Spotlight on Ultron

The cat is out of the bag. In 2015, The Avengers will face Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The malevolent mandroid was first seen in the pages of 1968's Avengers #54. The repugnant robot was initially built by Ant-Man, but became sentient and tried to enslave the world. Ultron is a worthy foe for the Avengers and has squared off against the team onscreen a few times in the past.

Avengers vs Ultron vs Superman vs Batman in 2015

2015 should have a heckova summer with (Avengers vs Ultron) vs (Superman vs Batman). How will they ever top it?

Onscreen History of Quicksilver

Pietro Maximoff AKA Quicksilver is about to get his big chance. The mutant child of Magneto and Marvel's arguably most famous speedster has made headlines recently after it was revealed he would be included in the highly anticipated Avengers 2. Just days later, it was revealed that plans were in the works for Quicksilver to also appear in Fox's X-Men: Days of Future Past. The dude is quick, but will he be able to handle two franchises at the once? He did it in the comics debuting in 1964's X-Men #4 and joining the Avengers in issue #16 just a year later. Lets take a sprint down memory lane and look at Quicksilver's previous forays into TV and  movies.

Most Anticipated Superhero Shows of 2013

2012 was perhaps the greatest year yet for superheroes. Marvel's the Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises were the two biggest movies of the year, each surpassing a billion dollars in worldwide box office receipts. Spider-Man was successfully relaunched and even C-listers Judge Dredd and Ghost Rider were given  the chance (though they were not successful) to relaunch potential film franchises. The found footage film Chronicle was another bright spot in the genre paving the way for the success of lower budget films. DC churned out three more animated films with Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 proving that the film line hasn't yet run out of tricks. So can 2013 top this past year? Perhaps not financially, but there are a ton of projects worth getting excited about. Let's countdown the most anticipated new superhero shows of 2013...

Superhero Box Office Showdowns - 2012 and Beyond

They said the genre was in decline. They said the superhero movie fad was almost over. Well, a decade into this golden age for superhero cinema, 2012 is the biggest year yet. Now that the dust has begun to settle, lets take a look at the final stats for 2012 and examine some of the epic clashes poised for the next two years.

State of the Upcoming Marvel Movie Slate - 2013 and Beyond

Hoping to build on the success of Marvel's The Avengers which has eclipsed $600 million domestic (nearly $1.5 billion worldwide), movie production of properties based on Marvel characters are moving full steam ahead. Along with Marvel Studio's own post-Avengers Phase 2 plan, there are more movies in development for the X-Men franchise, Spider-Man, and a couple of other new kids on the block. With fresh Comic Con scoop, lets take a look at the current slate of Marvel movie's currently being churned out of the machine.

Marvel's The Avengers Aims To Infinity and Beyond

Disney must be feeling pretty good about their $4 billion investment in purchasing Marvel a couple years back as Marvel's The Avengers has already passed the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office thanks in part for its record breaking $103 million second weekend take in the US. With a few hundred million more likely, the gauntlet has been thrown down and Batman may have a tough time rising to the challenge. Either way, The Avengers performance has to be a good thing for the future of Superhero movies. The genre is as alive and well as it ever has been. Hopefully this will open the doors for the likes of the Flash, Wonder Woman, and the Justice League as well as for other Avengers like Miss Marvel, Ant-Man, and Black Panther. Its a good time to be a geek.

How Does The Avengers Opening Weekend Total Measure Up?

Turns out that even factoring in inflation numbers (shown in gray) Marvel's The Avengers still out earned all previous movies based on Marvel or DC properties. Including inflation, The Dark Knight remains in second place with $175 million narrowly edging out Spider-Man 3's adjusted total of $174 million. At this point, a $500+ million total for The Avengers is all but assured - it should be sitting near $375 million by the end of this coming weekend. The question that remains is whether or not it will exceed The Dark Knight's adjusted take of $588 million to become the all time superhero box office champ.

Avengers to Assemble Box Office Record?

With $80.5 Million banked on Friday alone, The Avengers looks likely to reach $175 to $180 Million this weekend which would be the biggest ever - bigger than HP7-2's $169 Million and bigger than The Dark Knight's $158 million. Not only would this put Marvel's The Avengers on track to become Marvel Studio's biggest movie yet, but it will already have nearly surpassed the domestic totals for Thor, Incredible Hulk, and Captain America. Impressive. Will the Dark Knight Rise to the challenge and retake the record?

Source Deadline

Watch The Avengers Post Credits Scenes

Spoilers Ahead Obviously

Onscreen History of Nick Fury

Colonel Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury, currently Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. first appeared in 1963's Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 as a World War II army hero. Months later he was presented as a modern day super spy and in 2002, he was reimagined in Marvel's Ultimate line of books as an African American General modeled after actor Samuel L. Jackson.

Avengers Season 2 = Unlimted

This season 2 image from Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes has about 20 reasons to be excited about the shows return including (in addition to the core Avengers team) The Fantastic Four, Vision, Ms. Marvel, Yellowjacket, Winter Soldier, Quake, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, War Machine, Doc Samson, Falcon, Spider-Man, and Wolverine. This picture alone could result in a Marvel induced coma of delight.

Bits of Tid from Avengers Season 2

Readers of the blog are probably aware of my DC bias, but there is still a soft spot in my heart for Marvel, particularly when it comes to the X-Men. So what do the X-Men have to do with The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes? Everything! And here is a sneak peak at Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and a couple other upcoming guests.

Japanese Avengers Trailer "Peppered" With Surprises

Look like the Avengers will have at least one cameo by the one and only Pepper Potts. Not sure why the proverbial beans would be spilt in a trailer. Maybe redheads are big in Japan. The trailer is pretty amazing though! Watch it below.

Avengers Trailer 2 Has Landed - Now With More Hulk

It definitely looks action packed and worth my $10. But is it just me, or is anyone else worried they are going to gloss over Thor's return to Earth - not that there will be any time for that with all the 'sposions.

Avengers Super Bowl Spot

Yeah, I think I will check this one out!

Counting Down the Most Anticipated Superhero Shows of 2012 (1-10)

 

Without further ado I give you my most anticipated superhero shows of 2012 (Check out #11-19 here).

10) G.I. Joe: Retaliation- 29 June 2012

Its no secret that I quite enjoyed GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra for what it was. At this point I find the Joe franchise more interesting, entertaining, and surprisingly age appropriate than Hasbro's Transformers. No matter what you feel about the first one, GI Joe 2 looks to be the better movie. Cast members have been upgraded with additions of The Rock, Bruce Willis, and that girl who almost played Wonder Woman. Also, Snake Eyes lost his "gimp lips." Even though it too may get lost in the shuffle, GI Joe: Retaliation looks like it could be a near perfect summer blockbuster - you know the kind where the plot is irrelevant.

UPDATE: The Avengers Trailer is Embedded Here, Now With More Hulk

The first trailer for the 2012 Avengers movie has been unleashed, and it looks astounding! Among other things, Hulk is finally revealed, as is a very angry Loki. For now it is only available at Apple.com but I will update this with an embedded videos as soon as its available.

Updated with embedded video below:

Preview The Avengers Preview

In the fine tradition of marketing overkill, Entertainment Tonight offered up a preview of the Avengers trailer set to debut tomorrow.

Avengers Assemble For EW Photo Shoot - Updated Again

The Avengers will grace the cover of this weeks Entertainment Weekly. Nothing too new here, but one funny quote in the story was "Just because they’re super heroes doesn’t mean they’re super friends.” Nice jab Hawkeye.  Updated with additional images below: