Chris Evans (The Avengers' Captain America) and Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy's Star-Lord) are both known for going out of their way to visit sick kids at various children's hospitals. You can see a couple reports we did on them doing that here and here.

In case you haven't already heard, the two Marvel actors made an epic Super Bowl bet, the loser of which would visit a children's hospital dressed in their rival team's shirt as their alter-ego characters that they play in the movies. They ended up settling this bet in the most awesome way, though: the actors will be visiting both hospitals together. These guys are just a couple of great human beings.

Here's their Twitter conversation regarding the bet and the game.

Let's go #12s #JurassicWorld trailer #twitterbowl #Psalm126:3 #12sEverywhere #TomBradysBeautifulSkin #LOB #SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/sNMEXsO6Gg

— chris pratt (@prattprattpratt) February 1, 2015

Congrats to the world champions @patriots you were the better team tonight. I will be visiting @chris_haven as Starlord. #twitterbowl

— chris pratt (@prattprattpratt) February 2, 2015

Thank you to @prattprattpratt for being a good sport. I'll be there with you at @chris_haven, and don't worry @seattlechildren, we'll be

— Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) February 2, 2015

coming there too! And lastly, I don't think anyone can ever doubt the mental toughness of Tom Brady. Tough couple weeks, but he showed why

— Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) February 2, 2015

he's the greatest of all time. #PSIdonthearyounow #anyballanytime

— Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) February 2, 2015

This shouldn't be too much of a surprise to anyone who understands how the filmmaking pipeline works, but even though we see our first glimpses of trailers for upcoming blockbusters months before they debut, the visual effects are often being refined up until the very last minute. You'll probably notice how CGI and special effects might not look that great in early trailers, but then be blown away by how awesome they look in the final product. Well, we still have a few months before we get to see the dinos of Jurassic World go on a rampage, but things are already looking a lot better on Isla Nublar than they did when we saw the first trailer.

Wired has put together a couple of .gifs representing some of the largest changes between that initial trailer and what we saw yesterday, and the differences are pretty huge. Check them out below, and you can revisit the first trailer and the Super Bowl spot to try to find any other changes and let us know about them in the comments below.

Jurassic World is directed by Colin Trevorrow and opens on June 12th.

YouTube artist Mauri Helme has created an awesome version of the final scene of the Robert Zemeckis classic Back to the Future in pixel art, inspired by 8-bit/16-bit retro games. I was just watching this movie on TV last night, and seeing the last scene play out in this form actually makes me want to see the whole movie this way. It's always cool to see new takes on films you love, and the fans of Back to the Future have certainly created some memorable art over the years, from amazing posters to Flux Capacitor watches to action figures and much, much more.

Thanks to Mauri for sending this over to us!

I still have to catch up on the last couple of episodes of Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., but this second season has been pretty cool so far. Since this show has started, though, I wondered if we would ever see Agent Coulson back up on the big screen with The Avengers. If there was one movie that he popped up in, it would have to be Avengers: Age of Ultron, right? Especially since it's the beginning of the end for a lot of these characters.

There's no confirmation on if he will make an appearance in the movie. But a Reddit user who goes by the unambiguous name, "the_marvel_intern" says that not only will Coulson be in the movie, but that he'll also be joined by a couple of other characters from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Here's his brief comment:

In Age of Ultron, cast of Agents Of Shield show up. May, Daisy, Coulson, etc."

May refers to Agent Melinda May, played by Ming-Na Wen. Daisy is more of an updated reference to the show’s most recent reveal that - spoiler alert - Chloe Bennet’s Skye is actually the Marvel Comics super-powered character, Daisy Johnson, a.k.a. Quake. There might be more as well with the inclusion of that "etc."

As for Clark Gregg’s Agent Phil Coulson, it is only a matter of time before he is introduced back into the feature film world of Marvel. It would be kind of weird if they didn't. One of the things I'm most interested in seeing is the reaction of the Avengers when they do eventually find out he's alive. 

If the rumor is true, I don't see the majority of these S.H.I.E.L.D. characters playing a big part in the story. Coulson would obviously have the biggest presence, but even that's not guaranteed. Would you like to see Coulson return for Age of Ultron? 

Here's an amusingly violent animated video that features the intergalactic Star Wars bounty hunter Boba Fett, who has been hired to hunt down and obliterate some of our favorite video game characters. The video was created by NicksplosionFX, and it provides about two minutes of silly bloody fun entertainment. 

A few months ago, we heard that TNT was interested in a TV series based on the Teen Titans. After all, practically every other network is getting invested in the superhero craze, so why can't TNT join them? Things have been quiet about that project, but now Nerdist has revealed which team members are going to be part of the team. (Well, at least a part of the team in the latest version of the script they've read. But I actually got an e-mail from a publicist about this, so this is far more official than a rumor or script leak.) Ready? Here they are:

Dick Grayson: He'll reportedly still have his Robin identity in the pilot before ultimately transitioning to Nightwing. He's left Batman and moved to Boston, where he's working as a private detective.

Barbara Gordon: Though she apparently won't be going by her alter-ego of "Oracle," Babs will be a wheelchair-bound computer hacker in this series. (In the comics, The Joker shot her in the spine, paralyzing her from the waist down. Will we see The Joker in this show? I have no idea, but Gordon's paralysis indicates it's a possibility.)

Hawk and Dove: This version will utilize the pairing of Hank Hall and Dawn Granger, whose relationship will add a romantic angle to the show. Apparently, these two characters will be the ones who are changed the most from their comic book counterparts.

Raven: The Rachel Roth version of the character will appear here, complete with her inter-dimensional teleportation powers. Sounds like TNT isn't afraid to step outside the box, which brings us to...

Starfire: The alien princess reportedly appears at the very end of the pilot script, but will become a major part of the team as the show goes on. There's said to be a love triangle between Starfire, Dick Grayson, and Barbara Gordon, so that'll surely have Tumblr gif-ing the hell out of this show.

Cyborg and Beast Boy don't appear in the pilot script, but as you might expect, there's a chance for them to enter the picture later in the show.

No word yet on when the pilot will be finished, but casting is reportedly underway, so we'll keep you posted with more info as soon as we hear it. Are you interested in checking out a live-action version of The Titans?

Side note: While looking for a photo for this article, I stumbled across this piece from artist Michael Turner (who passed away in 2008) that I'd never seen before. Man, that guy was awesome.

Earlier this morning, I wrote about the final scene of Back to the Future being recreated in pixel art, and now a different group of artists have done a similar thing with the opening sequence of The Simpsons. The long-running animated series - can you believe it's been on the air for over 25 years? - has one of the most iconic intro sequences on TV, as the camera whips through the town of Springfield and whizzes past most of the show's main characters.

Paul Robertson and Ivan Dickson directed and animated this video (via Kotaku), which reminded me a lot of the old Simpsons arcade game I used to play in Chuck E. Cheese's when I was a kid. And the music by Jeremy Dower is pretty great, too.

We still don't really know what in the hell is going on with Sony Pictures and Spider-Man. There have been so many rumors and pieces of speculation that have leaked, but we just don't know what the current situation is. We're all hoping that Marvel and Sony will team up to help bring Spider-Man back in a big way. A lot of fans are going to be really disappointed if that doesn't happen. 

J.K. Simmons playing J. Jonah Jameson is one of the best things to happen to the film franchise. He was freakin' awesome, and it seems he might be privy to some information about what is going on. The actor was recently a guest on Sirius XM’s The Howard Stern Show. At the very end, he was asked about Spider-Man. You can can listen to that conversation here. Here's how the Spider-Man conversation went down:

Stern: "Hey, we doing another [Spider-Man] or what?"

Simmons: "I just heard that we…that’s a possibility."

Stern: "Would you do it?"

Simmons: "Absolutely."

The fact that he's actually heard something means that Sony Pictures is probably moving forward in one way or another. Of course, there's always the possibility that he's only heard what the rest of us have heard. But I'd like to think that he's got some intel on what's going on behind the scenes. I also love the fact that he would reprise his role as Jameson if the opportunity presented itself.

I hope that Sony announces something soon regarding this franchise so that we know what exactly is going on. Whatever happens, if J. Jonah Jameson is going to be included in any upcoming films, Simmons needs to play him.

Via: /Film

I'm currently making my way through George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire book series (on which HBO's Game of Thrones is based), but since I haven't finished those books yet, I haven't taken the time to look into any other fiction that Martin has written over the years. Turns out he's also written a series of short stories, which THR reports is now being adapted into a film called In the Lost Lands. Resident Evil star Milla Jovovich is in final talks to lead the film, and she'll star along with Shameless actor Justin Chatwin. Here's the synopsis of the three interconnected short stories:

In one thread, the desperate queen of a city built into a towering mountain hires the sorceress Gray Alys (Jovovich) to travel into the ghostly wasteland called the Lost Lands, to obtain the gift of shape-shifting into a werewolf, but she doesn’t realize that the fulfillment of her wish will come at a terrible price.

Meanwhile, warrior girl Sharra must fight a dragon that serves as the gatekeeper of seven worlds to reunite with her lost lover Kaydar. During this quest she meets the mysterious lord of a deserted castle, Laren Dorr, who seduces her so completely that she forgets her quest and stays with him, unaware that he is the real gatekeeper.  

And in the futuristic tale Bitterblooms, a young barbarian girl gets spellbound by a lonely witch in a spacecraft, who shows her beauty and love, which turns out to be a net of lies and deceit.

German director Constantin Werner (The Pagan Queen) wrote the screenplay and will direct, and I'm interested to see how more of Martin's fantasy stories make the jump to the big screen. No release date is set yet, but filming is slated to begin at the end of this year. As always, we'll let you know when we hear more. 

Parks and Recreation is one of my favorite shows of all time, so I always get a kick out of weird mash-ups or bizarre fan art featuring Leslie Knope, Ron Swanson, and the rest of the Pawnee gang. Parks and Trek is a series of art pieces by comic artist Neill Cameron that imagines the characters of Parks on board the Enterprise from Star Trek. Most of these are pretty cool, but I think the one of Chris Pratt's Andy Dwyer looks more like Beavis than Andy. Which one is your favorite?

H/T: Geekxgirls

Carrie-Anne Moss has been steadily working since The Matrix trilogy, but the two highest-profile projects she's done since The Wachowskis' trilogy came to an end were Disturbia and Pompeii. Now she has the chance to make her mark in the Marvel universe, since the company announced today that Moss will join the cast of A.K.A. Jessica Jones, the second original series from Marvel TV that will air on Netflix later this year. (Daredevil will be the first.)

Moss will play "a no-nonsense woman who could prove a powerful ally to Jessica...if Jessica doesn’t completely alienate her first." The Wrap reports that her character's name will be Harper, and that Harper holds a position of authority. That character hasn't appeared in the comics, so exactly how she fits into this universe remains to be seen. Either way, I'm happy to see Moss take another step toward more visibility with this role; she's a solid actress who I can see bouncing very well off of Krysten Ritter's title character. Along with Ritter and Moss, the show stars Mike Colter, David Tennant, and Rachael Taylor. It'll debut sometime in 2015. Here's the official synopsis:

After a tragic ending to her short-lived super hero stint, Jessica Jones is rebuilding her personal life and career as a detective who gets pulled into cases involving people with extraordinary abilities in New York City.

Geoff Johns and John Romita Jr. have a New 52 Superman coming out, and the Man of Steel will be sporting a new costume design. The illustration above gives us our first look at the new costume, which features a new belt design, a higher neckline and - for some reason - fingerless gloves built into his sleeves. I guess they were looking to make some kind of 1980s fashion statement. Is Superman pissed off in the image because he doesn't like his new outfit? 

The costume will debut in Superman #39, which will be released in stores on February 25th. The art above is a variant cover for that issue by series artist Romita. Thanks to ComicVine for the heads up.

Here's the comic description:

This emotional story reveals a rarely seen side of The Man of Steel as an ordinary person, as the super-star team of Geoff Johns, John Romita, Jr. and Klaus Janson continue their epic run on the series!

What do you think of the new costume? 

Director Rodney Ascher (Room 237) is back with another captivating documentary called The Nightmare. It details the horrors of a sleep condition commonly known as “Sleep Paralysis,” where people find themselves in a state in which they are paralyzed and cannot move or speak, but are completely aware of their surroundings. The big twist with sleep paralysis is the terrifying things that people will often see while being affected by it.

The Nightmare honestly tells the extremely unnerving experiences of 8 individuals (including some of his own) who are chronically affected by sleep paralysis, and then cinematically dramatizes those experiences in a way that's terrifying but true to the story. Surprisingly, these freaky dramatizations were able to make me jump in my seat more than I did in any other film I saw in the midnight series category at Sundance. The doc also induced that wonderful late night feeling of “Shit, there is totally a demon in my room. Under the covers I go!”

Buzz about this film prior to me seeing it at Sundance was everywhere at the festival, with conversations sparking about what Ascher would bring to the table this time. Having made Room 237 in 2012, which is an amazing documentary, we all expected something huge. Would he catch someone in the middle of paralysis? Would he run down the route of religion vs. science? Would he find someone capable of measuring the brain activity of one of the people affected? The discussion ran wild, and because of that, we were hoping for some kind of huge answer.

Did the film deliver on those answers? Not exactly. There were moments the people in the doc would seek professional help, telling their doctors and psychiatrists about what has been happening and then receiving answers like, “Oh, you’re just stressed,” or “Wow, that sounds like it sucks.”  But in the end, there were no real attempts to even address the question as to why people see such horrible things. Instead, the documentary focused on the eerie similarities of what the eight people saw while being trapped in sleep paralysis. Instead of answering the questions, it raised even more, and in the end, raised the giant question: why are these people seeing the same terrifying things?

I don’t think that the lack of answers necessarily made this film bad. After seeing it, it clearly wasn't the film's intention to actively answer the big questions. It was to make people aware that this horrible thing happens to people, that their experiences are very similar, and that many are affected by it. So should you find a way to watch it? Absolutely! It’s still very informative, terrifyingly fun, and will lead to one hell of a conversation with friends.

In a Q&A after the film, the audience was asked if they had been affected by sleep paralysis and have seen similar things, 30% of the audience raised their hands. Would you raise your hand? I did.

We've been hearing about Better Call Saul for so long, it's tough to believe that we'll finally be able to watch it in just a few days. Comparisons to Breaking Bad will abound, not only because Bob Odenkirk is playing the same character in the same universe, but because a lot of the same creative team is involved behind the scenes, including Breaking Bad head honcho Vince Gilligan.

While we wait to see if this spin-off can live up to the brilliance of its predecessor, take a look at this supercut from Tastefully Offensive featuring the best one-liners from Saul Goodman. It starts out kind of rough, but once it gets going, it's pretty enjoyable. The only questions now are: does Saul work better in small doses, and can that character sustain an entire show built around him? Better Call Saul premieres this Sunday, February 8th, at 10pm on AMC.

H/T: LaughingSquid

ABC has released a new promo spot and photos for the fifth episode of Marvel’s Agent Carter. The Howling Commandos are back in action and kicking ass, and there’s also a major connection revealed that ties to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That is the legendary “Black Widow” program in Russia. The episode is called “The Iron Ceiling,” and it’s described as follows:

“Peggy is finally trusted with a mission and calls upon her trusted Howling Commandos squad for backup. But her cover could be at risk when SSR Chief Dooley also sends Agent Thompson with her, on ‘Marvel’s Agent Carter.’”

Agent Carter is the best show Marvel has developed so far, and I’m extremely excited to see what other doors it opens into the past of the MCU. “The Iron Ceiling” is set to air tomorrow, February 3rd.

Thanks to USA Today, we have our first look at Disney’s animated Frozen short film, "Frozen Fever." The movie will be attached to Kenneth Branagh’s live-action Cinderella. Frozen was such a big hit, and the short will continue the adventures of Elsa, Anna, Olaf, and Kristoff. 

The short follows Elsa (Idina Menzel) as she is throwing a birthday party for her sister Anna (Kristen Bell). Elsa ends up getting a cold, which puts the party at dangerous risk. The photos give a good idea of the kind of playfulness that we’ll see in the short. There will qlwo be a new song in the short written by the Oscar-winning team of Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez.

Frozen Fever will be in theaters March 13th, which is when Cinderella comes out. Here’s the Frozen Fever press release:

From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes the new animated short “Frozen Fever,” welcoming back to the big screen Anna, Elsa, Kristoff and, of course, the one-and-only Olaf.

Directed by Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, and produced by Peter Del Vecho, with an all-new original song by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, “Frozen Fever” marks the first project reuniting the Oscar®-winning original team from Disney’s “Frozen.”

The announcement was first made within the ABC Television Network special “The Story of Frozen: Making an Animated Classic,” which aired September 2. The special also featured the world television debut of a scene from the new action comedy adventure from Walt Disney Animation Studios, “Big Hero 6,” as well as a sneak peek at the upcoming season of the ABC series “Once Upon A Time.”

In “Frozen Fever,” it’s Anna’s birthday and Elsa and Kristoff are determined to give her the best celebration ever, but Elsa’s icy powers may put more than just the party at risk.

This nightmarish piece of poster art pays tribute to George Romero’s classic zombie film Night of the Living Dead. The illustration was created by artist Timothy Pittides, and a limited screen print that will be available at Dallas Comic Con this weekend. This is such a creepy movie, and the poster that Pittides made for it perfectly captures the dreadful spirit of it. The artist had this to say about it in a statement to /Film:

"When I began thumb nailing this poster, I knew I wanted to do something different. There are a lot of great NOTLD posters out there already and I had to create something unique. I always loved the old original French posters for the film and the white undead hands reaching up and out, always stuck with me. I wanted to create a bit of a homage to that… The sense of dread and isolation in the film was one the elements I wanted to really stand out and I think I accomplished that. I added things like the cracks coming out of the graveyard to symbolize the horror which started in the graveyard is building and creeping out into the rest of the world. There is some other elements within the poster which have some bigger meanings and nods but I will let the viewer figure those out and draw their own conclusions."

Dallas Comic Con Fan Days takes place from February 7th and 8th at the Irving Convention Center. You can find more information for it at www.dallascomiccon.com, and you can find the print at artist alley booth #221. Any leftovers not sold at the con will go on sale after 9:30 a.m. CST February 9th at www.pittidesart.com.

We’ve got a couple leftover Super Bowl ads for you if you want to watch them. There's one for Fifty Shades of Grey, which basically boasts about how successful it’s going to be. I’ve also included a clip from that film for you watch. According to Yahoo! UK, the movie will feature 20 minutes of sex scenes, which is about one-fifth of its total 100-minute running time. The movie has an R-rating here in the states, but received an 18 certificate in the UK, which is basically an NC-17 rating in the US. 

I’ve also included a spot for Pitch Perfect 2. The story will follow the Barden Bellas as they are looking to compete in the a capella world championships, which take place every four years. I surprisingly enjoyed the first movie, and the sequel looks like it will be just as entertaining. 

Fifty Shades of Grey comes out on February 13th, and Pitch Perfect 2 hits theaters on May 15th.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Disney’s John Carter turned out to be a much better film than I expected. It’s major issues had more to deal with the marketing than anything else. For most people, though, the movie didn’t live up to their expectations, and there are a lot of people who didn’t care for it. The gang over at Cinema Sins cater to those people in their latest “Everything Wrong” video that completely tears the movie apart, and they point out 142 sins.

John Carter is based on a beloved novel, had a huge budget, and was directed by one of Pixar's best. And yet it's still surprisingly sinful given those facts. 

A disgruntled ex-Marvel employee who goes by the name of the_marvel_intern has taken to Reddit to reveal some information he learned while he was working at the studio before he was recently laid off. There’s no confirmation that any of the information he discloses is true, but like any news that leaks online, it could be legit. 

One of the main things that he or she reveals is that there are three directors up to direct Thor: Ragnarok for the studio. Apparently they are looking for someone who will treat the Thor franchise with respect and use more inspiration from the comic book source material. In the process, the studio is looking at dropping characters like Darcy, who “Marvel sees as being 'forcefully manufactured’.”

The directors this person claims to be on the short list are Adam McKay, who worked on the script for Ant-Man; Gareth Edwards, who directed Godzilla and is currently developing a Star Wars spinoff film; and Matt Reeves, who recently directed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. These are all solid choices who I could see doing a great job bringing Thor back to the big screen. I would probably count Edwards out of the running because he’s going to be buried with Star Wars and the Godzilla sequel over the next several years. 

I think McKay is the best bet because he already has a history with Marvel, and they seemed to have a good experience working with each other. The source says that during the time they worked on Ant-Man, “both Marvel and Mckay saw a lot of potential on both sides in working together. Mckay understands these characters, more so then [sic] the perception of him probably allows.”

As for Reeves, he is being considered because of his success with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. He has proven that he’s a very talented director who can make solid action and dramatic films. If he did take on Thor, I think he would do a great job with it. The source also says that the studio thinks “he has a good vision for the third Thor film,” which makes it seem like the studio has already met with him.

I’ve enjoyed both of the Thor movies, and this upcoming third film is going to be insane. The title alone tells you how crazy this thing has the potential to be. The ex-intern went on to say,

"Marvel internally is treating this as if the Thor films are in critical condition. Many felt as if the first film had too much humor without striking the right balance, and that The Dark World had too many behind-the-scenes issues that in Marvels [sic] eyes, prevented it from being as big of a hit as it could be."

I don't see Thor being in "critical condition" at all, but then I don't really know what's going on behind-the-scenes. I just thought the first two Thor films have been great. Again, this is all just a rumor for now, but for discussion's sake, of the three directors mentioned here, who do you think would be the best fit for Thor: Ragnarok? 

The movie is currently being written by Christopher Yost and Craig Kyle. It’s set to be released on July 28th, 2017.