Fans of Batman and Telltale Games were excited to learn that the two would be teaming up late last year. However, fans won’t have to wait long for the game as it has been given an August release date. The date was revealed at the SXSW Gaming Expo panel for Telltale Games.
No scenes were ready to be shown at the panel, but other details on the game include:
Batman is the perfect character for the studio to explore in a Telltale series, giving the team the opportunity to dive deeper into the mind of the man behind the mask. Each night, Bruce Wayne chooses to change Gotham for the better. The team wants to explore what the consequences are of the player’s actions when decisions made as Bruce have a critical impact on his nightly crusade as Batman, and vice versa. Certain key situations will give the player the decision to approach a scene as Bruce or Batman, with consequences for both sides.
Fresh interpretation of the universe set in current times, not tied to any existing iteration of Batman in games, film, or comics. Story will focus on Bruce and Batman, not an examination of the extended ‘Bat-family,’ (Robin, Nightwing, etc.) Fans can expect certain series staples such as Alfred Pennyworth, Vicki Vale, James Gordon, and Renee Montoya. Telltale is looking to keep the villains more tightly under wraps until closer to the premiere.
Certain characters will have a deeply personal relationship with Bruce in his private life, and decisions made as Bruce or Batman will affect their paths towards corruption or redemption.
The player’s actions will help shape the Gotham that Bruce deals with during the day, as well as the criminals that Batman faces at night.
Team is committing to a non-photorealistic interpretation of the universe, enhancing engine and technology to deliver a more seamless living comic book art direction. Taking inspiration from the works of over 75 years of artists such as Jim Lee, Greg Capullo, and Neal Adams.
Like some other Telltale series, the game will be landing at M (Mature 17+) rating, and the cinematic approach will feel more akin to an R-rated film.
Thoughts on this report? Are you excited for Telltale Games’ Batman title?
Jeremy Renner, who stars as Clint Barton/Hawkeye in the Marvel Studios films, has expressed that he is open to appearing in a Hawkeye Netflix series should one get made.
Renner had been asked at a fan panel at Silicon Valley Comic Con if he would have any interest in appearing in a Hawkeye Netflix series. Renner is quoted as saying the following:
“I think that’s actually a really great model, if there’s ever a way to explore the character, maybe it’s in that world. These are things that are really not in my control, but I’d be open to it. I’ve really enjoyed getting to explore the character more recently. The Netflix model is where all the character drama goes to now, you’re doing a superhero movie or a Netflix or HBO kind of model. So I’d be open to it. Not up to me, though.”
Renner also mentioned in the panel that he would love to do a Hawkeye and Black Widow movie.
Thoughts on what Jeremy said? Would you like to see a Hawkeye series on Netflix?
The digital and Blu-ray/DVD release dates are coming up very soon for Star Wars fans in the US (April 1st and April 5th respectively), but fans in the UK will seemingly have to wait a little bit longer.
A new report has stated that The Force Awakens won’t be available in the UK on Blu-ray until April 18th.
Thoughts on this news? Are our UK followers excited for the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens on Blu-ray?
Marvel Comics have officially announced that a new Han Solo mini-series will begin in June. The mini-series will be five issues in total set between Star Wars Episode VI: A New Hope and Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. The mini-series is written by Marjorie Liu (Astonishing X-Men) and Mark Brooks (Amazing Spider Man) provides the artwork.
A synopsis for the mini-series can be read below:
The story involves a starship race known as the Dragon Void Run. “Han’s been dreaming of entering this thing for his entire life. He finally gets the chance, except there’s a catch: Leia thinks there are spies in the Rebellion, and she doesn’t dare send anyone else to retrieve these vital informants who are on various planets in the system.
As Han and Chewie start sheltering these Rebel contacts aboard the Millennium Falcon, the Corellian pilot fights the pull of his own ego’s tractor beam: If he ditches the mission, maybe he can actually win this thing.”
Liu is quoted as saying the following on working with Lucasfilm and Marvel to come up with the idea for the series:
“Basically, I was told that the story takes place between Episodes IV and V, and then they sort of just let me loose. I turned in several different ideas, but the core of them — what I kept at the front of my imagination: He’s this working-class dude who lives paycheck to paycheck who has a business to run. He’s the Han we know and love. He’s a con artist, he’s a smuggler, he’s this wisecracking, streetwise dude, but he’s got this internal conflict where there wasn’t one before. He’s really trying to figure out who he is.”
In addition, she also revealed her inspiration for the series. She said:
“I started thinking about this old movie from the ‘80s that I really enjoyed, which is Cannonball Run. I thought, okay, what if this is sort of like Han Solo in Cannonball Run in space? So, I played with that and it finally came together in the story where there’s this infamous starship race. It’s the pilot dream race. Everyone wants to be in it, everyone dreams of winning it. The race is sort of a cover that will allow him to go on this mission for [Leia], but at the same time, even though the race isn’t a priority, it’s a real struggle for him because he knows he needs to focus, but he’s on the race of a lifetime.”
She then talked about writing Chewbacca in the mini-series by saying:
“To me, Chewie was always the heart and soul of the relationship. He was like the better angel, where Han is way more comfortable skirting the edges of morality. Chewie will go along, but he’s like, “Hey, man. This isn’t right.” I always loved that about him. I love that he is so incredibly loyal to Han. They’re absolutely 100 percent family. I always loved that Chewie can tell Han these hard truths that Han doesn’t really want to hear. Even though technically we can’t understand what Chewie is saying, we get it. We all understand.”
Finally, Liu hinted that the events in The Force Awakens might have affected how she wrote this mini-series. She said:
“It has actually colored how I think about the book. That’s been sort of an internal conversation with myself, whether I change certain beats, whether I do certain things to reflect this now-future canon that I know is coming down the line for him. I haven’t quite answered that for myself yet, but it’s definitely in my head. It can’t not be, because writing the book feels very bittersweet in a way.”
Liu also revealed that Princess Leia Organa will appear in the mini-series and a new alien called Loo Re Anno will be introduced. Loo Re Anno is supposedly a legendary racer and part of a dying species.
A couple of pages from the first issue can be seen below:
The first issue of the Han Solo mini-series will be released in June.
Thoughts on this announcement? Are you excited for this Han Solo mini-series from Marvel Comics?
The second season of Marvel Studios/Netflix’s Daredevil series was released last Friday (I’m sure some of you have been binge-watching…) and four new posters have been released to convince more people to watch the show.
The posters include two of Daredevil himself (Charlie Cox), The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) and Elektra (Elodie Yung).
“Just when Matt thinks he is bringing order back to the city, new forces are rising in Hell’s Kitchen. Now the Man Without Fear must take on a new adversary in Frank Castle and face an old flame – Elektra Natchios. Bigger problems emerge when Frank Castle, a man looking for vengeance, is reborn as The Punisher, a man who takes justice into his own hands in Matt’s neighborhood. Meanwhile, Matt must balance his duty to his community as a lawyer and his dangerous life as the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, facing a life-altering choice that forces him to truly understand what it means to be a hero.”
Thoughts on the new posters? Are you enjoying the second season of Daredevil?
New images from the upcoming Lego Batman Movie have been released, a spin-off of The Lego Movie (2014).
Director Chris McKay is quoted as saying the following:
“Batman is an island onto himself, the only thing he doesn’t have is relationships. We’re making About a Boy as directed by (action director) Michael Mann.”
Will Arnett (Bruce Wayne/Batman) had the following to hint on the film:
“The Batcave is even better than we remembered it, it’s awesome. But I also love getting into the ho-hum day-to-day of being Batman and what it’s like to fight crime each day. Like the idea of Batman oversleeping his alarm clock makes me laugh. It really does humanize him.”
The first trailer for the film will be released later this week.
The Lego Batman Movie is scheduled for release on February 10th, 2017.
Thoughts on the new images? Are you excited for the Lego Batman Movie?
Brian McManamon (Project Beth, Gossip Girl) has been cast as Basil Karlo/Clayface in Gotham.
A description of the character in the comics can be read below:
“Basil Karlo made his first appearance in Detective Comics #40 (June 1940) and was created by Bob Kane. He was a once-famous actor who went insane with rage when he learned thatThe Terror, a classic horror film he starred in, was being remade without him. To exact his revenge, Karlo dressed up as the film’s villain, Clayface, and killed members of the cast in the order in which their characters died in the film.
At that time, Karlo didn’t possess any super-powers, but that all changed when he reappeared in 1989’s “The Mud Pack” story arc of Detective Comics. The four-part series featured Karlo joining forces with the other incarnations of Clayface — Preston Payne, Matt Hagen and Sondra Fuller — to take down Batman. After they were defeated, Karlo imbued himself with shape-shifting abilities by taking samples from his downed allies (who he tricked) and injecting the samples into himself.”
No details on which episode he will be appearing in have been revealed.
Thoughts on this news? Are you excited to see Brian McManamon as Clayface in Gotham?
A rumoured description of a scene in Star Wars Episode VIII has surfaced online. The scene gives us a possible insight into the character Laura Dern (Jurassic Park, Wild) will be playing in the film.
The rumoured description can be read below:
“There’s a stage setup like the interior of a starship. I don’t know what kind of starship, but it is large enough to have a crew and lots of droids manning it. The set has a bunch of practical effect robots and “hairy” alien creatures on it, and given that The First Order seems to be keeping up with the “humans only” hiring policy of The Empire, that suggests it is not a First Order ship to me.
In one of the scenes shot in this stage, a rag-tag group of Resistance fighters have seen some battle. Cut and bruised, they and Poe Dameron are on this ship when Laura Dern, playing some sort of captain or officer. She tells the fighters that they are the last of the rebellion/resistance (I’m unclear on the exact phrasing of the line, so no capitalizing the Resistance) and that Princess Leia has been gravely injured and is receiving medical attention.
Oscar Isaac and Laura Dern have an antagonistic exchange of words and Dern’s character is blunt with Poe, like she has some sort of authority over him.
Things must be tense between these two characters because another scene we’ve gotten wind of has Poe leading a group of Resistance fighters as they take over what is presumably Dern’s ship. The scene included fighters under Poe removing technicians from their computer stations and Poe pointing a blaster at Dern’s character.”
Star Wars Episode VIII is scheduled for release on December 15th, 2017.
Thoughts on this rumour? Are you hoping to see a scene like this in Star Wars Episode VIII?
Following the success of last years’ Force Friday (which saw the first release of merchandise from Star Wars: The Force Awakens), a second Force Friday is planned for this year as the first opportunity for fans to buy merchandise from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. However, while Force Friday is scheduled for September 30th, a new rumour suggests that some merchandise could be available beforehand.
A report from Jedi Temple Archives says the following:
“Call it a special event, or call it a pre-sale, but FOUR items (think of them as “Sneak Preview” items) will be available online for pre-sale a couple of weeks BEFORE Force Friday this year. It’s currently unknown if these items will be IN STOCK at the times these go up for pre-order, but it seems like this is a strong possibility. Otherwise, why go through all of this trouble. These items include:
The Black Series 6″ Female Lead figure
A 3.75″ vehicle for the 5POA range
The Stormtrooper (OT) voice changer helmet (TBS)
One other item that our Research Droids haven’t been able to isolate yet (stay tuned)”
Their report also indicates that eight 6-inch figures for Rogue One are currently planned in total, with most of them expected to be available on September 30th.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is scheduled for release on December 16th, 2016.
Thoughts on this rumour? Are you excited for Force Friday 2016?
Warner Bros. released a new TV spot to celebrate the US premiere of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
You can watch the TV spot below:
“In Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, fearing the actions of a god-like Super Hero left unchecked, Gotham City’s own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis’s most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it’s ever known before.”
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice opens on March 25th.
Thoughts on the TV spot? Are you excited for the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice?
By Ruari Williamson
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