Hey folks! How has everyone been? I hope to get caught up on the board this weekend, but figured I could at least jump in here with a post to start sharing the interesting news that is sure to come out of this weekend's Comic Con in San Diego.

Apparently there's going to be a new, 12 minute short film (much like "A funny thing happened on the way to Thor's hammer") included on the Avengers Blu Ray, and Marvel is premiering it at the con. Titled "Item 47", it looks to take place post "Avengers" film:





There's also a 9 second clip from it online that I wasn't allowed to embed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9Y2uYWeQO4


I'm looking forward to some good Marvel movie news, but we'll see what comes out of it. They may save some major stuff until Disney's own convention later this year. I'm sure there's some comic book news coming as well, but I haven't really been following the comics for a good while now.

Oh, and naturally I did enjoy this photo of the list of which Hasbro Comic Con exclusive toys were sold out:

Not really fond of this new armor from Iron Man 3 personally, but perhaps it'll look better on screen:



I almost hesitate to call it "gold", especially compared to the armors behind it. It's really just a touch past "beige". I think car companies call that "champagne". In any event, it's an odd balance and the helmet really looks out of place.

Still, Iron Man is a character where I'm happy that they change the suit with each film (as opposed to Batman and Spider-man), so I don't mind one not to my initial tastes.


As for the cancellation of "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" (I've seen the Vision episodes, and they were pretty cool!) in favor of more movie-based "Avengers Assemble", I guess Marvel's animation division has tried to deflect anger at the new show by suggesting it as a "continuation" of A:EMH at their animation panel.

It strikes me as spin, however, especially since I've not found a really direct quote to convince me otherwise. Certainly with a new creative team behind it, new voice actors, a different cast, and a focus on self-contained, episodic adventures as opposed to the story arcs and defined episode order of EMH it can't be *too* much of a continuation. And I doubt they'd drop in references to the prior show, as that would be pretty confusing to new viewers. So I'm guessing it's more of a "You can pretend it all takes place in the same continuity if you like" kind of thing (which probably ignores a variety of instances where the new show will contradict the old one), all in the service of getting upset fans to give the new show a chance.

But hey... I may be cynical after so many years of having Avengers runs that I like wiped out on a whim.

The idea that an Avengers film would be made was something of a pipe dream... but not beyond the realm of the possible, certainly.

That it would be such a monster success... again, unlikely but still something one could hope for.

But never, ever in a million years could anyone there have predicted this:

A live action Rocket Raccoon will hit the big screen. Somewhere, Sersi bolted out of her hottub and screamed.

Marvel has officially announced "Guardians of the Galaxy" for release on August 1, 2014 and offered this concept artwork:




Also officially announced, "Ant-man" (although not given any release date). Plus the titles of the two upcoming sequels:

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

and

Thor: The Dark World

(I like that they're not going the number route on these, despite "Iron Man 3" coming next year.)

I'm intrigued by the Ant-Man film. Not sure that Edgar Wright is a natural fit for the superhero genre, but he's defied expectation before. Briefly misunderstood the Hasbro toy list and pictured a pony in carbonite, but I'm sure that's been done. If not, it's a craft project for a rainy weekend.