by A.J. Focht

A month out from release and AMC has already sold out advanced tickets for The Ultimate Marvel Marathon which promises to show all of the movies leading up to The Avengers before the midnight release. But if you didn’t get your tickets to the nine hour movie marathon there is no need to worry as AMC will be adding more locations. Cinemark theatres have also joined the party hosting the marathons at half the price. While AMC is charging $40 a seat for the marathon, Cinemark is charging $20. Although, it is unclear if the midnight showing of The Avengers is part of the Cinemark package.

The Iron Man 3 release date is scheduled for May 3, 2013, just a year after The Avengers. Now it looks like Ben Kingsley is in talks to play the villain for the third movie. Insiders at Marvel have debunked the rumor that he will play Mandarin, without giving any hints as to what his role might be.

DC Comics is launching a new round of comic titles this July. The titles in the mix so far are National Comics and Masters of the Universe. National Comics will feature obscure and offbeat heroes, starting with Jeff Lemire’s Kid Eternity. Masters of the Universe will follow the adventures of He-Man against the evil Skeletor. Don’t be expecting the classic He-Man story as it looks like his origins have changed, and as the series starts, Skeletor has already won.

Do you want to bring a little piece of The Hunger Games home with you? Well now you can since Katniss Everdeen has been transformed into a Barbie. I don’t know when Barbie started idolizing child warfare, but this Katniss Everdeen doll is equipped with a bow and arrows nonetheless. If that isn’t good enough for you, you could always buy District 12. Henry River Mill Village, the location for District 12 in the film, is now on sale and can be yours for only $1.4 million.

The Hugo Awards, one of the most prestigious awards in science-fiction, has listed this year’s nominees. Among the top contenders are all the big players: Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Captain America, and…Community? That’s right. In what can only be described as the best nomination ever, the Community episode ‘Remedial Chaos Theory’ has been nominated for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. While it is up against some excellent Doctor Who episodes, this episode stands a good chance of winning thanks to its excellent use of alternate and parallel universes.

The Doctor is getting wrapped up in some legal issues of his own. David Tennant starred in a new Virgin Media commercial that has upset the BBC. The commercial played off time travel, and for BBC anything time travel with David Tennant is their jurisdiction. They sent a takedown request to Virgin Media saying they do not want to be perceived as endorsing any organization.

Facebook has paid $1 billion for the purchase of Instagram. While the purchase has had many Instagram fans nervous, Mark Zuckerberg announced they plan to let Instagram grow free from the Facebook brand. Is that enough though for Instagram fans or do you still worry that Facebook ownership will taint it?

by A.J. Focht

The first clip from The Avengers movie has arrived, and it features Black Widow being a total badass. To go along with the forty second trailer, ten new official wallpapers have been released as well. With the movie less than a month out, some fans have started committing to not watching any of more clips or trailers because they feel they are spoiling too much. If you were looking to save all the excitement for the theatre, you may want refrain from watching this clip or any of the others that come out over the next month.

Joss Whedon’s The Avengers debuts May 4, but first up we have Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods releasing in just over a week on April 13. A new TV spot for the Whedon’s sci-fi horror thriller has come out. Based on what we’ve seen so far, this movie stretches the limits of the horror genre beyond anything we could expect.

Star Trek 2 production is well under way, and Alex Kurtzman has given an update on how things are coming along. Beyond praising the addition of Benedict Cumberbatch’s new villain role, he also gave us a bit of the story, saying that the crew is still learning to work together and are still on the way to becoming the bridge crew we remember and love from the series.

The Hunger Games destroyed box office records, but there may be trouble ahead for the sequels. While all of the cast has signed on to reprise their roles in the sequels, director Gary Ross has not. Ross has been credited as part of the reason the movie did so well, but his compensation from the movie was less than would be expected for an Oscar-nominated director. There are rumors that his failure to sign is over a financial dispute.

Back in October, the world lost one of its most brilliant minds, Steve Jobs. Now there is a movie in the making called Jobs that will biographically feature his life and times. The big thing everyone is talking about though is that Ashton Kutcher is playing the part of Steve Jobs. Kutcher is most famous for his roles where he plays moronic characters such as Kelso from That 70’s Show. Now he is set to portray one of the greatest innovative minds of the modern world.

Doctor Who fans should set their dials to conspiracy, because it’s rumor time. It started as what many considered an April Fool’s Day prank, but it didn’t die there. Reports of the first female Doctor have flooded the internet, after UK paper the Daily Express made seemingly joke claims. However a mole has since said the Time Lord will regenerate as a female as a big plot twist timed for the show’s 50th anniversary.

On Monday April 2, two different but equally awesome nerd channels premiered on Youtube. Geek & Sundry, a channel founded by Felicia Day, features several shows covering various geeky interests. It is also the new home of The Guild, which has an awesome new promotional music video that calls out nerd posers (see above). Other featured shows include Dark Horse Motion Comics, Wil Wheaton’s TableTop gaming show, Felicia Day’s video blog, and so much more.

The other channel of note is The Nerdist Channel, created by Chris Hardwick a.k.a. the Nerdist. Hardwick hosts a bowling show where he bowls against other celebrity groups for charity. One episode will even feature them facing off against the Geek & Sundry team. There are lots of shows still to premier on the Nerdist channel, including one hosted by Rob Zombie, a show hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson, and a show with Neil Patrick Harris and Muppets.

Both the Nerdist Channel and Geek & Sundry are pioneering a shift towards quality internet television programming. Unlike cable, you can enjoy all of these shows for free as long as you can get on the internet. In return, all they ask is you hit subscribe to their YouTube channels so they can hopefully keep this kind of programming coming.

by Damon Martin

“Now I can say yes, T-Dog is back!”
– Irone Singleton

Surviving two seasons on AMC’s The Walking Dead is no easy task. But for veteran actor Irone Singleton, it’s a pleasure picking up a script each week, although he admits it’s better once he finds out that his character T-Dog survives.

Singleton has been a part of both seasons of the record breaking cable series, and he recently sat down and talked about the Season 2 finale, what’s coming up for T-Dog in Season 3, and answers the most important question ever about The Walking Dead.

Damon Martin: Let’s start with the very morbid nature of the show in the sense that anybody can go at any time. As an actor, when you get your script every week, are you reading through to check you’re still there? Cause this is a show where there are no guarantees

Irone Singleton: I know right? Kind of like The Sopranos, and somebody else mentioned 24, although I never really watched 24 – I heard it’s a phenomenal show. But we’re always looking over our back like ‘am I the one that’s going to get it today?’ It’s like that. Especially early on it was like that. When I received the script and I read through the part where T-Dog slices his arm, I’m like, ‘how big is this slice?’ He’s bleeding profusely, so I was like, ‘let me jump to the back of the script.’ So I jumped to the back of the script cause I wanted to see if T-Dog was still alive at the end. He was still alive, so I wiped the sweat bubbles from my forehead, and then I jumped back to the beginning so I could read for sheer entertainment value as opposed to reading for my life.

DM: When you work on a show you become close with the people you’re cast with; how tough was it when you read that script or you got that call sheet and found out Jon Bernthal (Shane) was leaving. How tough is that as an actor to see?

IS: I considered them my extended family, my second family away from home and we did get very close. I have special relationships with all of them and it was in it’s own unique way. To see them go, there were very wet eyes. Tearful moments. We had those moments with Jon Bernthal and I, and Jeffrey DeMunn (Dale), and we’d look at each other and be like ‘wow, this is the end of the road for us on this journey right here.’ It was a nice moment, but sad to see them go.

DM: Now you’ve survived through Season 2 and we’re on our way to Season 3 so everybody wants to know are we going to see more of T-Dog?

IS: I’m hoping so. I’m glad that T-Dog survived. Doing interviews before the season finale, I had to keep people wondering whether or not he survived, so now I can say, ‘yes, T-Dog is back!’

DM: So we know that Michael Rooker will be back as Merle Dixon for Season 3. The character interaction you guys had during the first season really kicked things off for this show, so I have to imagine things are going to get interesting when you cross paths again.

IS: It is going to be interesting. Actually T-Dog and Merle did meet up 2 weeks ago in Cherry Hills, New Jersey and there was a bit of a stand off, and Merle got a bit of his edge. We were there with the zombie survival crew at Monster Mania, and he served T-Dog octopus sashimi, and that is something that T-Dog does not like at all, but he forced it to him with chopsticks. You’ll probably stumble across that picture on Twitter or Facebook or something like that, so I think that’s a pre-cursor to what Merle has coming. It may not be good

DM: When you become a part of a series like The Walking Dead, you really become synonymous with that series and with comic book, science fiction and horror fans. If you walked into San Diego Comic Con you’d get mobbed by 50,000 fans. How much has your life changed since doing The Walking Dead? I mean 50 years from now people are still going to remember your performance from this show.

IS: That’s a big statement and it feels good. My life has gone from one extreme to the other. A line I use in my one-man show, I say, ‘I feel my life is going from the abyss to the utopia of the spiritual spectrum.’ I’ve come from an environment where I was spiritually dead, my conscience was for the most part dormant, so I am now at a point in my life where I have acknowledged a responsibility to be a role model. That’s where I am now. God has put me in a position where I have a platform to where many people hear me, and respect my message when I speak it, so that is exactly where I am, from one extreme to the other. It’s such a great feeling to be a part of such a distinguished group.

DM: There’s so much to talk about the Season 2 finale, but I’m a huge fan of The Walking Dead comic book, so I want to talk to you about the dark hooded swordsman that saved Andrea’s life at the end of the episode. For comic book fans, and as Robert Kirkman announced after the show, that is the famous character Michonne, who has now been cast with actress Danai Gurira. What did you think of that appearance; Were you a fan of the comics? Did you see that coming?

IS: I read the comics and I dipped around and read the part with Michonne, but I haven’t gotten through it. I think she may prove to be an excellent choice. (Danai Gurira) is beautiful, and I think this could work out here. I’m looking forward to that experience. I had no idea she was even in the running. They were talking about somebody from True Blood, and a couple of other names came up, but they announced her and I started to do a bit of research, and I was like, ‘wow okay, this might work out!’ I’m happy.

DM: One of the best parts of The Walking Dead is the fact that there are comics out there, and some of the iconic things that happened in the Season 2 finale are already building for Season 3. Michonne showing up, we saw the last shot of the prison to close the episode, we know they cast The Governor already, who is a major character in the comics. Is it cool that they set things up so well to get fans already excited about what’s coming next, and the show doesn’t start again for several months?

IS: I know, I’m excited too. I feel the same way. I think those shots are so epic. My wife and I were trying to figure out which shot was most epic. Was it the one with Michonne at the end with that cloak over her head? Or was it the prison shot, the overhead shot? Was it the barn burning at the end? So many epic shots and all of them kind of just have me waiting on next season. We should just petition for a year round Walking Dead show.

DM: The great thing about The Walking Dead is that while obviously they are living in a zombie apocalypse, the story really revolves around these characters and building their stories. It seems the way the storytelling is done on this show, both in the dramatic dialogue scenes and in the action scenes, it’s just really excellent.

IS: You’re getting me excited, stop it. This thing is so brilliant, it’s brilliantly written and mapped out. The folks at AMC that have to do all of this, they have to walk that tight rope. I mean you have to satisfy at least two demographics; You have to satisfy the one that want the guts and the gore, and then you have the other side, they love the story and the drama. Then you have the group like me, I’m right in the middle. I love them both. I thought it was brilliant, where you’re on the farm, but then you have zombies through there. You want it to count when you have zombies, you don’t want to have zombies on every episode. It gets old. So it’s brilliant.

DM: This is my last question before I let you go. Because you are a big part of The Walking Dead, you’re part of the family there, and I know you know all the inside information. Can you tell me, does Carl ever stay in the house?

IS: [Laughing] Great question. Carl does not, but Chandler does. Chandler Riggs stays in the house. Carl doesn’t. I don’t know what’s going on with Carl.

Related Posts:
Interview with The Walking Dead’s Michael Rooker – Merle Is Back
The Walking Dead Season 2 Finale Recap: And Hell Followed Them

by A.J. Focht

A new Avengers trailer promoting the IMAX 3D showings is out. A batch of behind-the-scenes photos have been released as well. The Avengers is only about a month out, but we’ve got some reassurance the group’s adventures won’t end then. Black Widow has been confirmed for Iron Man 3, so we know there will still be cross overs amongst The Avengers team.

Despite the poor performance of The Green Lantern, Warner Bros. hasn’t given up on making a movie for The Flash. The company is finalizing their marketing strategy for the DC heroes, but Flash is apparently high on the list. There will likely be more information about upcoming DC hero films after the release of The Dark Knight Rises.

During the Empire Awards, Michael Fassbender (Magneto) and James McAvoy (Xavier) took a moment to discuss the upcoming sequel to X-Men: First Class. While McAvoy seems to be out of the loop, Fassbender expects the film to start shooting soon.

The superhero movies this summer will have their work cut out to compete in a market where The Hunger Games made box-office history with the third largest opening weekend, taking the spot from Spider-Man 3 and falling just short of The Dark Knight. Hunger Games opened at $155 million in the Spring season and is the first movie in a trilogy. Most movies that make that kind of money are usually sequels released during the summer, so it has set the bar extremely high for movies like The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, and Amazing Spider-Man.

The upcoming RoboCop remake will be less robot and more cop, well more human at least. Joel Kinnaman, who has been chosen to play RoboCop, suggests the costume will be little more than an exaggerated sci-fi cop costume. This goes along with some of the new ideas that director Jose Padhila has suggested that concern new breakthroughs in neuroscience.

While some try respect the history of the works they are remaking, others seem to go out of their way to upset the apple cart. After fan outrage at Michael Bay’s announcement that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would now be aliens, the director did some damage control suggesting that could mean as little as “the ooze was from space.” Now there is a fear that they won’t be teenager as the movie’s name has been changed to Ninja Turtles. This doesn’t mean they won’t be teenagers, but it has caused some concern.

Terra Nova’s last hope, Netflix, won’t be saving them after all. Talks concerning Netflix’s attempt to pick up the show for a second season have fallen through. Netflix is however still considering picking up The River for a second season. In future, you can expect to see online networks like Hulu and Netflix pick up an increasing number of popular cancelled shows as they work on building up their own programming schedule.

You can now follow along with the activities on the set of Ender’s Game at the project’s production blog. Only two entries have been posted so far, but one is of a utility deck panel from the ship set.

The first trailer for the new Doctor Who series was leaked after a convention in Wales. The pirated trailer hasn’t been taken down yet so watch it while you can. In related news, the Time Lord’s new assistant has also been unveiled. Former UK soap actress Jenna-Louise Coleman will play Matt Smith’s companion, though little else is known about her role.

As for another Doctor Who spinoff, Steven Moffat isn’t against it, but he doesn’t have the time to be the one making it. Moffat might not be opposed to a Doctor Who spinoff, but he has voiced his issues with the American version of the BBC’s Sherlock. He is upset that CBS is moving forward with Elementary even though they were denied rights by the BBC. Ultimately, he worries the CBS version will be bad and discredit the source show.

by Damon Martin

Veteran actor Michael Rooker has starred in dozens of films including Tombstone and the cult hit Mallrats, as well as making several guest appearances on TV in shows like Chuck and Criminal Minds. What Rooker has been best known as lately is the redneck knife wielding and now armless badass Merle Dixon on The Walking Dead.

Rooker was a regular on Season 1 of the popular AMC series, and made a brief appearance in a dream sequence during Season 2, but with his character’s current whereabouts unknown, is there a Merle Dixon sighting coming in Season 3?

Check out our interview with Michael Rooker in wich he reveals if Merle Dixon will be back when The Walking Dead returns in October.

Damon Martin: First before we get to anything else, it’s the question that’s on everybody’s mind. Are we going to see Merle in season 3?

Michael Rooker: You going to see more Merle than maybe you ever wanted to see.

DM: During Season 2 you had a fantastic appearance alongside Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon). What was it like being back on the show and did you have fun going back for that dream sequence?

MR: I was totally stoked. As soon as I walked on set, everyone was like ‘Merle is back’. They’re big fans of Merle as well, so when we got a chance to do the scene – Norman and I are good friends – and really when you think about it out of the first season and the second season, that’s the only time we ever interacted on camera before, so it was awesome. I had a great time. It was tough love. It’s big brother motivating little brother, motivating him to save his own life and sometimes you’ve got to be tough with people like that.

DM: We’re all excited you’re coming back for Season 3, but one of the interactions I always wanted to see was between Shane and Merle, but now Shane’s gone.

MR: Isn’t that a bitch? I was hoping they’d save Shane for me, but it didn’t happen and that’s just the way it is. I’m letting people know I’m coming back, Robert Kirkman (executive producer/creator) says I’m coming back, as a matter of fact Norman Reedus has stated in several interviews that his big brother is coming back.

DM: I think everybody knew when The Walking Dead came out that it had a chance to be a huge show, but it really has become a cultural phenomenon.

MR: Dude, it’s killer and it’s so amazing and I’m pretty damn honored to be involved with a group of actors, directors and producers and all these guys. I’m having a great time. Even playing the cat-and-mouse thing over this past season in my interviews, I can’t really say anything, so I’ve gotten really good at talking for an hour without saying a damn word and giving anything away.

DM: I know you weren’t directly involved in all of Season 2, but I know you watch the show. What did you think of the movement of the storyline this year?

MR: I enjoyed it because I like the fact that we get to know these people, almost too well. We know them so well that it’s going to really hurt when even the ones that we don’t like that much get eaten, whatever. It happens, it’s a post apocalyptic zombie world, we humans can get eaten, we’re not the head of the food chain anymore.

DM: So this is kind of a two-part question. Online everyone was asking when is Merle going to come back? Is Merle the Governor, the character coming up in Season 3? And now we know that you are coming back, the speculation continues to run. What does that mean to you as an actor to see the fan outpouring for your return, and can you give us any spoilers about what Merle will be doing in Season 3?

MR: No spoilers coming from this mouth, but I’ve got to tell you, the fan base is phenomenal. Even from Season 1 when I first appeared, there were fans that jumped on the bandwagon for Michael Rooker and Merle Dixon, and the Dixon brothers overall. We have several online groups, the Dixon’s Vixens, the Rooker-holics, Rooker Nation, I mean you can get Rooker’d online now. It’s very cool and I really, truly appreciate it.

DM: Season 3 starts filming in May and I’ve got to ask how excited are you to be back as a regular cast member? I know that so many people that have left have said how hard it was because The Walking Dead cast and crew is like a family, but that’s a huge dynamic of this show – no one’s safe.

MR: It’s good that no one’s safe. I don’t want to be safe. I think not being safe makes you hungry and makes you fight more. I love everybody there. This is the first real show that I’ve been involved with. I did another one called Thief, we did six episodes, but I hardly ever worked with all the other actors. This time round we hang out, we live in a similar area so we go have coffee, and chill out and talk, so it is a good family atmosphere.

DM: Now that Season 2 is over we can all just get that much more excited for Season 3 of The Walking Dead when Merle walks back onto the canvas. I think everybody is super excited for what’s coming next.

MR: It’s gonna be awesome. Right on brother, we’re going to have a damn good time.

Related Posts:
The Walking Dead Season 2 Finale Recap: And Hell Followed Them

by Alex Dueben

Brian K. Vaughan his made his name as one of the best comics writers of the twenty-first century. He created two long running series, the science fiction fable Y–The Last Man and the political superhero tale Ex Machina. Vaughan also created the series Runaways for Marvel and wrote the series’ best issues, wrote the graphic novel Pride of Baghdad based on the true story of lions who escaped from the Baghdad zoo. and wrote a story arc for the Season 9 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer for Dark Horse Comics and Joss Whedon that featured Faith.

Outside of comics, he’s been known for joining the writing staff of Lost during the third season. He worked on the show through the fifth season and is currently adapting Stephen King’s novel Under the Dome for Showtime.

His new project is Saga, an ongoing series coming out from Image Comics. Illustrated by Fiona Staples, the book is about a Romeo and Juliet-esque couple from opposite sides of an interstellar war. A blend of fantasy and science fiction elements, there are creatures with wings, horned aliens, ray guns and swords, spaceships and childbirth, bounty hunters, rocketship forests, cats that can tell if you’re lying, and a healthy dose of sex and violence. We reached Vaughan by e-mail.

Read our exclusive interview with Brian K. Vaughan on SuicideGirls.com.

by A.J. Focht

Welcome to the first extra-long con edition of Ur W33K 1N G33K in 2012. Wonder Con kicked off this year’s convention season this past weekend in Anaheim. News from all corners of nerdom was announced at the event, or in press releases leading up to it. Major players from across the geek world showed off what they have in store. Several first previews of upcoming movies, shows, and comics were revealed, and the creators were very talkative during the panels. For anything not covered here, you can check out ComicBooked’s excellent Wonder Con 2012 wrap up.

The Amazing Spider-Man director Marc Webb talked about his choices for the upcoming Spider-Man movie at Wonder Con. During The Amazing Spider-Man panel, Emma Stone, who plays Peter Parker’s love interest Gwen Stacy, may have said a too much. Stone started into the tragic comic book death of Gwen Stacy. As the topic started to drift from Gwen’s story in the comic to the movie, Marc Webb interrupted and changed the topic. His abrupt interruption has given rebirth the rumor that Gwen Stacy will die in the film similar to how she died in the comics. Sony has also released a viral marketing video for The Amazing Spider-Man that includes Captain Stacy giving us the run down on what a dangerous menace the Spider-Man can be.

Speaking of superhero rumors, a controversial image has hit the web that claims to be the first poster for the upcoming Wolverine movie. The image’s origins are unconfirmed, but the original posting was taken down at the request of Twentieth Century Fox.

The first teaser image from Arrow, the upcoming Green Arrow show on the CW, has been released. Three time Oscar winning costume designer Colleen Atwood designed the Green Arrow’s suit. The pilot’s director, David Nutter, also talked about his goals in making Arrow darker and edgier than the Smallville pilot, which he also helmed.

Brian K. Vaughn’s new comic Saga premiered last week, and now his comic series Y: The Last Man, is making headway on becoming a movie. Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia have been hired to write the new script. There has been talk of this series becoming a movie for a few years now so let’s hope that this script is good enough to stick.

Everybody’s favorite super villain is coming back for an encore. Despite Joss Whedon’s crazy schedule recently, he has announced plans to work on Dr. Horrible 2 this summer. No more is known about the project at this time.

The newest trailer for Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter premiered at Wonder Con. While promoting the undead slaying President, screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith talked about his work on the upcoming Beetlejuice 2 script. The good news is there will be none of this reboot nonsense. It will be a direct sequel with Michael Keaton reprising the title role.

“The thing that Tim and Michael and I all agree on, and is most important for me is, I don’t wanna be the guy that destroys the legacy and the memory of the first film; I would rather die. I would rather just not make it, I’d rather just throw the whole thing away than make something that pays no respect and doesn’t live up even close to the legacy of the first film,” said Grahame-Smith.

While Grahame-Smith is all about treating classic works with respect, the same can’t be said for everyone in Hollywood. Michael Bay has decided to lay his taint on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I don’t normally complain about Bay, unlike so many others. However, Bay has now decided to take it upon himself to change the history of the beloved human size reptiles. He’s dropping the mutant and making them aliens. No one knows what other changes he has in store. Not mutants? Not turtles? But we shouldn’t worry because he assures us that they will be ‘edgy, funny, and completely loveable.’

On a brighter note, the long awaited sequel to the Avatar: The Last Airbender series has received an air date, and it’s just around the corner. The Legend of Korra will start on Saturday April 14th at 11 AM on Nickelodeon.

The Legend of Korra wasn’t the only thing to get a solid release date last week. After a decade long wait, Diablo 3 will be released on May 15. While Diablo is the first in line, Blizzard also plans on launching expansions for the Starcraft and World of Warcraft series this year. They have also recently changed the WoW Scroll of Resurrection service to offer past players a free upgrade to the Cataclysm expansion, a free level 80 character, a free realm transfer, and other perks for coming back to the game.

Finally, female geek icon Felicia Day is set to guest star on an upcoming episode of Supernatural. Besides showing up on every geek show in the verse, Felicia Day has also launched a new YouTube channel with other nerd idols like Wil Wheaton called Geek and Sundry. The channel will feature nerd programming like: The Guild, Flog (Felicia Day’s video blog), Table Top (table top / board gaming with Wil Wheaton), Dark Horse Motion Comics, and so much more. Geek and Sundry launches April 2nd.