Art by JustaBlink

Last week Marvel officially announced the casting of Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange. The majority of fans seemed to absolutely love the idea of the British actor taking on the role of the Sorcerer Supreme. I’m way stoked that he’s going to be Stephen Strange! I'm a long time fan of this character, and I feel Marvel casting him was an amazing choice.

Hey U Guys caught up with the actor at the 2014 British Independent Film Awards, where he had been nominated for best actor for The Imitation Game, and he talked a little bit about the upcoming Marvel project. This is the first time we’ve heard from the actor since the official announcement, and he talked about how much of a fan he is of the Marvel films, saying, “It's a thrilling gig to get. I just can't wait.” Cumberbatch added that he was "excited, really excited" to play the character, but of course he couldn't offer any real details about the film. There’s obviously still a lot of work to do before they start production on the highly anticipated Marvel flick.

Here’s a two-minute long video that features Cumberbatch discussing Marvel and the character he will play in their cinematic universe:

There hasn’t been as many parody trailers for Terminator: Genisys as there are for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but today we’ve got one that I’m sure many of you will get a kick out of. This wonderfully fantastic video mashes the trailer together with a song called “Robots,” which comes from the Flight of the Conchords comedy team, Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie. It’s pretty cool to see how well these two things come together. 

Ridley Scott has made some pretty incredible films over the years, and he has played around with the horror and sci-fi genres. He has yet to direct a comic book movie, though, and it doesn’t look like it will ever happen. "Why?" You ask. Because apparently it’s too hard for him to do.

In a recent interview with IGN, the director explained,

"I've had a lot of opportunities and I tend not to do that. They're the hardest single thing to write. Taking a comic strip character is very hard to write. Because comics are meant to work in one page, to work in frames with minimalistic dialogue. And a lot of it is left to the imagination of the reader. To do that in film you've got to be a little more explanatory. And that requires a good screenplay and good dialogue." 

That just seems like a weird response for me to hear from this talented filmmaker. I wouldn’t have thought that any of that stuff would be an issue for him, but apparently it is. It doesn’t seem to be a problem for Joss Whedon or any of the other filmmakers involved with the Marvel films.

I say if it's the "the single hardest thing to write," he should take on the challenge. What superhero would you want to see Scott take on?

With the finale of The Hobbit trilogy set to be released later this month, editor Joel Walden created an incredible fan-cut trailer for the adventurous trilogy. This trailer shows us what Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy would have looked liked had it been a single film. He calls it "The Hobbit: The Complete Journey," and it’s pretty damn cool. 

A lot of people think that The Hobbit should have been a single movie. I’m not one of them. I’m completely happy and satisfied that we were given a three part film that creates a bridge to The Lord of the Rings. Here’s the caption that came along with the video:

With Peter Jackson’s final chapter in the ‘Middle Earth Saga’, 'The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies' hitting theatres worldwide next week, I thought it would be fun to create a trailer that promotes his cinematic retelling of ‘The Hobbit’ as a single epic piece. 

I'm sure once all the films have been released on Blu-ray/DVD some fan will recut the movie into a single Hobbit film. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies will be released in theaters on December 17th.

It looks like The CW is bringing back another actor and character from the 1990s version of The Flash. HitFix is reporting that Mark Hamill (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) will be reprising his role of James Jesse, a.k.a. The Trickster, on the new series. Here's the official description of the episode:

Mark Hamill returns in a brand new interpretation of James Jesse (aka The Trickster), a role he originated on the 90's 'Flash' series.  In this new iteration, The Trickster is an anarchist terrorist  con man serving a life sentence in Iron Heights who helps Barry (Grant Gustin) and Det. West (Jesse L. Martin) to foil the city-wide attacks of a wannabe Trickster eagerly following in the original's deadly footsteps.  The episode will reunite him with John Wesley Shipp who went up against him as the original 'Flash' on the CBS version.

I think that this is pretty damn radical! I remember watching Hamill in the original Flash series, and I thought it was so weird that Luke Skywalker was playing this maniacal villain, but I loved it! Executive producer Andrew Kreisberg had this to say in a statement:

“Having Mark reprise his role as The Trickster was on our original wish list when we were planning our version of The Flash. Christmas and Chanukah came early for us this year when he said yes! We are beyond humbled and excited to have him joining us for another round of deadly trickery!”

Hamill also previously reprised the role, voicing The Trickster on Justice League Unlimited, but this is the first time since the 1990s series the he'll play the character on screen. This is sure to be a great episode! 

Every Frame a Painting has released a great video essay on the comedic action of Jackie Chan. The martial arts star has made some insanely entertaining films in his career, and many of the stunts that he has pulled off over the years have been unbelievable. Chan is the master of combining amazing action with hilarious comedy, and this video analyzes how he pulls it off. Here's the caption that came along with the video.

Some filmmakers can do action. Others can do comedy. But for 40 years, the master of combining them has been Jackie Chan. Let’s see how he does it. (Note: to see the names of the films, press the CC button!)

Check out the video, and let us know what some of your favorite Jackie Chan movie moments are.

If case you're wondering what Star Wars creator George Lucas thought of the teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, he hasn't even seen it yet. In a recent interview with Page Six, he told them that he hasn't seen any footage from the film. Why?

“Because it’s not in the movie theater. I like going to the movies and watching the whole thing there. I plan to see it when it’s released.”

That seems like a cop out excuse, especially since you know the guy has a private theater of his own that he could watch it in anytime he wants. But, it also sounds like maybe he means that he's just going wait until the full movie is released in theaters. Is Lucas really just going to avoid all of the trailers for the movie? If so, I give him props. That would be incredibly hard for any fan to do. He doesn't seem too interested in it anyway.

When asked if he was curious to see what J.J. Abrams has done with the sci-fi fantasy franchise that he created, Lucas reportedly told the site, “not really.” Ummm... okay. I guess he has really put all of this behind him. It's hard to think that he wouldn't at least be a little excited. 

The movie is currently in post-production. It's set to be released in theaters on December 18th, 2015.

I've got an awesome sci-fi short thriller for you all to watch today called "The Landing." The story follows a man who "returns to the Midwestern farm of his childhood on a desperate mission to unearth the horrifying truth of what landed there in the summer of 1960." Most of the film is set in the 1960s and it recounts the story of the man's terrifying experience as a kid. The film was directed by Josh Tanner for Perception Pictures, and it's truly a fantastic and brilliant piece of filmmaking that you have to take the time to watch. 

I've got an intriguing, heart-pounding trailer for an upcoming horror thriller called It Follows. The movie is set to show at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival, but it has already screened at Cannes, Fantastic Fest, and AFI festivals. Many of the reviews that I've seen for this film say that it's extremely terrifying. I came across the trailer at /Film, and they straight up said that it is "one of the scariest films" they've ever seen.

The film comes from director and screenwriter David Robert Mitchell, and the story follows  a teenager who finds herself haunted by nightmarish visions and the inescapable sense that something is after her, after a strange sexual encounter. 

The movie stars Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi, and Lili Sepe. The trailer has French subtitles, and it's NSFW as it has a couple of quick boob flashes.  As of right now there is no release date. 

We’ve got a couple new Star Wars trailer recuts for you to watch that were inspired by the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer. What makes these different and unique from any of the other Star Wars videos we’ve posted, is that the trailers were reedited using footage from the original Star Wars trilogy. The first video was created by YouTuber Dr. Jimmy Russell, and the second was done by YouTuber drewkrotz. Both of them try to use shot for short scenes that match up with what we all saw in The Force Awakens trailer. As you'll see, they both turned out really cool! 

We've got six great new clips for you to check out from director Paul Thomas Anderson's upcoming film Inherent Vice. The movie stars Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Martin Short, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, and Benicio Del Toro.  This movie looks insane. I love the films that Anderson makes, and this looks like it's going to be great. These clips will give you an idea of how wacky this movie will be. The film is based on the book by Thomas Pynchon. Here's a detailed synopsis of the book:

When private eye Doc Sportello’s ex-old lady suddenly out of nowhere shows up with a story about her current billionaire land developer boyfriend whom she just happens to be in love with, and a plot by his wife and her boyfriend to kidnap that billionaire and throw him in a loony bin…well, easy for her to say. 

It’s the tail end of the psychedelic `60s and paranoia is running the day and Doc knows that “love” is another of those words going around at the moment, like “trip” or “groovy,” that’s being way too overused—except this one usually leads to trouble. 

With a cast of characters that includes surfers, hustlers, dopers and rockers, a murderous loan shark, LAPD Detectives, a tenor sax player working undercover, and a mysterious entity known as the Golden Fang, which may only be a tax dodge set up by some dentists... Part surf noir, part psychedelic romp—all Thomas Pynchon. 

Inherent Vice opens in limited release on Friday, December 12th.

After I did the Super Nintendo commercial for the video game Super Adventure Island, the next acting gig I landed was for a music video for a rock band that called themselves Giant. 

I landed the lead in the video and was pretty stoked about it. I played a kid who builds this amazing massive sand castle on the beach. What was fun about this video is that I actually had a love interest in the story. I meet a girl on the beach, and my way to her heart is to show off my sandcastle building skills. Little do I know that I'm being stalked by a gang of other little kids who are going to attack me and destroy the castle. After that the girl leaves me and I'm left alone to wallow in my grief, embarrassed and defeated. 

I always loved the beach, so being on the set of this production was great! The music video was a three day shoot, and it was shot while school was in session, so it was the first time that I had an experience with what on-set schooling was like. The kids and I actually had to go to a bungalow where there was a teacher their to teach us... stuff. I can't even remember what she was teaching,  I do remember thinking how weird it was. 

All of the kids that I worked with on this project were really a great bunch. Everyone got along great, even the kids that came in at the end to kick my castle's ass, and make me look like an idiot in front of the girl. There was one girl in particular that I crushed on during the shoot. It wasn't the female lead, though, it was one of the blonde bad girls who had the pleasure of humiliating me at the end of the video. 

We hung out a lot during the shoot and it was a complete blast. I wasn't really picking up girls' phone numbers at this time in my life so after the shoot was over I never saw her again. Every now and then I think back on the people I've met on these shows I did and wonder how they are.

I've always enjoyed being on the set of films, TV shows, and stuff like this. There's a certain energy to it that I loved feeling. I've included the music video for you to watch below. To catch up on any Growing Up Geek articles you may have missed, click here. 

Chadwick Boseman will make his big screen debut as Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War, and I couldn't be more excited to finally see this hero introduced into the Marvel cinematic universe. Before I get to some SPOILER filled information about how Avengers: Age of Ultron will lead to Black Panther's inclusion in Civil War, I have a quote here from Boseman talking about how excited he is for the Black Panther action figures and costumes that we'll be seeing in the near future. The following quote comes from 89.3 KPCC (via CBM):

"That's one of the first things I thought about when we left the announcement event with Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans. I saw fans outside with the rendering of Black Panther and [as] I was signing them I was sitting there like, Oh my gosh! And we were close to Halloween, so over that week I saw people with Iron Man costumes, Captain America costumes, Spider-Man costumes, and I was like, 'That's going to happen [with Black Panther].' It blew my mind. It's important because there will be black kids who have the Black Panther outfit and action figure, as well as Latino kids and white kids. It's an amazing thought that it helps from the opposite side to do what you were talking about earlier, about the non-specific racial casting; the idea that this person can be a hero. I feel like 42 did the same thing: there are so many kids from various backgrounds that see Jackie Robinson as a hero, and even though the movie is about race, the heroic spirit has no racial boundaries. So it's amazing to be a part of any of that."

We all know Hot Toys is for sure going to give fans a badass collectible action figure! That's what I'm excited about! 

Now on to the SPOILER information! The big question is, how will Black Panther be brought into Captain America: Civil War? Badass Digest offers up some educated speculation on the matter, since they've read the script for Avengers: Age of Ultron, and that's where it looks like the connection begins. The site explains:

"In the film Ultron goes to Wakanda to get his robotic hands on vibranium, the same supermetal in Captain America's shield. The latest version of the story that I know does not include Black Panther in these sequences, but now that we have a T'Challa hired in the form of Chadwick Boseman might the superheroic king make his way into the film? Having Black Panther show up in the post-credits scene, mad that the Avengers came and had a fight in his closed-off nation without even reaching out to him, could be excellent and set up the character for Captain America: Civil War."

They also report that certain iterations of the Age of Ultron script have ended with Captain America assembling a new team of heroes. One of those heroes could include Captain Marvel. They go on to say that Captain Marvel will most likely appear "in Age of Ultron and Infinity War Part 1 before her own film comes out."

There's going to be lots of great stuff coming in the Marvel Cinematic universe, and I'm ridiculously excited to see where the studio takes these characters. 

We've got a fun piece of Lara Croft fan art for you to check out today created by artist Syko San. It features the character with big blue Disney eyes, and big... well, the reason why so many teenage boys from the 1990s liked playing the game so much! Lara Croft really is a great adventure character, and I actually wouldn't mind eventually seeing a new movie. The movies that Angelina Jolie starred were fun, but they could have been so much better. I would have liked to see more of a gritty Indiana Jones type vibe from them. Would you be up for a new Tomb Raider film?

Marvel has officially released a featurette from the Guardians of the Galaxy Blu-ray/DVD special features that gives fans a behind-the-scenes look at Avengers: Age of Ultron. The video includes director Joss Whedon talking about the film, and also shows off some very cool footage from the set of the film and many of the superhero stars in action. 

The official website for Age of Ultron was also launched today, which you can check out right here. 

When Tony Stark tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, are put to the ultimate test as the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. As the villainous Ultron emerges, it is up to The Avengers to stop him from enacting his terrible plans, and soon uneasy alliances and unexpected action pave the way for an epic and unique global adventure.

Avengers: Age of Ultron will be released in theaters on May 1st, 2015. The movie stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, James Spader, Cobie Smulders, Thomas Kretschmann, Paul Bettany, and Stellan Skarsgard. 

The Star Wars fan entertainment continues to flood the Internet. You know what, though? I'm still not tired of it! It's still cool to see all this fan stuff that is being released online. The video we have here shows us the escalation of lightsaber silliness that was obviously inspired by the crossguard lightsaber. As the video plays out, the lightsaber designs just get more and more ridiculous. There's no sound in the video, but that's ok, it's still funny as hell. 

Via: Geeks Are Sexy

After Legendary Pictures found success with its recent Godzilla movie, Japan's Toho, which is the company that originally brought Godzilla to life, is jumping back in the game! They've announced that they will be making a new Godzilla film of their own, and it will be released in 2016, which is two years before we see the sequel to the Legendary Pictures version. So for those of you aching to see the Japanese make another Godzilla film, it's coming! 

THR reported on the announcement, and Toho producer Taichi Ueda had this to say in a statement: 

 “The time has come for Japan to make a film that will not lose to Hollywood.”

A Toho source added:

“This is very good timing after the success of the American version this year: if not now, then when? The licensing contract we have with Legendary places no restrictions on us making domestic versions.”

I've got to say, this is pretty exciting news! I loved what director Gareth Edwards did with his film, but it's more exciting for me to see what Toho plans on doing with the franchise. After all, Godzilla is their baby, which was born in 1954. I grew up watching those old films, and if anyone is going to make a film that all hardcore Godzilla fans will love, it's Toho. 

This will be the 29th Godzilla movie that Toho has made, and it will be the first since 2004′s Godzilla: Final Wars, which marked the 50th anniversary of the original Godzilla. Toho's Godzilla is also the longest-running franchise in movie history.

The company says that they can’t match the $200 million budgets of a big Hollywood movie, but they hope that the advances in CG will allow them to create a film that can stand alongside those blockbuster productions. It will be cool to see how this project develops!

Comic artist Alex Ross posted this awesome original Batman-Villians lithograph he did on his Facebook page. It features Batman being overcrowded with villains as he is choking a laughing Joker. It's a good thing Batman isn't claustrophobic! You can never go wrong with superhero art by Alex Ross. The stuff he creates is almost always flawless, and this one is super stupendous! 

In a recent interview with Comic Book Resources, director James Gunn talked a little bit more about Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Some of the things he touches on in the interview is where he currently is in the process, new world building that we will see, what the soundtrack might be like, and he clarifies how much of a role he'll play in shaping the cosmic side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When asked for an update on the movie by the site he said,

"Well, I'm really inspired. The whole story is written. I'm very excited about it. And that's where it is. But the story point for me is, in a lot of ways, the most difficult thing. I feel like it's pretty strong. It's constantly shifting, but I feel like it's pretty strong. I'm excited about it." 

So are the rest of us! That first movie was just a perfectly entertaining movie, and I can only imagine the sequel will be even better. The director then mentions that there will be some new world building:

"I think there's a combination of some new world-building, combined with getting to know the world we already know a little bit better, just taking a closer look at everything to get to know things a little bit more intimately as opposed to seeing in very broad terms what some of these cultures are -- like, getting to know them very up close and personal."

When asked about why he might not use music the same way in the sequel as he did in the first film, Gunn explained,

"Really, it's just about walking forward in an elegant manner. When you go forward with a group of characters, that means you have to go forward. And going forward means you're understanding these characters in a new way, you're developing a new kind of story about their lives and who they are and where they're going. And if you're doing that, if you're walking forward, then you can't just repeat what you did before. That's going backwards. That's not understanding the character."

Everyone loved how Gunn used the soundtrack to propel the story for the first movie forward, and I'm sure he'll find a new creative way to do that in the sequel. He goes on to talk about the galactic superheroes and how they will continually change:

"The Guardians are going to continuously change. I think that some of the characters are probably worse than what we think they are, and other characters are better than what we think they are. It's going to be interesting to learn a little bit about that as time goes on."

Gunn was also asked what kind of role he wants to have in the overall Marvel Cosmic Universe going forward as it expands, and this was his response:

"I haven't decided yet, to be completely frank with you. I just really haven't decided yet. I mean, I obviously love the Guardians, the Marvel Cosmic Universe. It means a lot to me. And there are other things out there as well. So I'm trying to figure that all out right now." 

I've seen rumors that Gunn or the Russo bros. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) could actually end up directing Avengers: Infinity Wars, but, as of right now, those are only rumors. Although, I'd be happy if either of them directed it. 

A series of Star Wars themed hats has been released by New Era, and each features the face of of a character from the epic sci-fi fantasy saga. New Era is best known as creating apparel for professional athletes and fashion-forward trendsetters. Now they are obviously looking to tap the geek market by releasing these very loud, in your face fitted hats.

The series of hats is called the Star Wars 2014 Big Face 59Fifty. They cost $56, and the characters include C-3PO, R2-D2, Darth Vader, Boba Fett, and a Stormtrooper. 

Via: Gizmodo