Laurence Fishburne Not Returning for Justice League

Rounding out our trio of DCEU stories is a soundbite from Laurence Fishburne, who appeared in Man of Steel and Dawn of Justice as Daily Planet Editor-in-Chief Perry White. Fishburne, who recently sat down to chat with the LA Times about his latest movie, John Wick 2, revealed that he is not coming back for Justice League. The veteran actor chalked it up to scheduling conflicts, but the next words out of his mouth had some people raising their eyebrows. While talking about how DC has handled portraying its greatest heroes on the silver screen, Fishburne didn’t mince words: “What were they doing over there? Marvel has been kicking their [butt]” He did not say butt, though. He would go on to defend Zack Snyder and swear that he loved Dawn of Justice’s most baffling moment, the infamous “Martha Scene,” but the damage had already been done. I can hear the blogs and message boards lighting up with comments now. I wouldn’t be surprised if Fishburne gets a cushy cameo in Avengers: Infinity War for his little commentary.

Ben Affleck May Not Direct Solo Batman Film

Our first story of the year is picking up pretty much where 2016 left off - the DC Extended Universe being a hot mess! After thinly veiled shots by Flash actor Ezra Miller and Alien Covenant director Ridley Scott, the latest person to cast doubt on nobody’s favorite cinematic superhero universe is Batman himself. In a recent interview with British outlet The Guardian, Ben Affleck gave a lukewarm at best update on his upcoming batman film. When asked about the movie’s progress, Affleck acknowledged that there was still a project in existence but was pretty mum on when audiences would be seeing it, or even if he’d be in the director’s chair. The problem is fairly clear from this quote: “...it’s not a set thing and there’s no script. If it doesn’t come together in a way I think is really great then I’m not going to do it.” This is not the first time Affleck is on the record about the story lacking punch. Earlier reports covered how he pressured the studio to push the film’s release date back, unwilling to move forward with a story that didn’t work. Can’t really argue with his logic here; the DCEU’s movies haven’t exactly been praised for their storytelling up to this point, with critics slamming both Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad for confusing character choices, villains with questionable motives, and gaping plot holes. A lot has already been written about the chaotic writing process for these films, particularly Suicide Squad and its expensive reshoots, so I won’t rehash that here. The bottom line is Warner Bros. has a decision to make: stop rushing these movies out to make the exhausting release schedule, or resign themselves to telling half-baked stories with second- and third-choice directors.

Winter Anime Season (Part 5)

Title: Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta (Love Song for a Certain Pilot)
Release Date: January 6, 2014
Studio: TMS Entertainment
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Action/Adventure
Synopsis: Sibling pilot trainees Kal-el (seriously) and Ariel Albus join the Aerial Division of Cadoques High, seeking love, friendship and the mythical End of the Sky. Based on the light novel series by Koroku Inumura.

Verdict: Holy shitballs, that was pretty. It's no secret that a lot of time, love and care has gone into crafting each detail of Inumura's world, and, in spite of some on-the-nose romance scenes later in the episode, a compelling story seems to be taking shape. Set in a fantasy world dominated by aviation, the story begins with "Kal" and Ariel's induction ceremony.

And you thought your first day of school was stressful.

After sharing a tearful goodbye with their sisters and father, the brother and sister jump in their plane and fly to their new home - Cadoques High, a pilot school built on the flying island of Isla. Once there, Kal sets about the arduous task of settling into his new life and getting to know his fellow trainees - including an odd but friendly girl named Claire Cruz.

Let the shipping begin.

There's plenty to like here. As anyone who knows me could tell you, I'm a huge sucker for flying islands in fiction, and this anime is no exception. The stunning visuals aren't exactly a surprise considering TMS Entertainment's storied history, but that doesn't make breathtaking realism of each scene any less awe-inspiring. The story also seems to be developing at a good clip, with plenty of interesting questions being raised by the time the credits roll. Is there class conflict between the trainees of Royal birth and the commoners? Who is Nina Viento, and why does Kal flip out at the sight of her? What is the End of the Sky and why did Kal promise his mother that he would find it? What happened to his mother anyway? Why is Ignacio Axis such a frigid asshole? Why is the main character named after Superman? All of this and more remains to be seen, and the next episode can't get here soon enough.

My Favorite Bits of News From San Diego Comic-Con (Part Two)

There were more big reveals than you could shake a stick at this Saturday, but here are some of my highlights:

Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes dropped in on the folks at MTV Geek to discuss their appearance in Plants Vs Zombies Vs Jay and Silent Bob. It looks like this:

Smith also updated MTV Geek on his latest creative projects. The title he formerly called his last directorial effort, a hockey comedy-drama dubbed "Hit Somebody," will now be produced as a miniseries. Instead, his last movie will be Clerks III, and the script has been submitted to The Weinstein Company for review. He also hinted at an idea for a bizarre horror movie that came up during one of his podcasts in which a man is held captive and turned into a walrus (smh only Kevin Smith).

Meanwhile, IGN was covering a talk by Microsoft Creative Director Ken Lobb on the new Xbox One console. Lobb announced that the next gen black box will allow players to record and share the last 30 seconds of gameplay with a simple voice command, and the camera can tell when players have switched controllers, automatically switching controller settings based on who is holding it.

While discussing his new Hulu series The Awesomes, Seth Meyers revealed that he'd always wanted to do a Blue Beetle/Booster Gold superhero movie (with himself as Blue Beetle). I was instantly reminded of the latest installment from Yale Stewart's fantastic webcomic:

Full size here

Fun side story: Meyers once ran into professional comics penciller Kevin Maguire and asked to be drawn as Ted Kord's Blue Beetle. The resulting drawing is the thumbnail image for Meyers Twitter profile.

Attendees of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. panel were lucky enough to witness the entire pilot episode (word on the street is it's awesome).

But perhaps the biggest news of the day came from the DC cinematic universe, with the announcement of not one but three new working titles. The first, a follow-up to this year's Man of Steel, will be a Superman/Batman movie - pairing DC's two most recognizable names to take on the sequel to Marvel/Disney's highest-grossing film ever (good luck with that) in 2015. It's probably a safe bet to assume Henry Cavill will return as Supes, but there's no word on who will be buttoning up Bruce Wayne's tailored Armani suit this time around. Next up will be a film adaptation for The Flash in 2016, followed by DC's answer to Marvel's The Avengers, Justice League, in 2017. DC also revealed the logo for the first film in line:

I think the batarang looks a bit chubby.

That's it for Saturday. Check back in Sunday for the last helping of juicy nerd tidbits!

My Favorite Bits of News From San Diego Comic-Con

There was plenty of good nerdy news to choose from today, but these particular tidbits hit all the right buttons and stood out to me:


1. According to Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns, DC Comics is wrapping up a crossover Justice League/JLA/Justice League Dark story arc called Trinity War. He also hinted that things will not end well for Earth's greatest heroes, particularly everyone's favorite Big Blue Boy Scout .

2. The good folks at Mondo revealed a line of limited edition posters and vinyl covers inspired by the cinematic works of Studio Ghibli.

Here's a sample...stop drooling.

3. Creators of that underrated critical darling of a show Orphan Black, Graeme Manson and John Fawcett announced that Season 1 DVDs of the series hit shelves this week.

4. And last but not least, Avatar creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko finally ante'd up and gave Legend of Korra fans the information they'd been waiting for - a September 2013 release - and almost 150 seconds of hysteria-inducing new footage. Enjoy: