Update: Writer Simon Kinberg is rumored to be taking over Whitta's role as writer. Find out more at the bottom of this article.

According to THR, writer Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli, After Earth) has left the upcoming Star Wars spin-off set to be directed by Godzilla helmer Gareth Edwards. Whitta, who is active on social media, completed the first draft of a screenplay, and he's now moving on to his next project: an adaptation of Mark Millar's comic Starlight. But before you Star Wars fans out there start getting worried about the future of the spin-off movie, it seems like everything is all good between the parties involved here. Whitta told THR:

The year I spent working with Lucasfilm on this Star Wars film has been by far the most rewarding period of my entire career. As a lifelong Star Wars fan I’m deeply grateful to have had the rare opportunity to contribute to a new chapter in its ongoing cinematic legacy. The film is going to be amazing.

And Edwards said:

Gary has been a wonderful, inspired contributor and I enjoyed working with him tremendously. I’m so grateful for all of his contributions. 

Rumor has it the plot of the spin-off movie will focus on a heist to retrieve the plans for the Death Star, but nothing official has been confirmed about that as of yet. We'll keep you posted when we hear anything about another writer coming on board to take a new pass at the material. This still-untitled first Star Wars spin-off is scheduled to arrive in theaters on December 16th, 2016.

My year of work in a galaxy far, far away is done! I’m onto my next project, adapting @mrmarkmillar’s STARLIGHT for 20th Century Fox!

— Gary Whitta (@garywhitta) January 10, 2015

This is by far the most I’ve ever enjoyed writing a title page. See you in 2016! #MTFBWY pic.twitter.com/Wr3Ij1XUKj

— Gary Whitta (@garywhitta) January 10, 2015

Can I just officially say how excited about @garywhitta starting the Starlight screenplay? He's Hollywood's top Gary IMHO.

— Mark Millar (@mrmarkmillar) January 10, 2015

Hang on. I just remembered Busey and Lorraine Gary from Jaws. But @garywhitta is definitely up there near the top.

— Mark Millar (@mrmarkmillar) January 10, 2015

Update: /Film claims that Simon Kinberg will take over as the writer of Edwards' film. They weren't able to confirm the rumor yet, but they seem pretty confident that it's true - and frankly, it makes a lot of sense. Kinberg has already been pegged as a writer of one of the standalone films, he's producing and writing Star Wars Rebels, and he's been a part of the Lucasfilm brain trust basically since they started ramping up plans to produce a lot more Star Wars content following the company's acquisition by Disney. He's likely already very familiar with the work that Whitta has already done, and it would be a very easy transition for him to slide into that role now that Whitta has moved on.

Artist Olechka has created some absolutely beautiful watercolor paintings of characters from the Mario universe. She's been churning out some stellar work lately, of everything from iconic TV characters to fun interpretations of internet memes, but these Mario pieces are my favorites from her. Thanks to Kotaku for the heads up, and be sure to check out Olechka Art & Design to see what else she has to offer.

Last week, we got our first real look at footage from Marvel's Ant-Man, the studio's upcoming film that stars Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, and Evangeline Lilly. Now we're starting to see what Marvel plans to do on the merchandising side of the equation.

I've never been into collecting action figures, but I have to admit: this is pretty awesome. MTV brings us the first look at Diamond Select Toys' new Ant-Man action figure, which is seven inches tall and has 16 points of articulation. And as you can see below, it comes with interchangeable hands (so you can make him punch your other action figures if you so choose) and a shrunken version of the same figure. Both of these guys would look very nice up on a shelf or a work desk, if you work in a geek-friendly environment. The figure (well, technically, "figures") will arrive in stores this summer. What do you think?

The cross-guard lightsaber wielded by Kylo Ren drew a lot of love and hate from Star Wars fans when The Force Awakens trailer debuted. Some called it impractical, while others thought it was badass. Stephen Colbert even defended its practicality while many fans took humorous jabs at the lightsaber design.

YouTube user ThegnThrand created three videos that analyze, demonstrate, and test to see if such a design is usable. Using his knowledge of Viking broadswords, Thrand shows how crazy deadly the crossguard design has a potential to be. To prove that Ren wouldn't cut himself with the quillons coming out the sides, Thrand dips the ends of mock-up lightsaber quillons in paint, and performs elaborate moves without getting much (if any) paint on himself. I think Thrand makes a great case of how lethal and usable this weapon could be, but we'll have to wait until Star Wars: The Force Awakens comes out to find out.

H/T: Uproxx

When 2015 comes to an end, which films will we look back on as being the biggest surprises of this year? I have a feeling that Ex Machina could be one of those movies. The directorial debut of writer Alex Garland (Sunshine, 28 Days Later, Dredd, and the under-seen Never Let Me Go), the film stars Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, and Alicia Vikander in a sci-fi tale that debates the consciousness of artificial intelligence. The first trailer put this movie on my radar, and since I'm a big fan of everyone involved, I can't wait to see this movie when it arrives in theaters on April 10th.

The Playlist points us to a batch of new images from the film, as well as two clips that do a nice job of setting the stage for the kind of moral complexities we can expect from the full feature. Think Ex Machina has the potential to be great? Let us know below.

Alex Garland, writer of 28 Days Later and Sunshine, makes his directorial debut with the stylish and cerebral thriller, EX MACHINA. Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson), a programmer at an internet-search giant, wins a competition to spend a week at the private mountain estate of the company’s brilliant and reclusive CEO, Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac). Upon his arrival, Caleb learns that Nathan has chosen him to be the human component in a Turing Test—charging him with evaluating the capabilities, and ultimately the consciousness, of Nathan’s latest experiment in artificial intelligence. That experiment is Ava (Alicia Vikander), a breathtaking A.I. whose emotional intelligence proves more sophisticated, seductive––and more deceptive––than the two men could have imagined.

If you're following along with what Marvel Comics is doing with Spider-Man right now, you'll know that writer Dan Slott is in the middle of a centuries-spanning arc called Spider-Verse that involves every iteration of the Spider-Man character to ever exist - and that includes the version of the character that appeared on the bizarre, Marvel-approved television show in Japan in the late 1970s. You have to see this to believe it. Check out a quick trailer below.

Spider-Man wielding a machine gun? Someone named Professor Monster? What the heck is going on here? This is totally nuts, and I sort of love it. Anyway, Marvel has made the first and the seventh episode of the show available on its website for you to check out right now if you're in the mood to see a whacked-out Spidey controlling a Megazord. I've never heard of this show before, but I like that there's an officially licensed take on this character that's light-years away from how we know him in the U.S. It's cool that this character can transcend cultural boundaries, and now I'm wondering if any other Marvel characters have strange TV shows floating around out there that I didn't know about. Check out the two available episodes below.

"The Time of Revenge Has Come! Beat Down Iron Cross Group!" The first episode of the TOEI-produced Japanese "Spiderman" TV series sees motorcycle racer Takuya Yamashiro gain the powers of Spider-Man! With his new powers and the help of Marveller, he transforms into Leopardon in order to defeat Professor Monster and his evil Iron Cross Army.

"Fearful Hit Tune! Song Dancing Murder Rock" Spider-Man protects two scientists working to make a weapon that can target the Iron Cross Army, while Professor Monster models cyborgs out of a popular Japanese rock band!

H/T: Uproxx

At a BAFTA event this past weekend, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice star Henry Cavill spoke out about the recent rumor that Batman v Superman might be split into two films. He shot down the idea, which should put the whole discussion to rest. While it was fun to think about for a minute, it's ultimately a better strategic decision for Warner Bros. to keep the film in one piece. (That way, they don't run the risk of the first part possibly under-performing and the second part not making as much money.) Cavill also dodged a question about whether the film will be better than The Avengers. From my perspective, fans probably shouldn't get their hopes up that Zack Snyder will be able to do a better job than Joss Whedon did with his team-up movie, but I guess we'll see what happens when the film finally comes out next year.

Henry Cavill says 'Batman v Superman' won't be split into two movies. #BAFTATea

— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) January 11, 2015

Henry Cavill says Affleck is a "great" Batman. #BAFTATea

— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) January 11, 2015

Henry Cavill says he wasn't injured fighting Ben Affleck's Batman. "Are you kidding? I'm the Man of Steel." #BAFTATea

— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) January 11, 2015

When asked if 'Batman V Superman' would be better than the 'Avengers,' Henry Cavill replied: "You'll see." #BAFTATea

— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) January 11, 2015

H/T: CBM

A year ago, we posted the stunning "A Gotham Fairytale" by Mauricio Abril. A year later, Abril has created "A Smallville Man," which is a story told with over 150 black and white illustrations, and features the song "Walk" by the Foo Fighters. The story shows Superman in South America and as a boy in Smallville. The parallel storylines play out with a sentimental ending. Abril said that after doing the first animatic, he never planned to do a second. But after tens of thousands of views and demands for another, Abril was inspired to make another short. Chekc it out.

(Spoilers for the G.I. Joe movie franchise ahead.)

When Channing Tatum was killed off early in G.I. Joe: Retaliation, it became apparent that the franchise was now in the hulking, powerful hands of Dwayne Johnson. That's still the case when it comes to talent who appear in front of the camera, as Johnson is reportedly the only actor officially attached to reprise his role as Roadblock in another sequel. But who will be leading the charge from behind the camera?

THR says that Disturbia, Eagle Eye, and I Am Number Four director D.J. Caruso is in talks to take the helm for Paramount and Hasbro. There was a time during which I was a big fan of Caruso, back when he was directing episodes of the great FX series The Shield, but ever since Disturbia in 2007, he hasn't done anything that's impressed me. For a long time, he was in talks to direct a Y: The Last Man film trilogy with Shia LaBeouf as Yorick (which I still think could have been solid), and he was also attached to direct a film adaptation of Preacher before that became a Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg series for AMC. Can the third live-action G.I. Joe movie light a fire under him and get him back on the right track? We'll see.

It sounds like Caruso is going to get this job, but Retaliation director Jon M. Chu was also attached to direct this at one point before he bailed to helm Jem and the Holograms, and James Bond resurrector Martin Campbell also had discussions to direct this new installment, so we'll see whose name ultimately ends up on the dotted line. In the meantime, Caruso's upcoming film The Disappointments Room arrives in theaters on September 25th, 2015.

Marvel has released a new trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron, and it delivers an adrenaline-fueled shot of complete badassery! If you thought the first trailer was good, just wait until you get a load of this. As you'll see, it's packed full of tons of cool action-packed footage that you haven't seen before. I can hardly contain the geekery that is boiling in me right now. Please excuse me while I explode. Enjoy the trailer! The movie hits theaters on May 1st.

Marvel has released a fun new piece of concept art for Ant-Man by artist Rodney Fuentebella. It features our hero in his shrunken form with an army of ants before him ready to do his bidding. I’ve included all of the other photos that we’ve previously seen as well, because they are higher res versions released by the studio.

The next evolution of the Marvel Cinematic Universe brings a founding member of The Avengers to the big screen for the first time with Marvel Studios’ “Ant-Man.” Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, master thief Scott Lang must embrace his inner-hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.

The film has a great cast that includes Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Judy Greer, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Pena, John Slattery, and Hayley Atwell. Ant-Man is set to be released on July 17th, 2015.

Artist Max Grecke did this cartoonish, caricature-style illustration of Wolverine wearing the suit that the future Wolverine wore in X-Men: Days of Future Past. This is a fun character design, and I did like the costume he was sporting in the film. I still wish we would have had the opportunity to see Wolverine sport an outfit that more closely resembled his classic costume. Maybe one day.

There seems to be a lot of hype building up for the new Supergirl series in development by Warner Bros. TV and CBS. We now have some additional details that I think you’ll be interesting in knowing. According to CBS entertainment chairman Nina Tassler, the series will be a crime procedural, and we may not see her show up in Arrow or The Flash after all. Here’s what she told EW:

"There will be cases, but what [executive producers] Ali Adler and Greg Berlanti pitched was a real series arc for her. The beauty of it is now with shows like Good Wife and Madam Secretary, you can have serialized story elements woven into a case of the week. She’s a crime solver, so she’s going to have to solve a crime. She’s going to get a bad guy." 

When talking about the main character and the direction of the show, Tassler said she is "a very strong, independent young woman. She’s coming into her own. She’s dealing with family issues. She’s dealing with work issues. It’s a female empowerment story. If you look at the strong female characters we have on the air, it really is resonant of that … We’re big feminists. It’s her intellect, it’s her skill, it’s her smarts. It’s all of those elements. It’s not just her strength, which she does have."

They still have not cast an actress to play Supergirl, but according to the report, CBS is looking to hire a lesser known actress. When talking about what type of person they are hoping to find to fill the part Tessler says,

"She’s got to be an every woman. She’s got to be specific. She’s got to be a terrific actor. [It's] looking for someone who embodies both the freshness and the exuberance of being a young woman in today’s challenging climate and being someone who can carry this kind of series on her shoulders. It’s a big, big show." 

She goes on to reveal that a costume for Supergirl has already been made, they just need to someone to fit into it now! According to her, the costume is “awesome.” As for the Arrow and The Flash crossover, she doesn’t seem convinced that it’s happening anytime soon.

"That’s a different network so I think we’re going to keep Supergirl to ourself right now.”

That might be kind of hard if it’s in producer Berlanti’s contract that he can allow these characters to crossover with each other. It seems like the original plan was to let them play in each other's world, but we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. It may not happen right away, but it’s looking like it will eventually. 

A little boy by the name of Liam Porter was presented with a very cool 3D printed Star Wars clone trooper prosthetic arm and helmet. This is part of an "international effort to harness new technology to help those who need prosthetics they otherwise couldn't get."

The arm was created by John Peterson after learning a group of volunteers called E-Nable, who print arms and hands for kids. He built the arm in classic black and white and presented it to Porter alongside the 501st Legion in Augusta, GA. The Legion is a group of Star Wars enthusiasts who do good while wearing Storm Trooper outfits.

You can watch the event in the video below and see Liam use his arm to pick up cups and other things for the first time. I love inspiring stories like this of people using their talents to help make the work a better place.

Via: Tech Crunch

Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee has made it a point to make a fun cameo in all Marvel film productions. The best part about them is that they are never distracting and always bring a light-hearted humor to whatever scene he is in. Two of my favorites are his scenes in The Amazing Spider-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy. 

Now, here is my disclaimer, so you can’t accuse me of spoiling anything for you. I would assume by now, if you are still reading this, that you want to know what and where Lee’s cameo will be. However, I just want to put it out there that this could be construed as a spoiler. So, if you don’t want to know when Lee will pop up, STOP READING!

Variety has revealed what Mr. Lee’s scene will be in Marvel’s Agent Carter. The comic book legend will be in the January 27th episode entitled “The Blitzkrieg Button.” From what we are told, Lee will be sharing the scene with Howard Stark, played by Dominic Cooper. 

I always enjoy Lee’s cameos, and I can’t wait to see what he does with this one.

“Would I Make A Good Superhero?” is a fun infographic poster from Charley Chartwell. It helps answer that question constantly brewing in the back of our minds of whether or not we would make a great superhero. At least, that's what's stirring in the back of my mind.

You’re considering a career as a superhero. You’re itching to know what you’ll wear, how you’ll schedule your day, the types of foes you’ll face. Display this poster in your home, office, or fortress to tackle these hard questions before you begin ridding the world of evil.

The poster is available for purchase in their online store for $20.

Last year we heard a lot of talk from some major players attached to the Goonies franchise saying that a sequel was going to happen. If you’re wondering what is going on with the project and why nothing has happened yet, according to producer Frank Marshall, they just haven’t found the right story. This is what he told Collider:

“[The Goonies 2] in discussion. [Donner's] talked to us about it, and we’ve talked to him. It’s all about the story. We don’t just do sequels to do them. The story has to be there.  

“You don’t want to disappoint the fans by just doing a schlocky movie. You want to do a real legitimate movie. It’s not going to be a sequel. In the Amblin spirit of Goonies, that’s what has to be.”

It’s good to know that he has his head on straight about all that. One of my favorite things that he says is that it has to have the Amblin spirit of Goonies. That gives me confidence that when it does happen, it will be done right. 

I’m little surprised about what he said about the story though because it was previously reported that Steven Spielberg had already written a story. That news came straight from director Richard Donner when he said:

“Hopefully we’re going to get this done, period. Spielberg came up with the idea of doing a sequel after 30 years. You don’t do it without him, and he came up with another storyline and he’s right on.”

At the time it sounded like Donner was on board with whatever storyline Spielberg came up with. So what changed between now and then? Chris Columbus was even rumored to be involved with bringing the sequel to life. Maybe Marshall didn’t like the ideas they were coming up with, but his comments here kind of contradict previous reports. After all this time thinking the project was moving forward, we now learn they may not have cracked the story yet. Hollywood is frustrating like that. Hopefully Marshall just doesn't know what he's talking about.

I really hope that the movie does happen one day. I’d love to revisit these characters again after all these years.

You’ve got to check out this extremely funny animated short film about a guy on his way to a date when he finds out he has extremely bad breath. The story follows him trying to extinguish the deadly smell coming from his mouth. The film is wonderfully entertaining, and apparently it screened in front of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy in all Dutch Pathé cinemas. Here’s a brief story summary:

Haring tells the tale of Diederik, a guy who makes the mistake of eating a herring right before a date. When he finds out his fishy breath destroys everything in its path, he does his best to get rid of the smell, while also trying to reach his date in time.

The short was  written, directed, and produced by Davor Bujakovic and Junaid Chundrigar for KLOMP! Animation. I know you’re all going to enjoy this one.

Adult Swim has released an extended trailer that gives us our first real look at the return of The Venture Bros. It has been way too freakin' long since this amazingly fun animated series has graced our television screens. 

The show is returning for a one hour special set to premiere next Monday, and thanks to this trailer, we now have a good idea of what we can expect. Everyone is headed out to space to get into some hijinks on the new Gargantua-2 space station. In case you forgot, the first space station crashed back in Season 2. The new station has been opened to the public, and as you'll see, things are going to get out of control in the most awesome of ways!

The Venture Bros. Special airs Monday, January 19th at Midnight! 

Matthew McConaughey got his big Hollywood break in director Richard Linklater's classic 1993 film Dazed and Confused. Thanks to Criterion, we get to see an audition tape showing him trying out for the role of Wooderson. You can see why he got the role, he just locked in with the character and just seemed like everything came naturally to him. McConaughy was so good in the movie, and it has been interesting to see the ups and downs of his career since this movie was released. It's good to see him making great films these days.