ABC has signed Sonnenfeld, who also directed Men in Black and The Addams Family, to a new two-year deal, one that gives him a first look at ABC's upcoming projects and the opportunity to direct pilots. One such project that's caught his eye is a yet-untitled series about a harried mother who finds a suit that grants her superpowers, a la The Greatest American Hero. The show will be a half-hour sitcom, and the current plan is for Sonnenfeld to not only produce, but direct the pilot as well.

[The Hollywood Reporter]

These are but a mere handful of MacLane's dozens of CubeDudes, which include characters from the SuperFriends, Transformers, Dr. Horrible, and GI Joe. He has also built non-CubeDude Lego sculptures of Pixar characters WALL-E, BURN-E, and Carl Fredricksen.

[CubeDudes via Super Punch]

Defendor, Peter Stebbings' directorial debut, is cut more from the same cloth of Kick-Ass, Matthew Vaughn's upcoming film about an average kid who puts on a superhero costume, than Special, about a man whose antidepressants cause him to believe he has superpowers. But Defendor has a very different tone from Kick-Ass, and is less about the gleeful joys of living out one's comic book fantasies than it is about one man using a superhero identity to right the wrongs in his life. Harrelson plays Arthur Poppington, the man who becomes Defendor in order to bring to justice Captain Industry, a drug and weapons dealer he blames for his mother's death.

The folks at Twitch watched Defendor's premiere at the Toronto Independent Film Festival last night, and reported that the film is not only smart and funny, but contains a surprising amount of depth. Check out the trailer below:

[via Twitch]

Alphas comes from X3 screenwriter Zak Penn and Michael Karnow. The series began life as Section 8, which sparked a network bidding war in the summer of 2007 and eventually found a home at ABC. But, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the Writers Guild strike and ABC's increasing discomfort with the show's scifi elements landed it in the dustbin. Now Syfy has dusted it off and redubbed the show Alphas.

Back when the show was at ABC, Futon Critic posted a synopsis and review of the Section 8 script, which had some intriguing ideas for its superpowered protagonists:

When a witness is inexplicably murdered in a locked room at a federal courthouse, Section 8 (under the auspices of the National Security Agency) is put on the case. Lead by Dr. Leigh Rosen (all roles have yet to be cast), the team has but one mandate - locate and assess the threats posed by "alphas," human beings "with enhanced abilities due to differences in their brain structure." Joining Rosen in his quest are four such alphas - Gary Bell, a highly functioning autistic with an ability to process information that rivals most computers; Bill Harken, a former FBI agent who can amp up his "fight or flight" reflex, giving him extraordinary strength for a brief period of time; Nina Theroux, a beautiful woman who can reprogram other people's minds to do as she bids; and Rachel Myers, an orthodox Jew who can shatter glass with but a whisper. However with said powers comes a price - for Gary, autism which makes him a child for all intents and purposes; for Harken, severe anger issues that cost him his job and family; for Rachel, living life as a near mute and being forced to wear an electronic device against her larynx; and Nina, never really knowing how those close to her actually feel. In any case, they've all come together for the common good with Rosen as their mentor, teaching them to further control their abilities with each passing day. As for the courthouse murder, it's not long before the team uncovers that one of their own kind was responsible - Christian Hicks, a former Marine sharpshooter with supernatural balance and aim (he guided the bullet through a ventilation duct). After bringing him in though, they realize someone even more powerful was pulling the strings... someone with a new technology that can be used to mimic one of the team's gifts.

Unfortunately, Futon Critic claims the script's execution doesn't live up to its shiny ideas, constantly trying to assure the reader of the show's awesomeness.

I'm on the fence with this one. Penn's got a bit of checkered past; he worked on the story for X2, but didn't write the screenplay, and penned Elektra and the better recent adaptation of The Incredible Hulk. Plus, he's writing the screenplay for the upcoming Avengers movie, so someone at Marvel must have faith in him. And the optimist in me hopes the original Section 8 script has had time to marinate. But maybe I'm just so excited at the prospect of Syfy picking up another scripted, science fiction-themed show that I'm willing to give anything a chance.

[The Hollywood Reporter]

Asian news outlets are reporting that Korean actor Kwon Sang-woo is currently in talks to play the Green Hornet's hyper-competent sidekick, alongside a bumbling Seth Rogen. Kwon is known largely as a heartthrob in Korea, having starred in many a romantic soap opera, but he's also has a modest bit of on-screen martial arts experience, thanks to roles in the fantastical Volcano High and gangster-themed Once Upon a Time in High School.

Several outlets have noted Kwon's imperfect English might be the major obstacle to his being cast, but even if he manages to break the language barrier, his action resume doesn't begin to approach Chow's, and it's going to be tough for him to live up to the expectations everyone had for Chow's performance in the role.

[Twitch]

Joshua Bearman spent months following self-proclaimed real life superhero Master Legend for a story in the latest issue of Rolling Stone, but not everything Bearman wrote appeared in the article. Luckily, the Rumpus managed to save one of the more fascinating excised parts of the article, and have shared it with the world:

Dave is tall and lean and handsome despite missing half his teeth from fights in his youth. He styles his team after the meaner edge of Marvel — sleek, stark, intimidating — and then turns the sketches over to Mother One, the Black Monday Society’s official tailor. She just stopped by Frankie’s on costume business, picking up material for the newest team member’s pants. “One day,” she says, “Dave asked me ’can you do this?’ and slid a sketch in front of me.” Eight yards of vinyl later, Mother One found herself with a new name and a vocation. “Now when I watch X-Men, Spiderman, any of those movies,” she says, “All I’m thinking is: can I do that at home?”

The "lost" section of the article deals not only with the origin of the heroes' costumes, but also about what inspired them to fight crime in real life:

It’s no accident in Dave’s mind that he quit drinking around the time he started BMS. Another team member’s life was in shambles and joining up helped him right the ship. “There are reasons we all put on these masks,” he says. “I know you can’t jump any farther, but you feel like you can.” And once you put it on you’re committed. “It gives you a nudge,” he says. I ask Dave more about his alter ego, but he pauses and finds himself at a loss. As Dave, he says, it’s sometimes hard to relate to Insignis. “Maybe if I put on the suit, I’ll figure it all out.”

It's a fascinating - and kind of touching - insight into the world of those who have retreated from the real world, slightly, even as they try to make it a better place. It's highly recommended.

(Updated to add: You can find another "deleted scene" from the story on Bearman's own blog.)

Costume Shopping For Superheroes [The Rumpus]

Look through the surprisingly high number of entries in the World Superhero Registry - which "serves as a public forum and resource center for the Real-Life Superhero community," according to its website, offering tutorials on how to be a superhero as well as legal assistance for would-be vigilantes - and notice the one thing that binds most of them together. Not a strange relationship with reality that sees them take Mark Millar's Kick-Ass a little too literally, no, nor even an impressive ability to come up with names like "Terrifica" or "The Dark Avenger." No, almost every single one of these faux superheroes have a MySpace page.

Yes, now you too can become friends with Insignis, Foxfire, Black Arrow, Entomo or many, many other crimefighters, just in case you think you'll ever need particularly super protection against life's little bothers. Or, you know, an alien invasion. I think we'll let Kick-Ass's Dave Lizewski have the last word here:

[World Superhero Registry]

The new pics appeared on Newsarama.com, and are some of the first pics of Aaron Johnson in full costume as teenage superhero wannabe Kick-Ass, AKA fanboy Dave Lizewski. The costume looks impressively like artist John Romita Jr.'s original - despite the practical addition of a hole for his mouth - but we're most impressed with a pic that proves that the movie Lizewski will take on some white antagonists, unlike the comic book version's questionable targets.
Kick-Ass is aimed for an April 2009 release.

First Images from the Set of the Big Screen 'Kick Ass' [Newsarama]

Lim created these images with fellow artist John Liem. The style is especially apt for Watchmen, which already comes with a noir tone, but it's fun to see what he does with Transformers, Spider-Man, and The Dark Knight:

[Timothy Lim on Deviant Art via Slash Film]

Asked by MTV's Jennifer Vineyard about the on-again-off-again movie that would bring DC's Fastest Man Alive to the big screen, Morrison - who brought the 1960s version of the character back to life in Final Crisis - suddenly got surprisingly cagey:

Yeah, that’s the kind of thing I can’t talk about... Yes, I have talked to them. I’m deeply involved in those discussions. I know what’s going down with all of that, and it’s actually really exciting. But beyond that, I can’t say anything. I wish I could tell you. I’m sure announcements will probably be made at some point, but I can’t say anything.

Someone should explain to Morrison that "not saying anything" generally involves not telling people that you're "deeply involved in discussions" or that "announcements will probably be made at some point," but we have to admit - We're even more excited about a possible Flash movie now that we know that Morrison may be involved. After all, any man who thinks that the cover below is one of the greatest comic covers of all time is clearly a man of taste.
What Does Grant Morrison Have To Do With A ‘Flash’ Movie? He’s Not Telling…Yet [Splash Page]

Website Marvel Animation Age is reporting that all work on announced animated series Hulk: Gamma Corps has been stopped, with existing work being folded into the upcoming Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes animated series:

Joshua Fine, Director of Animation Development for Marvel Animation [said that e]ven though the creative team was well into pre-production of Hulk: Gamma Corps, with scripting underway, they saw the chance to tell bigger stories that reached far beyond Hulk's universe.

"It became apparent to us that the creative work that was being done to bring Hulk’s world and his villains to life was too good to relegate to his universe alone, and would be much better suited as part of an full-on Avengers scenario," says Fine.

A more realistic reason for the change was the underperformance of this summer's Hulk movie; when Gamma Corps was initially announced, the show's existence was defined as being "contingent on the movie’s performance."

The cancellation of the project may be a blessing in disguise for the Green Goliath; the concept was a surprising departure from familiar takes on the Hulk, instead giving us a Bruce Banner who teamed with other gamma-ray-powered characters like She-Hulk and Doc Samson to fight "deadly threats" (Probably traditional Hulk badguys like the Abomination, the Leader and... um... Zzzax), which seems to rob the character of both his "tragic loner" and "misunderstood monster" traits. Sticking him in the Avengers cartoon gives him more of a chance to act out... as well as more chance for audiences to get ready to see him as the kind of threat that the movie Avengers will have to stop.

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes is due to be broadcast in 2011.

"Hulk: Gamma Corps" Status Confirmed, Update On "The Avengers: Earth's Greatest Heroes" [Marvel Animation Age]

Marvel Comics, in its questionable yet infinite wisdom, is obviously pushing an Obama line with the release of the first issue of Adam: Legend Of The Blue Marvel - a series about the one black man that can save the world. They've even got a series about a potential McCain victory: Ultimatum (written by now-former Heroes producer Jeph Loeb) about disasters raining down on the Ultimate version of the Marvel Universe. No such political editorializing in their other big books of the week, which include the first in a series of paperbacks collecting Frank Miller and Klaus Janson's run on Daredevil , the oneshot Iron Man: The End, and the first issue of a series teaming up X-Men/Spider-Man.

Not to be outdone, DC are pulling out their big guns for this week as well - and I'm not talking about Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom (which is, I promise, about an alien who tries to kill Superman to impress a prospective boyfriend. Admit it; that's kind of awesome), Adventure Comics Special Featuring The Guardian or even the completely enjoyable Superman Vs. Brainiac collection of stories from the last seventy-odd years. No, it's the new/old Sandman: The Dream Hunters (which sees P. Craig Russell adapting Neil Gaiman's prose story from ten years ago into comic strip form) and the paperback collection of the much-much-better-than-it-has-any-right-to-be Teen Titans Year One that both need a place on your shelf. The latter, in particular, is astonishingly beautiful and should be owned for the art alone:



But that's not all! Dark Horse unleashes Gigantic's first issue as well as a sumptuous hardcover collection for Dean Motter's Art Deco-inspired Mister X (Again, worth it just for the art; illustrators include Motter, Jaime Hernandez and Dave McKean, amongst many others), and Image are putting out the first volume of Liquid City, an anthology of stories from South-East Asian comic creators (You can find out more about the latter here; preview pages look promising).

(Of course, it's not all good news; the last chapter of Batman RIP? Delayed from tomorrow until November 19th at the earliest, apparently.)

So, when you get too bored waiting for a new leader of the free world to be announced, why not check out the complete list of this week's new comic releases (and then the Comic Shop Locator Service, to find your closest safe haven)? Go in, buy whatever takes your fancy, safe in the knowledge that the Florida recounts will still be going on by the time you leave.

Lee ran down a few possibilities for a Beckham show:

He says, “There are so many ways to do it. We could make them a crime fighting team where the soccer is just a facade. Or we could make them spies or we could make it a comedy where one of them wants to be an adventurer?”

Personally, I think the undercover angle doesn’t suit the Beckham lifestyle. Posh would be far more likely to sign them up for a reality program offering a behind-the-scenes look at their heroic exploits (with their costumes changing each mission, a la the Wasp). We’d get an inside look at David’s superpowered workout routine, the renovations on their high-tech crimefighting lair, and Victoria’s elaborate preparations for the annual Costumed Ball, where superheroes, movie stars, and heiresses all don their best spandex for charity. Of course, the show’s most loyal viewers would be supervillains, who initially watch it as a means of exploiting the Beckhams’ weaknesses, but ultimately find themselves caught up in the drama and the pair’s star power.

Lee Eyes Beckhams for Comic Book Capers [contactmusic]

Ahearne told British entertainment paper The Stage that he plans to do a more classic interpretation of the superhero genre than is currently on British television:

“It is a new and original superhero idea which is not a send-up. All the super hero stuff that is on TV in this country - ITV’s No Heroics, My Hero - British TV is happy to do if it is a send-up, but no one has done it for real. There is a particular gimmick in mine, which I won’t give away, but it means it will be refreshed every episode,” he revealed.

But the show won’t be a superpowered soap opera, either. Instead, each episode will follow the story of a single individual from beginning to end. And honestly, after the many and meandering plotlines of this season’s Heroes, a superhero anthology sounds like a breath of fresh air. And if Ahearne can bring the same sort of sensibilities to superheroes that he brought to vampires in the Ultraviolet miniseries, we could be in for something special.

BBC1 plans Marvel comic-inspired superhero series [The Stage via Coventry Telegraph]

As Meredith has already pointed out, the video for new single Universal Mind Control proves that Common clearly already has an affinity for science fiction. Easily better than Alex Proyas' entire I, Robot, the recent 3:30 clip is just one example of the way in which he's integrating science fiction-based fashion into his style (He's not the only member of the hip hop community doing so - Kanye West, who's been working with Common since 2005's Be album, made his Glow In The Dark tour into a space opera about an astronaut bringing creativity back to Earth) - ideal for a space cop who has to defend not only Earth but an entire sector of the galaxy.

The Matrix aside, reliable old Hollywood can usually be counted on to trot out the same small group of talented African-American actors. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we're keeping Morgan Freeman and Samuel L. Jackson's financials in order because they're both wonderful at what they do, but hip hop has its own exciting roster of young, charismatic stars ready to follow in the footsteps of Mos Def (and Ice Cube - hey, Ghosts of Mars and XXX2 count - and many others) and bring some new blood to the silver screen. Common's roles in Wanted, Terminator: Salvation and Keanu Reeves/Hugh Laurie team-up crime vehicle Street Kings were a good start, but we want to see him make those Green Lantern rumors come true. Not every black superhero has to be played by Will Smith, after all.

So this shell of a human being gets to be the Muse of Stan Lee? Okay fine. Let's at least take some past experiences and input them into her character. So what should her costume be? A government issued orange jumpsuit, or perhaps a a teeny tiny dress made from a magic sweatshop? Or a white leotard with a giant red bullseye and then we can send her to Iraq to stop the war?

What about super powers? How about the ability to regurgitate champagne across a room with great accuracy and speed? What about the ability to deflect mind control. Remember Magneto's mind-control-blocking helmet? Paris' super power is like that, but only because she doesn't actually have a mind to control. Still, she should definitely have night vision.

What should her weakness be? Shame? No that hasn't been proven to work yet. What about class or tact? Whenever she's around someone with social decorum she begins to weaken until she says something inappropriate and regains her strength.

Suddenly I'm really excited for this super-cartoon.

[Comic Book Movie]

In 2005, Chris Preksta conceived “Captain Blasto” as a feature-length film, giving it an award-studded turn on the festival circuit. With a $7,000 budget, he created a wonderfully stark universe in which to house his unhappy cast of characters. Pretska himself plays Colin, an ordinary kid crushed beneath his daily routine. He spends his days at high school bored and ignored, with only the janitor Daryl for company.

Colin’s sole source of inspiration is Captain Blasto, a comic book and radio drama hero who derives his powers from a magic ring. Knowing he won’t find a magic ring of his own, Colin sets out to transform himself into the costumed crime fighter, at least in the eyes of the public. He and Daryl begin staging petty crimes, with Captain Blasto stepping in at the last minute to save the day. Colin even dons a pair of Clark Kent glasses and lands a job at the local rag so as to chronicle his manufactured heroics. But Colin isn’t the only one frustrated with life, and soon he has a whole crew of men ready to fake a life of crime.

They eagerly turn their lives into a send-up of heist films, B-movies, and, of course, comic books. “Captain Blasto” updates biweekly.

[Captain Blasto]