modern era Annihilators titles.

Warlock: The Complete Collection. This is the business. Thanos is Jim Starlin’s most recognizable cosmic creations, but it’s Adam Warlock — created by Lee & Kirby in the pages of the Fantastic Four – who brings out Starlin’s best work. I can’t say it has the Guardians sense of humor, but this complete collection of 1970s Warlock stories has cosmic grandeur, moral complexity, and a real sense of the weird.

And One More Thing…

Know someone who loved that post-credits tag? Take them from the end of reality t’ the middle of nowhere. Happy Holidays!

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this afternoon the 10 films that have ben shortlisted for the visual effects Oscar.

While the Academy still hasn't released a shortlist for the visual effects category, we identify the frontrunners in this year's Oscar race.

The Guardians of the Galaxy dvd comes out next week (BluRay following a few weeks later) and director James Gunn is making the press rounds to promote the extras, including stuff that was left out of the ending:

There are three characters that got cut out [of the "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" montage]: Nebula, the Collector and Grandpa Quill. Nebula and Collector we decided, at a certain point, they’re kind of bad guys in the first movie. It was a real joyous experience with that finale so we thought we’d keep it to the characters that were part of “the good team.” Which includes Yondu. He did fight on the good guys side. So we thought we would keep it to them.

Grandpa Quill we cut because he was in old age make up and we were a little afraid people wouldn’t recognize that it was him from the beginning of the movie. And also, it was a pretty sad moment. It was Grandpa Quill and he has this photograph of Meredith and Peter as a little boy and he looks up at the stars and we go up to the stars and it was really sweet. It means that he must have seen Quill getting abducted at the end of that day and is still waiting for him to return but it was freaking sad so we took it out.

Nebula’s was actually my favorite. Nebula’s I really liked a lot because she’s lost her arm and she’s just pissed off and she’s just walking through this field all pissed off with a busted Ravager vehicle behind her. And she’s just pissed off and I loved it.

You can see how all of these might have added to the film a bit. The Mary Sue link above does a good job of showing how adding to Nebula’s story would have been cool, as her arc with Gamora wasn’t really worked out all the way. But the bit with the grandpa…yes it sounds sad, and I know the ending was all Buckaroo Banzai triumphal stuff…but would it really hurt to be LITTLE sad sometime, Marvel? Not Agent Coulson is dead but he’s getting his own TV series sad, but human beings are frail and life is tragic and beautiful and it isn’t all exoskeletons and CGI sad. Feelings. Guardians broke a lot of MArvel molds, but it ended up being a ragtag bunch of heroes who save the whole freakin’ universe again. Superhero movies have fallen into a rote pattern of gaudy noisiness without much actual human emotion involved. I mean we don’t have to have Cinema Paradiso or Alexander Payne, but like…a sad grandpa? Is that really too much?

None of these scenes will be on the DVD BTW. Saving them for the ultra super deluxe version I guess. OH and here’s the trailer for the DVD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYaWDFFIkX0

At New York Comic Con earlier this month, Disney-owned Marvel unveiled test footage from its "Guardians of the Galaxy" animated series, which will premiere in 2015 on Disney XD's Marvel Universe programming block.

By Alexander Jones

There has been a lot of hullabaloo on Marvel Studios not capitalizing on the ‘Grooting’ phenomena that has been sweeping the internet. This is in reference to the Guardians of the Galaxy character Groot dancing behind Drax the Destroyer a.k.a. actor Dave Batista’s back during the end credits of the film. In the meantime, the seedy underbelly of the arts & crafts internet websites, such as Etsy, have been taking advantage of the merchandising hole left by the lack of an official Marvel figure. Even internet videos containing cast members of the film like Michael Rooker (Yondu) and Dave Batista can be viewed reenacting the ‘Grooting’ moment. The figure was made by Marvel Entertainment and KIDdesigns, and the news broke via Mashable. Included with the figure, is a tiny speaker which allows fans listen to an alternate version of Jackson 5‘s I Want you Back, in order to get the full ‘Grooting’ experience. Each toy will set your wallet back by a light $14.99. Look for the figure on store shelves Christmas day, and be slightly angry that the toy’s arms don’t move! Also, make sure you keep this toy away from any talking Raccoons, in fear they might strike up an unlikely friendship!

Check out this video featuring Groot ‘Grooting': http://bcove.me/6p15csky