Here’s the just released, second trailer for May’s The Avengers film, although it’ll now be called Avengers Assemble in the U.K to avoid apparent confusion with that bad Avengers film from the ’90s based on the classic spy TV series. Here’s the poster too.
It’s Superman’s birthday on February 29! Kind of.
Speaking of The Last Son of Krypton, here’s the cover for DC’s next animated film, Superman vs The Elite, based on one of the best Superman stories ever created – Action Comics #775. The film premieres at WonderCon on March 16.
In the film, Superman’s effectiveness as a superhero comes into question when a new group of super-powerful crusaders, known as “The Elite,” appear on the scene. As superheroes, the Elite know no bounds and are more than willing to kill, even on a massive scale, to stop villainy – putting them on a collision course with the ever-ethical, preferably nonlethal Man of Steel.
The voice cast is led by George Newbern (Father of the Bride), reprising his Justice League/Justice League Unlimited role as Superman, NCIS star Pauley Perrette as Lois Lane, and versatile voice actor Robin Atkin Downes (Batman: Year One, Star Wars: The Clone Wars) as Manchester Black, the leader of The Elite. Award-winning comics writer Joe Kelly has adapted his original story from the heraldedAction Comics #775 (“What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way”) into a script directed by Michael Chang (Batman: Brave and the Bold) and executive produced by Bruce Timm (Batman: Year One).
Finally, here’s an interesting excerpt from the new Tales from Development Hell book, which looks at films that took a long time to get made, or that never get made at all. You can read the complete chapter of the thankfully never made Batman vs Superman film right here. It may not be new info to everyone, but has some fresh tidbits to offer.
The story begins five years into Bruce Wayne’s life post-Batman, having put his costume back into the closet following the death of Robin. He has settled down, married a woman named Elizabeth, and is happier than ever. Over in Metropolis, however, Superman has not been so lucky in love, having been dumped by Lois Lane due to the myriad difficulties of being Clark Kent’s girlfriend. When The Joker, previously thought dead, kills Elizabeth with a poison dart, Bruce takes it hard. First, he blames Superman, because the Man of Steel saved The Joker from a fatal beating just before the murder; second, he resumes the mantle of Batman — not, this time, under any pretense of metering out justice, but for the sheer cathartic pleasure of beating up bad guys. Superman, who has been busy wooing his first love, Lana Lang, in Smallville, tries to talk Bruce out of his vengeful ways, an act which ultimately pits the two heroes against each other. Eventually, it transpires that Superman’s nemesis Lex Luthor was behind The Joker’s return, hoping that Batman and Superman would kill each other. Instead, the two heroes unite to defeat first The Joker, and finally Luthor, the man fundamentally behind Elizabeth’s death.
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