We talked to Brandon Routh, Sam Huntington, and Anita Briem at the Wrath of Con Comic Con fiesta and they had a few things to say about their favorite undead buddies in Dead Of Night.

Sam Huntington (Marcus)

What's different about him [Marcus] in the movie?

Yeah, I mean, there's literally no similarity. The only thing that's similar is that they're both the comic relief. In the comic, Marcus is literally Groucho Marx, or an actor that played Groucho Marx and he got kind of stuck in that character. In the movie, he's this 25-year-old guy trying to figure out what he wants to do with the rest of his life.

So what's been your favorite supernatural creature to deal with in filming?

Zombies. I think it's a really original take on zombie in this movie. I think it's unlike anything you've ever seen before.

Why?

Because they're just normal people, it's like they've died, but they're just trying to live their own lives. It's not like they're walking around like Frankenstein, mindless, they're actual people ... but they decay. It's really interesting, I think you're really gonna like it - I don't want to divulge too much.

How truthful is it to the comic? The car is there, the clothes are there ...

There's a lot. It pays plenty of homage to the comic. And a lot of things have been updated, but ... I think fans of the comic are really going to like it.

Anita Briem (Elizabeth)

Well I play Elizabeth. Elizabeth is like this feisty, young girl who comes and tracks down Dylan Dog, who is the detective of the Underworld, and drags him back into the Underworld. He's been out of it, he's like, 'I'm sick of dealing with those vampires and zombies and werewolves.'

The really fun thing about it is that it's really a movie about all of the people of different cultures and different worlds, but a lot of them are just trying to get along. The zombies are just trying to get on with their lives, you know what I mean?

So he's sick of them; he's gone out of the business. And so I drag him back in order to solve a mystery for me. So we have this very feisty relationship where he's kind of met his match in Elizabeth and they both have a foul temper but share beliefs on that there should be some rules that the Underworld has to abide by. And obviously not everybody agrees with that.

What are some of the rules people should abide by in the Underworld?

That people should not kill each other. Well, you know, it's hard because the vampires have their own thing. The vampires obviously only live at night. The zombies, they have to constantly maintain themselves because they are deteriorating every second of the day.

So ... they have like a Gap for zombies where they can buy new skin and new eyeballs and so you get to see a little bit of the vanity of the zombies. The zombies are very cool. And the zombies are actually, probably the sweetest kind of the Underworld.

Brandon Routh (Dylan Dog)

What can we expect to see as a tribute to the original work?

Yes, you can expect to see the bug. You can expect to see Dylan in his routine customary outfit, all the way down to the clarks. Maybe people will have a problem with the color of the shirt, the color of the jeans. But it's all there. I think Dylan himself is staying very close to how I perceive the character to be, an ... well, not an anti-hero but he's a begrudging hero, much like Han Solo and Indiana Jones.

What's your favorite supernatural being?

The zombies, because we show really clearly how they exist in the world. Like Men In Black, we see how the aliens lived amongst us. Here we see how the zombies, the werewolves and vampires as well, but we see more how the zombies co-habitat with us, we just don't know that they exist.

So what do they do with their "lives"?

They're like the people who work at the DMV, who pick up the trash probably - the jobs that we don't generally want to do.

Dead Of Night will be in theaters sometime in 2009.

Video and additional reporting by Caitlin Petrakovitz.

The Twelve artist Chris Weston to created these comic movie posters specifically for Comic Con. He also was brought into Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes' film to create the storyboards and concept art. Both Denzel and his foe Gary Oldman will be at San Diego Comic Con to sign these special posters at the Warner Brothers booth.

Check out Bleeding Cool for the additional poster.

First announced back in April, the comic based on the upcoming multiplatform Activision game will run six issues and looks like it will cost your $4 a pop starting on April 1.

The comic will be written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti with the art and cover by Darick Robertson and Matt Jacobs. More interesting is this snippet of back story:

"Follow New York homicide detectives as they track a serial killer unlike any they've ever faced, and enter a new era where human extinction and monstrous evolution collide!"

Serial killers AND monstrous evolution? Sign me up.

PROTOTYPE

The Fables pilot is being written by Stu Zicherman and Raven Metzner, creators of the short-lived ABC series Six Degrees, and will be directed by David Semel, who also directed the pilots for Heroes and My Own Worst Enemy. The comic book series follows a group of Fables, characters from fairytales and folklore, who flee their magical Homelands after they are conquered by the mysterious Adversary. The Fables arrive in our “Mundy” world and build their own society, Fabletown, based in Manhattan.

There is no word on whether the pilot will follow the first book in the series, in which Fabletown deputy mayor Snow White and sheriff Bigby Wolf investigate the murder of Snow White’s sister Rose Red. But the writers promise that Snow White and Bigby will have similarly central roles in the show as they do in the comic books.

"We set up a structure to allow any fairy tale character to show up in any one episode," Metzner said.

The fairy tale characters will keep some of their trademark characteristics. For instance, Prince Charming will be handsome, while Big Bad Wolf will have to shave a four-day shadow from growing back every day.

But overall, "they are just like real people in the real world who live and breathe and look just like you and me," Metzner said.

This isn’t the first time a network has tried its hand at adapting the series. In 2005, NBC ordered a script for a Fables series, but never made it to production. If ABC ultimately decides to pick up Fables as a series, it could appear on the 2009-2010 television schedule.

[The Hollywood Reporter]

First, some background: The teenage Roland grew up in Gilead, a dusty hamlet in which the Old West and the even older medieval times meet, itself set in a timeless world underlain with curious technology, alternate universes, and of course magic. It’s the later that exacts havoc on Roland’s life: After becoming a full-fledged gunslinger, he’s eyed by the powerful and manipulative wizard-type Farson who’s itching to destroy both the fledgling Roland and his placid homeland.

So his dad convinces him to high-tail it out of Gilead. With a couple friends in tow, he lands in the town of Hambry where Roland takes possession of Maerlyn’s Grapefruit (a.k.a. a mystical crystal ball coveted by Farson) and romances a lass. Things are looking up, until said lady friend is whacked amid a plot to destroy him and his motherland. You see, the fine folks of Hambry—they’re friends of Farson.

Long Road Home follows the trifecta making their way back to Gilead, mulling over their traumatic sojourn to Hambry. With the Hambrians on their tails, the threesome’s walkabout gets that much more complicated once Roland’s soul is sucked into the Grapefruit. Forging ahead on parallel trips (think The Lord of the Rings or Empire Strikes Back)—Roland in an alternate reality, his comrades in the creepy frontier—Roland’s buddies struggle to bring him back to safety while eluding the baddies. Also figuring into this equation: the Hambry village idiot getting probed by a robot. We kid you not!

Despite being populated with killer canines, underworld demon-like lords, nefarious crows, and the like, a bunch of stuff happens but not a lot of stuff actually transpires on this Road. It’s an excellently ominous interlude—Jae Lee’s landscapes ache with menace and shadows—that can, at turns, feel like a stalling plot that reaches an inevitable conclusion: Roland has changed. (The narrator’s good-ol'-boy quips, which are too frequent and at odds with the characters’ feudal speak, don’t exactly speed things along.) But perhaps it’s unavoidable, this being an excursion from King’s original book. Our suggestion? Best to read Road’s gripping predecessor, The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born, to fully soak up its follow-up's rich, brooding color.

• Robert Townsend (Hollywood Shuffle) both wrote and directed this movie, although he faded from the limelight once it tanked. He went on to direct a Disney Channel movie called Up, Up and Away, which was also about superheroes.
• The plot follows a fairly straightforward comic book route, having mild mannered Jefferson Reed Jefferson Reed gain powers after he gets hit by a meteor. However, they went a bit overboard with his powers.
• The meteor gave Jefferson the following powers: super strength, super speed, the ability to fly, telekinesis, laser vision, x-ray vision, freezing breath, the ability to heal quickly, the power to talk to animals, and the power to make plants grow quickly. Oh, and he can also absorb everything in a book by touching it, but only for 30 seconds, which is probably one of the lamest powers ever created.
• There's actually a scene where Meteor Man clears out a vacant lot, plants grass seeds, using his meteor powers to make it rain, and grows a field of giant vegetables and tomatoes. All to the tunes of cool, light jazz. Ouch.
• There's also a scene where the lead villain and the Meteor Man both absorb a book about "ladies modeling" and they have a vogue-off. Yes, you can't make this stuff up.
• This was Don Cheadle's fifth movie, and isn't usually listed in his filmographies or bios. He sports a blond hairdo throughout the film, and chews up a fair amount of scenery.
• James Earl Jones stars as Earnest Moses, and is dressed in an oversized baseball jersey for the whole movie, and check out his high fade haircut. It's pretty embarrassing to watch the voice of Darth Vader try and imitate Radio Raheem from Do The Right Thing.
• Not that Bill Cosby was the greatest actor to grace the silver screen, but in this film he stars as a mostly mute homeless man (he barks at dogs near the end) who gets the same powers as Meteor Man, and comes to the triumphant rescue at the end of the flick.
• Robert Guillaume of Benson fame also stars as Jefferson's dad Ted, and Marla Gibbs, better known as Florence from The Jeffersons stars as his mom. In Up, Up, and Away, Marla stars again as his mom, and Sherman Helmsley (Mr. Jefferson) stars as his dad.
• Even LaWanda Page, better known as Aunt Esther from Sanford & Son makes an appearance as a sassy nurse. Townsend really enjoyed mining older TV shows to fill the roles in his projects.
• Eddie Griffin plays Jefferson's best friend Michael, although he actually chews up less scenery than usual. Since it was only his fifth film, he hadn't hit his wisecracking stride yet.
• Frank Gorshin, who played The Riddler on the old Batman tv show and Bele on Star Trek: The Original Series, portrays big baddie Byers, in probably one of the worst roles of his life. Sometimes, there is shame in taking a job for the paycheck.
• Sinbad and Luther Vandross both have small roles in the film, and you can imagine what the combined box office power of a comedian and a classic singer would have done, if only it had been marketed properly.
• Marvel Comics produced a six-issue limited series based on the movie, where Meteor Man encounter Spider-Man. Seriously, Meteor Man meets Spidey.
• Meteor Man could see through walls with his X-Ray vision, but for some reason when he looked at people, he could see through their clothes, but not their underwear. Behold the power of a PG rating! In the scene below, you can watch as Meteor Man battles a crackhouse full of underwear clad workers, unites the Crips and the Bloods, and grows the magic field. Endure it if you can.

These images give us hope that G.I. Joe won't be a complete mess, or at least it'll look pretty while continuing to strip-mine all our childhood memories. We haven't heard if Snake-Eyes will have his wolf Timber in the movie or not, although we don't really think they need to give him a slobbering animal to make him look more intimidating. It's also not clear if he'll talk or if we'll just see his face in the flick. (Thanks ProjectThanatos!)

Ant-Man has a sort of troubled history, even by superhero standards. The original Ant-Man was Hank Pym, a mentally ill inventor who served in the Avengers and also created the Avengers' worst enemy, the robot Ultron. Then a reformed thief, Scott Lang, took over as Ant-Man in the early 1980s. More recently, a total asswipe named Eric O'Grady stole an Ant-Man suit and dicked his way around through a dozen issues of The Irredeemable Ant-Man.

So which Ant-Man will we see in the movie? Earlier, Wright had hinted that Ant-Man would be both the Hank Pym and the Scott Lang versions, but now he says:

It could be Scott Lang, it could be Hank Pym, it could be both - okay it is both, now there's an exclusive for you.

Both issues of the Dark Horse companion comic will have variant covers. One will be drawn by Drew Struzan, and the other by Hugh Fleming, but it isn't clear who created this piece. Since Struzan designed the teaser poster, this could be Fleming's artwork, since the style looks fairly different. But only the crystal skull knows for sure. Plus you'll notice three different Indianas on this image, something they haven't done since Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Maybe they just really want you to know that Harrison Ford is definitely in this movie. [Ain't It Cool News]

Jacques Tardi illustrated Adele's adventures, although he had to find a way to move her from the 1910s and out of World War I where "Her feisty nature made it impossible to provide her with a place in the war. She would not have been allowed to fight, and could no more have settled for being a nurse, than she could have remained home rolling bandages." So, he had her get stabbed through the heart, and then frozen until World War II, when she could have a much larger role.

Adele frequently had run-ins with prehistoric creatures, mad scientists, and conspiracy theories. She also wasn't afraid to dish out both bullets and fisticuffs, and she was sometimes aided in her escapades by a resurrected mummy which was brought back from the Middle East by her great grand-uncle. EuropaCorp is planning a three movie Aventures series to begin hitting theaters in 2009, and we wouldn't mind seeing a gun toting Audrey Tautou go head to head with a pterodactyl and Adele.

Besson buys 'Aventures' rights [Variety]

• The budget: According to several different sources, the budget on the film was spiraling out of control. Although we wonder what "out of control" really means, because the effects powerhouse Weta was onboard to do the costumes, and "maybe" some digital effects... if they had time. If a studio waves a $25 million dollar check at you, we have a feeling you'd make the time.
• The rumblings from the Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman camps: Christian Bale was not happy that they were making a movie that would feature another Batman in it, saying it'd screw up what they'd been working on as part of the whole Batman Begins / The Dark Knight series. Plus with the constant rumors that Warners wants to return to basics with a new Superman movie (sans Bryan Singer and Brandon Routh), and a Wonder Woman flick, then it doesn't make any sense to populate a big budget film with other actors playing the parts of the Big Three members of the JLA.
• The cast: Director George Miller wanted this film to be huge, which could account for the budget being pushed up, but his cast was cast with a slew of B-list actors, at best, and didn't feature a name that would draw masses of people to the theaters. Did you want to shell out $12 bucks to go see some unknown amateur magician play Batman, or would you rather wait for Christian Bale? That's what we thought.
• The script: Apparently everyone and their mom thought the script needed work, and this will probably be the ultimate reason for the movie coming to a dead stop. Due to the strike, no rewrites can happen no matter how hard anyone begs. It's the kryptonite to this project, and maybe that means we'll get a quality JLA movie sometime down the road. Probably after Marvel releases The Avengers and it rakes in a boatload of cash.

Ranger Danger is not to be confused with Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers, or the actual Danger Rangers, who teach kids about safety. According to Smith, this project as "My stab at a comic-book/sci-fi movie. It's in the vein of Flash Gordon, something I've noodled with a couple of years. Now I feel we are mature enough filmmakers to tackle it." Smith? Mature? Wha?

So far the film has only appeared as a t-shirt worn by Randall in Clerks 2 (see above for image), and it looks like a Rocketeer knock-off. If Billy Campbell is really trying to bring that property back, then he might have to go head to head with Smith, who has two movies to finish before he could even start this one. Hopefully it'll be fart-joke free, because methane cannot mix very well with a jetpack.

[My Boring Ass Life]

If you slide eyes right, you'll see not one, or two, but three mentions of Marvel. First, you've got an embedded "Marvel authentic wallpaper" logo, which just sort of boggles the mind. Do you need a big note telling you that yes, this is indeed wallpaper? In case you didn't get the point, you've got the trademark and copyright by Marvel in 2007 note, and then the official Marvel logo right below that. So apparently Marvel is releasing an Iron Man movie this May, just an FYI.

Beyond that, the wallpapervertisements of the Mark III armor look great, but what's with those lame-o Mark I shots? Seriously, they look like shaky-cam shots that didn't make the advertising cut.

Iron Man movie wallpapers [Comic Book Movie]

There's a lot more to see — just click on an image to get to the full gallery.

While the gallery was packed tighter than Emma Frost's pants, next door at Golden Apple artists were signing pieces and doing original sketches for fans, with all proceeds going to The Hero Initiative, a non-profit organization that helps comic book artists and writers in hard times. Stan Lee came in, flashed his grin around the gallery, flitted over to the comic book shop to sign some items for the charity, and then vanished into the night.

We spoke briefly to artist Sarah Coleman who painted a huge Scarlet Witch piece for the show. Admittedly not a "comic book person" to begin with, Coleman struck out on her own and did a lot of research on Marvel characters before settling on Wanda Maximoff and her magical powers. Although she was quick to point out to us that Wanda's powers "were initially math-based, giving her the ability to affect probability." Rewrites over the past few years have changed her ability from "hex magic" to "chaos magic," and she's now one of the most powerful mutants in the Marvel universe.

So, you do learn something new every day, true believer. We feel like we should have known this and retreated into the night ourselves, but not before shouting "Excelsior!" at several random passers by.

World War Robot will first hit the web as a comic, probably with two to four pages appearing weekly. Then you`ll be able to buy yourself a "Bertie" robot toy (designed by Wood himself and produced by Bigshot Toyworks & Threezero) at the New York Comic-Con in April. Gibson says it has "so many points of articulation, it`ll blow your mind." We caught up with Gibson recently, and he gave us a few details about this robotic dystopian war in the making.

So what`s the storyline of World War Robot? What`s it about?

A dwindling band of humans and robots battle it out in what`ll probably end humanity as we know it - on Earth, Mars, and the Moon. Badass battles, really intense human/robot drama, plus it gets kinda political. And we`re attempting a little experiment with a different kind of humor. This war is the tail end of the worst things imaginable - epic catastrophes. So the comic is also dosed with a bit of "desperation comedy". Like laughing while you`re crying.

What comes after that? Further plans for the World War Robot?

It`s all leading up to the release of the first WWR toy, a figure called Bertie that rocks. It`s 1/6th scale, stands 14 inches tall, and has an amazing 43 fucking points of articulation! That`s more moveable joints than grandma!

What`s it like working with Ashley?

Ash is so fucking talented. We`ve been trying to do something together for years on the comic front. He used to do a page-strip for me every month when I edited Play Magazine about 6 years ago - a spin-off of his incredible "Popbot" series. We`d met at E3 while he was working on art for Konami`s Contra: Shattered Soldier, and the rest is robot history.

Below you can check out an exclusive image of the variant version of the Bertie-bot, which will be super rare. Only here at io9!

According to series creator Joss Whedon, the plot involves a successful robbery masterminded by Captain Mal Reynolds and his crew. "Basically, they pull off a heist and everything doesn't go completely wrong. This, needless to say, has never happened, and it's about how they deal with success." It's set during in the television series continuity, which is almost like having the show back. Almost.

Based on these pages, and that great shot of a grinning Jayne, we're excited about this book. While it would be great if this show was still on the air, this comic book will hopefully be the next best thing. If we just didn't have to wait three months for it. Does this mean there's still hope for for a Voyagers! comic book? I'm still holding onto some hope.