by A.J. Focht

Joss Whedon is no mere mortal in need of rest and relaxation. After wrapping up The Avengers, Whedon used his month long vacation to do a secret shooting of an adaptation of Shakespeare’s masterpiece Much Ado About Nothing

JOSS WHEDON: Well, it’s not a bit secret that I’ve done these [Shakespeare] readings before, and I always had a vague notion of shooting Much Ado. But I didn’t really have a take on it. And then, for some reason, I kinda sorta did. As we were finishing The Avengers in New York, my wife and I were planning our vacation for our 20th anniversary. And she said, “Let’s not take the vacation. Make a movie instead.” I was like, “I’m not even sure if I can adapt the script, cast the movie, and prep it in a month.” And she was like, “Well, that’s your vacation time, so you do it.” And so I did.

–Source EW

Starring several members of the Whedonverse, the cast includes: Nathan Fillion, Alexis Denisof (Angel), and Fran Kranz (Dollhouse), amongst others. Shooting the film in only twelve days, the entire cast managed to keep the project secret until it was announced via a press release.

Whedon isn’t the only one moving past The Avengers in a hurry. Marvel has announced several superhero sequels for 2013. All the usual suspects are present: Iron Man 3, Thor 2, Captain America 2, and the long rumored Ant-Man is still on the list.

With three exceedingly mediocre movies based on The Punisher, it’s surprising to hear that he’s getting another chance, this time on TV. If anything could make this situation more shaky, Fox has purchased the rights to the series. Odds are it will either be fantastic and immediately get cancelled, or it’s going to be another agonizing hour of prime time that they’ll keep around for years to come.

Mark Hamill tweeted his goodbye to voice acting as the Joker after Arkham City was released. The goodbyes weren’t so final as he quickly reneged on his statement when asked about an adaption of the graphic novel The Killing Joke. After his confirmation he’d come back for such a project, a fan movement started to get the project in motion.

Zombies survive another year. After only two episodes this season, The Walking Dead has been renewed for a third season by AMC.

With so many other interesting TV series popping up, is it surprising to learn that Stephen King’s The Dark Tower has gone from film to television? Producer Brian Gazer reports that the series has been picked up by HBO. There is still the possibility of a movie, but they intend to ‘do it right.’

For those Star Wars fans not heart broken by the series being rereleased in 3D, the trailer for Episode I has made it online (though it was subsequently pulled from YouTube by Fox).

Moving onto more exciting sci-fi movies, Ender’s Game the movie has received an official release date of March 15, 2013. The film is still over a year out, but after a long rollercoaster ride of the project being off and on, it’s great to see a solid date.

First they released the sneakers from the Back to the Future movies, then they announced the rerelease of the DeLorean. As if in an attempt to make Back to the Future’s timeline absolutely correct, development of a real hoverboard is underway. The board currently needs a rail to guide it, but they have two years to fix that.

Pulling one straight from the Disney playbook, Warner Bros. will pull all Harry Potter DVD titles off the shelves on December 29, 2011; this includes the soon to be released Deathly Hallow Part 2. If you haven’t finished your collection, now is your chance. Who knows when Warner Bros. will release the films back into circulation? I’m betting no less than ten years.

Not the most shocking news, but Rockstar has officially announced Grand Theft Auto V. The preview will be released on November 2. I’m hoping they change things up a bit, perhaps a female protagonist?

On a final note, massive video game convention Blizzcon 2011 has come and passed. Several major announcements were made for World of Warcraft, including the introduction of the first neutral race, Pandaren. Most impressively, it looks like Blizzard plans on releasing three games next year, the expansions for World of Warcraft , Starcraft, and Diablo III.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

Jonathan Katz is the brilliantly funny deadpan comedian that the animated show Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist was built around. Dr. Katz was Comedy Central’’s first big hit and was on for five years. It’’s taken another six years for the first season to come out on DVD. But it’s here and it has commentaries by Katz, collaborator H. Jon Benjamin and many of the comedians who sat on the couch.

Read our exclusive interview with Jonathan Katz on SuicideGirls.com.

by A.J. Focht

Last weekend New York Comic Con was the focus of most of the geek world. This was a chance for DC Comics to address questions concerning the New 52, especially concerns surrounding Batman continuity. But the most anticipated panel of all was The Avengers panel. Several of the actors were in attendance, and the audience got to see exclusive footage including some which featured the Hulk.

Speaking of the Hulk, there are new updates with regards to the upcoming The Incredible Hulk TV series. Directors Guilermo del Toro and David Eick will be attempting to keep the television Hulk as close to the Hulk from The Avengers as possible. Just another example of Marvel solidifying their continuity, and trying to make us forget Edward Norton in the process.

Out of all the superhero news this last week, none was as exciting as the prospects of Batman joining #OccupyWallStreet. Shooting is about to move to New York City, and the cast members have been told scenes could include shots of the protests. I’m not sure what plan Christopher Nolan has for capturing the #OWS action in the film, but I’m excited by the possibilities.

One last note on the caped crusader, Batman: Arkham City was released days ago, and it’s receiving some of the highest reviews of the year. I therefore wouldn’t be surprised to see Game Of The Year come down to Arkham City and Gears of War 3.

Even the real life superheroes made news this last week. Phoenix Jones, leader of the Rain City Superhero Movement, was publicly unmasked after facing assault charges. It looks like our real life superhero is going through some classic comic story lines, but that won’t stop him from making his patrols.

Some terrible things are happening in a galaxy far, far away. Star Wars 3D posters have been released. The poster lists Episode I 3D as premiering February 10, 2012. As an amusing twist, George Lucas showed up at the 2011 Scream Awards as Darth Vader was giving him a little roast.

On the Star Trek frontier, a new attempt to get Star Trek back on TV is in the works, but not by who you’d think. Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy, is ready to leave the Griffin family fold and pick up his phaser. After seven years of Family Guy, MacFarlane wants to move on and thinks a Star Trek reboot could be his next step.

Thor 2 officially has signed new director, Patty Jenkins. The big players from the original cast will also be back, including Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Anthony Hopkins.

We’re going back to the future, or at least we’ll have the potential to in the new DeLoreans coming in 2013. The DeLorean Motor Company and electric car company Epic EV are rereleasing Back to the Future‘s classic vehicle as a fully electric car, flux capacitors not included.

Finally, the zombies just keep invading. The Walking Dead killed the competition and topped ratings on Sunday with 7.3 million viewers. So it would make sense that another zombie themed TV show will soon be taking a bite out of prime time. Zombieland creators are working on a zombie sitcom. Unfortunately, they are looking to air on FOX, which instantly makes me hesitant.

by A.J. Focht

The official Avengers trailer was finally released this week. Attached to the previews of Real Steal, it offers everything we wanted and more. All of the Avengers are showcased in the preview, providing the perfect teaser for the upcoming movie.

The Wolverine may end up with two separate cuts. In a recent interview with Hugh Jackman, he discussed the interest in making an R-rated Wolverine movie. A possible compromise that is being floated is the idea of releasing a PG-13 version of film, so as to not exclude the younger fans, in addition to the R-rated cut we all want to see.

Queen of the webisode, Felicia Day’s most recent project, Dragon Age: Redemption, is now live. It’s a brilliant webseries placed in the Dragon Age RPG universe. Felicia Day’s character, Tallis, is an elven assassin hired to capture an apostate mage. Along with the release of the webseries, a new DLC was released for Dragon Age 2 also featuring Tallis.

[..]

by A.J. Focht

The entire line of DC’s New 52 has hit stores. The fan response to the reboot has been phenomenal, though all of the comics have received very diverse reviews. Almost every comic in the New 52 has been both praised and bashed. Most have gained a following, and a couple have already gained infamy, while very few have slipped under the radar altogether.

Several of the more obscure comics however pulled in great reviews, such as All-Star Western and I, Vampire. All-Star Western explores Gotham City during its founding through the eyes of Jonah Hex, while I, Vampire introduced a new vampire threat to the DC universe. One of the biggest surprises was Justice League Dark which already has built a strong following. Even more shocking were the positive responses to the sexy stripper-adorned title Voodoo — from the many of the same people who bashed the overt raunch of Catwoman and Starfire.

[..]

by A.J. Focht

Before the final batch of DC’s New 52 hit stores, every issue had officially sold out at the distribution level. The order for a second printing of all 52 titles was given before the latest batch had even gone on sale. Justice League #1 remains the best selling comic of the year. Nearly a dozen comics have sold over 100,000, while Batman #1 and Action Comics #1 have broken 200,000.

This last batch of the New 52 garnered quite a bit of controversy. Most of the comics once again met with mixed reviews. The big names all held up: Batman #1 was fantastic, and Wonder Woman #1 gained quite a bit of positive attention for a change. Some of the other DC females also caused quite a stir – specifically there has been a lot of outrage about Catwoman #1 and Starfire from Red Hood and the Outlaws #1.

Catwoman was a very sexually driven piece, ending with a splash page of Batman and Catwoman mid-intercourse. Some have called it amazing and artful, most are calling it an attack on feminism and females in comics. More outrage came from Red Hood because Starfire was changed into a busty nymphomaniac with little regard for individual humans, a major change from her past character. I enjoyed Catwoman, and sit on the artful side of the argument. I also highly enjoyed Red Hood, but I’m not sure how approving I am of Starfire’s changes. Hopefully they will be part of what has been promised to be explained in issue #2.

[..]

by A.J. Focht

The next round of DC’s New 52 has just hit stores, making it a perfect time to recap last week. Who knows, you might get to the store and decide to pick up one of last week’s issues today. That’s if you can find them. While most reviews of the comics have been pitched somewhere between ‘mediocre’ and ‘alright,’ the comics themselves are flying off the shelves. Comic sales all around are being boosted by the popularity of the New 52. This sudden burst of interest is likely to die out when we get to the second issues. There is just something about owning a first printing of a first issue that really gets the nerd juice flowing. Anyways the lesson here is, if you think you want one of the new comics, and it’s available, get it now; it likely won’t be there when you change your mind (as happened to me with Superboy #1).

Putting the critical vs. commercial success of the comics aside, many of the issues took to handling lingering problems in the DC Universe. For those readers expecting to come in to an entirely new reboot, it is a bit of a shock to learn there is still so much backstory being consolidated in the wake of Flash Point. Issues like Green Lantern #1 come straight into an already active story line, and are not as friendly for new readers. Whereas Batwoman, possibly the best drawn of the available New 52, can only tackle fragments of the active story because they needed to catch readers up. (Which I will note, they did very nicely.)

Some of the comics are handling it better than others, a fine example being Suicide Squad. After so much outrage over Harley Quinn’s outfit on the cover, the comic turned out to be a pleasant surprise for many. It was one of the few that felt like a real origins story, making it accessible to even the newest readers. Aside from the unnecessary body trimming performed on Amanda Waller, this was my favorite comic of the lot.

As if the release of so many simultaneous first issue comics was not enough, it seems DC intends to keep pushing the boundaries. Almost as if in response to Marvel’s introduction of an ethnic Spider-Man, DC has announced a new openly gay Mexican as an edition to the Teen Titans. Miguel Jose Barragan, or Bunker, is DC’s first flamboyantly gay superhero, and unlike most homosexual superheros, Bunker embraces his sexuality at all times.

That wasn’t the end of the week’s news from DC either. Moving forward with the recent trend, DC Universe Online will be getting a free-to-play model. Starting in October, DCU will be joining the ranks of the free-to-play MMO.

With all the buzz around DC in the last few weeks, it’s odd to think that any DC related news is being held back. But it turns out that Christopher Nolan isn’t as eager to share his story as the rest of the DC world. Word is that Nolan is refusing to write the ending to The Dark Knight Rises on paper. Wanting to keep the internet safe from ending ruining spoilers posted by evil twits with nothing else to do with their time (a.k.a. people like me), Nolan is only sharing the ending verbally with select cast members. While this is probably a great idea, I’m going to continue to assume it involves Bane breaking Batman’s back, or critically injuring him in another way (at least that’s how it should end).

Leaving the superhero news behind, this past week was a big one for gamers as well. The release of Gears of War 3 was the icing on the cake following the Tokyo Game Show. From previewing the new 3DS Second Slide Pad to more details and screen caps on the PS Vita, the TGS featured it all. For more info, hit Kotaku’s complete TGS coverage.

The constant coverage of any talk surrounding the new Evil Dead has left us knowing only one thing for sure, we have no idea what to expect. First it was thought to be an addition to the series, and then a reboot of the first movie. Now the latest reports say that it won’t even have the character Ash Williams. I’m kind of pleased to hear that Bruce Campbell will forever remain our Ash, but if Ash isn’t the lead in the reboot, can it even be called a reboot? Right now it’s looking more like a modern revisiting rather than a direct reboot or remake.

Do you constantly find yourself wishing there was something on cable to watch? Fans of The Simpsons may soon not have to worry about that dilemma. The longest-running prime time scripted series in America may be getting its own channel. That’s right, The Simpsons reruns 24/7, it’s almost enough to make me want cable again.

One final tidbit to really shake you down to your nerd-core: William Shatner has decided to share his views on exactly why Star Trek is better than Star Wars. He inspires a rather disturbing mental image, when he talk of uniting the two rivals. Not sure I’m ready to witness him and Carrie Fischer (Princess Leia) hooking up for some sweet intergalactic lovin’.