Iron Man on E.T.

If you missed the segment on Entertainment Tonight that featured a "behind the scenes" segment on Iron Man 2, here's a 30 second snippet.

Taylor Lautner - Superhero?

On December 12, Taylor Lautner (currently starring in The Twilight Saga: New Moon) hosted Saturday Night Live, and during the opening segment he did some amazing martial arts moves. After he did a back flip and landed in a classic Spidey pose, I started thinking about how he could capitalize on that skill in a superhero movie.

I know he's scheduled to star in Max Steel, as stated in this Splashpage article, but I think he could do way better than that. The first thought that entered my mind was "Robin", as in The Boy Wonder. I believe if Warner Brothers had signed him to co-star in Batman 3, they would have the makings of an entirely new franchise.

Here's why:

He's the perfect age for the role (17)

He could do realistic fight scenes without a double.

He already has a huge fan base.

After Batman 3, he could easily carry a Nightwing franchise for many years, aging as the character ages.

Now that he's apparently signed for Max Steel, the above scenario probably will never happen.

It's a shame. There aren't a lot of actors out there who have the acting skills, martial arts credentials and physical ability, and are perfectly suited for a specific superhero role as is Lautner.

Images: Nightwing, copyright DC Comics, Taylor Lautner- both courtesy Google Images

Rachel McAdams on Conan

Rachel McAdams, who has been rumored to be Black Cat in Spidey 4 made an appearance on The Tonight Show With Conan Obrien. Wow! What a cutie. Let's hope the rumors are true.

Video Recaps Full Episodes Webisodes

Tarantino Talks Superheroes

It's so seldom that I'm correct about anything, I like to engage in a little shameless self-promotion when I am. On August 22 of this year, I posted about Quentin Tarantino's appearance on the Charlie Rose Show. I speculated about QT's desire to do a superhero movie, and which character he was suited for. I guessed that he would probably do a cape film only if he could create his own hero.

Well, in this article on MTV's Splashpage, dated December 12, 2009, he says just that. He doesn't want to film any established franchise.

Quoting "It wouldn't be an existing comic book character. ...I'd want to use my own imagination and not have to fight with geek's memories of how this character should be..."

Now, the question is: "Does the fact that he's thought about it this much, mean that it's a possibility?"

This Day In History: Superman (The Movie)

Tonight, Shepherd Smith narrated a nice tribute to Superman (1978) on his show. It was a brief segment that recognized today (December 11) as the day the movie debuted thirty-one years ago. Smith gave a few facts about the movie's production and also focused on Christopher Reeve's great performance, and the fact that he won the role over many well known actors.

The piece wasn't anything spectacular, but I thought it was just a cool thing for Fox to do- especially since Supes is a Warner Communications franchise.

Image: The Man of Steel #1- copyright DC Comics, Art: John Byrne

Where is Helen Slater Now?

For no reason at all, I decided to see whatever happened to Helen Slater, who starred in Supergirl(1984). I guess I haven't been paying attention, but I had no idea she's been involved in so many different projects over the years.

According to her Wikipedia article , she's appeared in Broadway shows, recorded two music CDs, appeared in about twenty TV series (including Seinfeld- did not know that), and several successful films. By the way, she has a birthday coming up on December 15. She'll be 46 (she's two months older than I am). Image: Helen Slater- courtesy Google Images

Reboot This! Silver Surfer

I debated whether to put The Silver Surfer (SS) movie under the "reboot" category. Can you call a movie a "reboot" if the title character has never had his own movie? I classified it as such because recent news articles lead me to believe that Fox Studios is planning to go in an entirely different direction than the one started in SS's first screen appearance.

First, in an interview with Collider, J. Michael Straczynski stated that the screenplay he was writing for the SS movie had been shelved. His screenplay picked up where Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) ended. To paraphrase, he said that the lukewarm response of the second FF movie gave Fox second thoughts about his take on SS.

As far as I am aware, as of 12/5/09, Fox has not announced a writer for the Silver Surfer movie. However, reports are that the early steps in the screenwriting process has begun at Fox.

Next, It's Just Movies posted an interview with Doug Jones, who portrayed the Surfer in the second FF movie. When asked about the new SS movie, Jones said that he's under contract for two more years to play the character, but as of that interview on 10/17/09, he hasn't been contacted by Fox regarding their plans.This leads me to believe that he's definitely not going to be in the movie. Although I thought Jones was great in the role, it's reasonable to assume that if Fox intends to give the Surfer his own movie, they would want a more recognizable actor for the part.

All this recent info gives me the impression that The Silver Surfer, which according to the Internet Movie Database is scheduled for a 2012 release, will have no connection to the character's original appearance.

Image: Silver Surfer- Fox Studios, copyright Marvel Comics