Dorkly has released an amusing pixelated animated video that shows how Obi-Wan Kenobi's ghost should have dealt with Darth Vader in the Star Wars films.

"He’ll be even more annoying than you can possibly imagine!"

I do kind of wish that the Jedi ghosts could actually do more in the movies than just kind of stand around at parties and whisper inspirational advice to people. I wouldn't take it to the extreme that we see in this video, but it would be cool. Maybe someone will play around more with the with the force ghost concept in one of these upcoming Star Wars films.

15 Years after its premiere, Digimon gets a new adventure this year! Since the announcement in 2014, there really hasn't been too much info until this tweet showcasing a sweet new art style for the series. This picture also revealed that the entire cast of Digimon (as well as their voice actors) from the original series would be making their return alongside the characters as they go through their "high school days." I kind of figured Taichi would be a little older than 17 after all these years, but whatever, NEW DIGIMON WHOO. The show was always a distant second to Pokemon for me back in the day, but it still held a place in my heart as a kid who didn't have cable on Saturday mornings.

The series is slated to premiere in April, and while there's no word yet on a dub for all you non-subtitled watchers, it appears as though the series will be available through simulcast on various streaming sites.

I've got a badass pitch video for an upcoming animated series being developed based on the graphic novel The Untamed. Film Roman, the animation studio behind shows such as The Simpsons and Hell Boy Animated, has released the video in the form of an animatic. This is basically a rough sketch that gives us an idea of what we can expect to see in the new series.

The awesome concept art that you’ll see in the video was created by Tomm Coker (Punisher, Batman, Daredevil), and it features a “gritty 'Frazetta Western' mood and tone of the comic series.” On top of that, Sean Bean is the narrator in the video, and he will provide the voice of the main character in the series.

The graphic novel was created by Sebastian A. Jones and Peter Bergting, and if you’re not familiar with the story, here’s a synopsis that came along with the video:

Would you damn yourself to save the ones you love? Hidden within the Desert of the Dying Tree lies a town run by ruthless killers, a growing cancer upon the vast and volatile fantasy world of Asunda. Some say it’s a watering hole for the devil. For one man, it’s a second chance at revenge… and a last chance at redemption.

A Stranger has returned to the brutal Town of Oasis, a violent past haunting his every step. It’s been ten years since his wife and child were on the verge of turning him from wickedness, but they were murdered and so was he. Now, the Stranger has been released from Hell to reap the seven souls responsible. But having little recollection of his former life, he is lost in a sea of faded memories, glimpses of the life that was taken from him coming back in broken shards as he leaves a bloody trail. 

Conflict arises when lust for his lover steers him from his path of vengeance, and hate is tempered by the young orphan Niobe, who reminds him of his daughter. She acts as his conscience and ultimately his only hope for salvation.

The animated series will be directed by Alex Soto (Ultimate Spider-Man) and produced by Film Roman’s general manger Dana Booton (Ultimate Spider-Man, The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes) alongside Lloyd Levin (Hellboy, Watchmen) and Andrew Cosby (Eureka, Two Guns) with Andrew Sugerman (Conviction, Death Sentence) and Jones. 

I can’t wait to see this in its completed form! We just don’t see animated series like this anymore, and there’s a lot of talent involved with it that is sure to give us something amazing to enjoy. I can’t wait to see how this turns out! The series will include 26-half hour episodes.

Director Guy Ritchie (Snatch, Sherlock Holmes) has released a photo from the set of his new film Knights of the Round Table featuring Charlie Hunnam (Son of Anarchy, Pacific Rim) in the lead role of King Arthur.

The movie just started shooting in the U.K. and it's the first film in a planned six-part franchise for Warner Bros. This is a very ambitious project for the studio, and I really hope that it works out for them. They are betting big on it being a success. I've been a fan of Ritchie's work since Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and I'm excited to see his take on the legendary Arthur.

Along with the photo, we have the first official synopsis for the movie that gives us a brief explanation of the story that will be told:

The bold new story introduces a streetwise young Arthur who runs the back alleys of Londonium with his gang, unaware of the life he was born for until he grasps hold of the sword Excalibur—and with it, his future. Instantly challenged by the power of Excalibur, Arthur is forced to make some hard choices. Throwing in with the Resistance and a mysterious young woman named Guinevere, he must learn to master the sword, face down his demons and unite the people to defeat the tyrant Vortigern, who stole his crown and murdered his parents, and become King.

The movie has a great cast of actors that also includes Astrid Bergès-Frisbey (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) as Guinevere; Jude Law as the villain Vortigern; Eric Bana plays Arthur’s dad Uther Pendragon; Djimon Hounsou will be resistance leader named Bedivere who is the equivalent to the wizard Merlin; and Aidan Gillen will play Goosefat Bill.

Knights of the Round Table will be released on July 22nd, 2016.

I'm not really a big sports guy, and soccer is one of those sports that I've never been able to get into. But if you add a bunch of cosplayers and stunt people dressed as different geek culture characters, as well as a few special effects showing off their abilities...then the game just got a hell of a lot more interesting. I thought the video turned out to be awesomely entertaining, so enjoy!

Source: Fashionably Geek

Disappointing news for fans of the Uncharted franchise: Naughty Dog has delayed Uncharted 4: A Thief's End until an unspecified Spring 2016 release. After showing off its first trailer about nine months ago, and then a gameplay video earlier this year, the PS4 exclusive was supposed to be ready by the end of 2015, but Naughty Dog's creative director Neil Druckmann took to the PlayStation blog to break the bad news to the fans:

“Since we showed you our first gameplay reveal of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, more of the game and story have come together, and it’s become clear to us that this game is much more ambitious than we originally envisioned. After spending so many years with Nathan Drake, he means a lot to the team, and telling the climactic chapter of his adventures is a task we don’t take lightly — this game deserves every bit of the attention to detail, precise pacing, and nuanced storytelling Naughty Dog is known for. So we’ve made the difficult choice of pushing the game’s release date. Giving us a few extra months will make certain that Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End not only meets the team’s high standards, but the high standards that gamers have come to expect from a Naughty Dog title."

“Thank you for your patience — we know the extra wait will be excruciating, but you’ll see it will be worth it as we reveal more about Uncharted 4 over the next year. The team at Naughty Dog will be heads down working through 2015 making sure that Nathan Drake’s story gets the closure it deserves. Come Spring 2016, you and Nate are in for one thrilling, emotional ride.”

As a massive fan of the Uncharted franchise, this news sucks - but at the same time, it's probably best in the long run that the developers have enough time to craft the game they want to make instead of having to race to hit an arbitrary release date. It's that kind of mentality that forces people to release games that aren't ready, leading to some big problems in the industry. The only silver lining to this is a selfish one: the delay will hopefully allow me to scrape together enough money to buy a PS4 before the game is released so I can play it along with everyone else.

I’ve got a very funny short film for you to watch today called Steve’s Problem. The short was inspired by the fact that men's urinals are placed way too close to each other, and those people who get a little gun shy with other guys standing around. It's described as following “One man’s journey to independence.” 

The film was written and directed by Mike Lars White, and it’s a laugh-out-loud short that I enjoyed watching. It also has some interesting twists and turns. Just when you think the film is going in one direction, it completely leads you into another. 

Thanks to the director for sending this into us! It was quite entertaining. 

Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck was one of the most powerful documentaries I saw at Sundance earlier this year. I spent my teenage years in high school listening to Nirvana, they were one of my favorite bands. Of course, I had no idea who they were as people. I just connected with their music. We now have a documentary that gives us a very personal and in-depth look at the life of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, and it's really an eye-opener. As I said in my review:

It has been almost been 21 years since Cobain died, and now after watching this documentary I've learned more about him than I wanted to. The movie presents Cobain's life story in his own words, which come from his diary entries, audiotapes, home movies, and art, and of course, there are interviews with his mom, dad, sister,Courtney Love, and bandmate and friend Krist Novoselic.

It's really a deep and dark intimate look into the life of this artist. I could tell through his music that he must have been a pretty messed up individual, but until now I had no idea how messed up he really was. It was really scary and sad seeing how bad he got. Through his journal entries and audiotapes you really get a sense that this guy was on a trajectory that didn't have a happy ending. It's guess it's not entirely his fault, though.

The film was directed by Brett Morgan, and it's really an intense viewing experience. Here's an excerpt from the synopsis:

While Cobain craved the spotlight even as he rejected the trappings of fame, his epic arc depicts a man who stayed true to his earliest punk rock convictions, always identifying with the “outsider” and ensuring the music came first.

The film hits UK theaters on April 10th, and airs only on HBO beginning on May 4th.

Artist Stephen Byrne has come up with beautiful illustration of Batgirl. The design he came up with for his version of this character is fantastic, and I especially like the attitude. Byrne is a very talented artist who has created animation for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and Doctor Who. He has also created additional art for those properties and more that you can check out here, here, and here.

Not long ago we shared the insanely epic new trailer for Game of Thrones Season 5, which you can check out here. Thanks to EW, we now have a series of magazine covers featuring several characters from the HBO fantasy series, and they are all sporting their new looks. We've got Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), Jon Snow (Kit Harrington), and Arya Stark (Maisie Williams). Arya definitely has the most drastic change in appearance. Showrunner David Benioff said this about the highly anticipated season:

“Worlds are colliding. One of the things we’ve been most excited about from the beginning of the series is we’ve had all these far-flung story lines across Westeros and Essos which almost never cross. Now some of these characters start to head on a collision course for each other.”

If you want to read what the first three episodes of the new season will be about, click here. The series is set to return on April 12th.

We've already seen a couple of trailers for The Order: 1886, the new video game that features a secret steampunk society who battles werewolves and other supernatural enemies throughout history. I haven't played the game yet, and if this new Honest Game Trailer from the gang at Screen Junkies and Smosh (via Uproxx) is to be believed, I'm glad I didn't waste my time with it. I'm sure they're exaggerating parts of this to play up the humor, but it still doesn't seem quite as cool as the initial trailers made it out to be. Have you played the game yourself? What do you think about it? Is this trailer off base, or right on the money?

Miles Teller made waves with his excellent work in the solid teen romance The Spectacular Now, and really got everyone's attention with his intense, devoted performance in last year's Whiplash. He'll be reuniting with Whiplash writer/director Damien Chazelle for another film called La La Land soon, and of course he'll be playing Reed Richards in Josh Trank's new version of Fantastic Four, but in the meantime, the 28-year-old actor has just scored a gig as a bank robber in a new film.

The Wrap reports that Teller will star in The Life and Times of the Stopwatch Gang for Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer, which is based on Josh Dean's piece at The Atavist which details the true story of a gang of bank robbers in the 1980s who stole more than $10 million without ever having to fire their guns. Here's the description of the piece:

They were in and out in less than two minutes—that’s how they got away with millions. And for the duration of their reign, no bank robbers were more feared (though they never fired their guns) nor more pursued or more mythologized than the Stopwatch Gang. The members themselves were straight out of central casting: Lionel Wright, a meticulous introvert who could disappear in a room full of people; Paddy Mitchell, a charming and well-connected crook who saw an angle in everything and would go to any lengths to avoid the hell of being locked away; and Stephen Reid, a fearless point man who could find the weakness in any system and whose story—of addiction and descent into crime, of redemption and literary fame—was all prelude to a tragic but life-saving fall from grace.

In The Life and Times of the Stopwatch Gang, Josh Dean reconstructs the Gang’s glory days and reveals how the real story, pieced together through months of research and reporting most prominently with Reid himself, as he comes to the end, at age 64, of his final days in the custody of the state—is more remarkable than the myth that has long been told.

Sounds pretty good, right? There's no word yet about which of the men Teller will play, but I feel like he could pull off any of those roles just fine. I'm very interested to see where his career goes from here - he's a charming guy who has charisma to spare, so we'll see if he can avoid the pitfalls of off-screen life or if he turns into another Shia LaBeouf. We'll also soon see him opposite Jonah Hill in Todd Phillips' Arms and the Dudes, so keep your eyes peeled for that one.

Out of all Disney's live-action fairytale adaptations that have been released in recent years, including Alice in Wonderland, Oz: The Great and Powerful, and Maleficent, Cinderella is by far the best one. In fact, this is easily one of the best films that I've seen this year.

I liked everything that I saw leading up to the film's release, and I expected it to be a decently good film, but the outcome ended up being so much better than I had hoped. This was a seriously great film, and I think Disney fans are going to be extremely happy with what it offers.

Thor director Kenneth Branagh is the talented individual that brought this vision of Cinderella to the big screen, and he did it in the most beautiful way possible. The movie was not only visually stunning, but the script was wonderfully written, and the acting from its cast was superb. 

For those of you who are fans of the original animated film, you'll be happy to know that it follows that same story very closely, and even includes fan favorite characters such as the mouse Gus Gus and the stepmother's cat Lucifer. I liked how the animals in the story were handled. They weren't over-the-top, and half of the movie didn’t revolve around them like the animated movie did. The animals were used in a subtle way that worked really well for this film.

The third act of the story was changed up a bit to add a little more edge of your seat intensity. There was also an additional conflict that was added that helped lead to the climax of the film, but I didn’t have any issues with the changes because they fit perfectly in with the story. 

The movie was surprisingly emotional, and it does an amazing job setting up Cinderella's character. You really feel for her as she is going through the tragic hardships in her life. You want this girl to find happiness because she's completely deserving of it, and it's frustrating at times watching her being treated like crap by her stepmother and stepsisters. 

Speaking of the stepmother, Cate Blanchett was freakin' incredible and absolutely dark and heartless in her role. She was such a wonderfully unlikable character, and she was the perfect actress for this role. As for Lily James as Cinderella, she was absolutely delightful; she has the kind of charisma and likable charm that made her the superb choice for the title role. Every moment that she spent on screen was an absolute joy. This young actress has a great career ahead of her. The development of the characters in the movie was impeccable.

This is a must-watch movie for any fan of Disney, and anyone who just enjoys watching a good movie in general. Make sure to check it out this weekend - I think that you'll all enjoy it.

I really liked the first big screen adaptation of the YA novel The Maze Runner. This is easily one of the better film franchise out there that is based on a YA book series. The sequel is called Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, and thanks to EW we have our first look at the film in three photos that they've released. The creative team who are developing the film had a few things to say about it in an interview.

Producer Wyck Godfrey talks about how the second film will be different from the first:

“The first movie was the mystery of ‘Where are we and what is this place? And can we get out?’ But the second movie is about the repercussions of getting out and the discovery of what the world is actually like."

Director Wes Ball discussed the new world that the characters have found themselves in:

“It has transformed the world into a desert with sand dunes that crawl and are swallowing the ruins of a lost world.”

While they are on their journey, they are attacked by infected humans known as Cranks. Ball went on to explain:

“We don’t want to call them zombies, but they fit into that category,” Ball says. “They’re not undead, but they are rage-filled.”

The movie stars Dylan O’Brien, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Kaya Scodelario, Will Poulter, Patricia Clarkson, Rosa Salazar, Aidan Gillen, and Giancarlo Esposito. The sequel is based on James Dashner's novel, which is described as follows:

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. Thomas was sure that escape from the Maze would mean freedom for him and the Gladers. But WICKED isn’t done yet. Phase Two has just begun. The Scorch. There are no rules. There is no help. You either make it or you die. The Gladers have two weeks to cross through the Scorch—the most burned-out section of the world. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them. Friendships will be tested. Loyalties will be broken. All bets are off. There are others now. Their survival depends on the Gladers’ destruction—and they’re determined to survive.

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials will hit theaters on September 18th, 2015.

Earlier this year we reported on an amazing screening event for Back to the Future that was organized by a group called Secret Cinema. Well, they announced that they will be putting on a similar event, only it will be for the classic Star Wars film The Empire Strikes Back!

The screenings will take place from June 4th to August 2nd in London, England. I would absolutely love to attend this event if it was a possibility. I'm sad I missed out on the first Back to the Future one! But I'll get my chance for that when they bring Back to the Future to Los Angeles later this year to celebrate the 30th anniversary.

What makes this event so awesome and unique is that it's not just a movie screening. They have a team of people that recreate the movie for you to experience. It's completely interactive. People come dressed up as their favorite characters, and there's even role playing involved. 

Secret Cinema announced the "Secret" event on their website, and they don't offer very many details except for the dates for each show and that tickets go on sale March 18th. Registrants have been told to "look out for a secret code on forgotten buildings." The invite itself reads:

Earth is the system. We are seeking rebels from around the world to join the Rebel Alliance and head to a Secret City where they will be taken on a journey through the world of Star Wars. 

Of course once one person finds out, it will spread on social media like wildfire, so it won't stay a secret for very long. So if you want to attend I'm sure you won't have any issues eventually getting the information you need. 

I've included a video of the Back to the Future screening event, along with the schedule released of Empire Strikes Back.

Whoa, whoa, whoa: Anthony Hopkins and Al Pacino are starring in a movie together? THR brings word that the highly-acclaimed actors will both appear in an independent legal thriller called Beyond Deceit, and that Josh Duhamel (Transformers) and Alice Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness) have just signed on to join them.

Shintaro Shimosawa rewrote the screenplay and will make his directorial debut on the movie, which also stars Watchmen's Malin Akerman and G.I. Joe's Byung-hun Lee. Duhamel will play "an ambitious young lawyer who takes on a big case against a ruthless executive of a pharmaceutical company, only to find himself drawn into a murder case in which he is the prime suspect."

Sounds like this one is cut from the John Grisham cloth, almost like it could be a modern day retelling of the Tom Cruise movie The Firm. And here's a piece of trivia for you: Duhamel is replacing Dan Stevens, who just left the project due to a scheduling conflict with Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

Let's just hope this isn't another Paranoia, which disappointed us after the promise of seeing Gary Oldman face off against Harrison Ford (an Air Force One reunion!) didn't live up to the hype. Hopkins and Pacino squaring off sounds amazing, so I'm pulling for Shimosawa to deliver something great.

Fox's Animation Domination High-Def (ADHD) is back with yet another insane animated video, and this one applies some made-up lyrics to Guile's theme song from Street Fighter II. We've featured their stuff on the site before (here, here, here, and here), but this one caught me totally off guard by how random it is, since the video seems to relish in making fun of Guile's eyebrows (of all things). It's so weird, but I'm sure those of you who still play Street Fighter II at arcades (or barcades) or using mods won't be able to hear the instrumental song the same way again after you watch this. (Warning: you probably shouldn't blast the volume if you're at work due to some language that likely isn't considered appropriate.)

Via: LaughingSquid

With Breaking Bad over and Mad Men about to air its final seven episodes, AMC isn't exactly going to be the high-quality powerhouse network it was a couple of years ago. They've already picked up Better Call Saul and the still-officially-untitled Walking Dead spinoff for two seasons, and now, in an excellent new oral history of Mad Men conducted by THR, it was revealed that they also considered two potential spinoffs that centered on the characters of Peggy Olson and Sally Draper.

Lionsgate COO Sandra Stern says:

When we first started negotiating with AMC, one of the things they wanted was a spinoff. We talked about doing a contemporary one. Given the fact that [Mad Men] ends nearly 50 years ago, most of the characters would be dead. Sally was the one character young enough that you could see her 30 or 40 years later. There was a time we wanted a Peggy spin­off, too, and, a la Better Call Saul, a minor character going off to L.A. [Series creator and showrunner] Matt [Weiner] wasn't comfortable committing to a spinoff.

This was during the year-long break between seasons four and five, when Weiner was in heated negotiations with the network about whether or not he'd return to the show. (They wanted some pretty drastic changes made; he held his ground and ultimately won the battle.) If Weiner wasn't going to commit to a spinoff, I'm not sure the actors would have been involved with it. I can't imagine Elisabeth Moss continuing to play Peggy Olson without Weiner there to guide the character, because his voice was (and is) such a huge part of building her career to the point it is now. Same goes for Kiernan Shipka, although a show that picked up in modern times with an adult Sally Draper does sound like it has the makings of a compelling idea.

What do you think? Would you have watched a spinoff about Peggy Olson in Los Angeles or an adult Sally set in modern day? Mad Men returns to AMC on April 5th, 2015.

This is the third phase of my Marvel movie history breakdown. This one takes us up to the point where Marvel introduced their epic cinematic universe to the world. There were a lot of bad films that were made before we got to that point. This is the the part in Marvel's movie history where fans saw some dark times before that ray of hope broke through with the release of Iron Man. That ray exploded into the Marvel movies that we are enjoying today. To see the previous two lists, click on the following links: 1944 to 1990 and 1994 to 2008.

2004 - THE PUNISHER - Lionsgate

I personally really liked Thomas Jane in the role of Frank Castle in The Punisher. I honestly wish we would have seen more films in the franchise with the actor in the lead role. Jane actually trained for 7 months with the U.S. Navy SEALs and gained more than 20 pounds of muscle in doing so. It was also the first comic book adaptation since Blade to earn an R rating. When the teaser trailer was shown, there was negative reaction to the solid white skull logo which has been the character's trademark in the books. The costume designer changed it to a "worn-down" design that better suited Frank Castle's character in the film. Ben Foster and Rebecca Romijn, who both co-starred in the film, also acted in the X-Men films as Angel and Mystique.

An undercover FBI agent becomes a vigilante assassin and sets out to unleash vengeance upon the corrupt businessman who slew his family.

2004 - SPIDER-MAN 2 - Columbia Pictures

Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 seriously upped the ante for superhero movies. This film is universally loved by most fans out there, and I still think it’s the best Spider-Man movie that has been made up until this point. Chris Cooper was considered for the role of Dr. Octopus, but he was later cast as Norman Osborn in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Early drafts of the script included Doc Ock, Black Cat, The Lizard, and Harry as the new Green Goblin. It was later cut down to just Doc Ock and Spider-Man, which worked out brilliantly. The film was given a budget of $200,000,000, and shared the record for the most expensive U.S. movie ever made at that time with Titanic. This is also the only Spider-Man film without a funeral scene at the end.

Peter Parker is beset with troubles in his failing personal life as he battles a brilliant scientist named Doctor Otto Octavius. 

2004 - BLADE TRINITY - New Line Cinema

Even though this wasn’t my favorite movie in the Blade franchise, it was the first time I looked at Ryan Reynolds and saw him as the actor that should play Deadpool, and now that movie is actually happening. The movie was plagued with production issues. Wesley Snipes had a mental breakdown during the production, and he refused to speak to first-time director David S. Goyer. Guillermo del Toro was supposed to direct the movie, but passed after Hellboy got greenlit. After this movie was released, the live action film rights went back to Marvel Studios. This was also the first and only of the three films to get the Marvel logo at the beginning of the movie.

Blade, now a wanted man by the FBI, must join forces with the Nightstalkers to face his most challenging enemy yet: Dracula.

2005 - MAN-THING - Lionsgate

This is one of those films that kind of slipped under the radar because it was so awful. Lionsgate still holds the rights to the character, but who knows if they will ever attempt to do anything with it again. The movie was so bad that when they held a free test screening for it, a lot of the audience members walked out before the movie ended. That's not a good sign. The movie ended up being released on the SyFy Channel.

Agents of an oil tycoon vanish while exploring a swamp marked for drilling. The local sheriff investigates and faces a Seminole legend come to life: Man-Thing, a shambling swamp-monster whose touch burns those who feel fear.

2005 - ELEKTRA - 20th Century Fox

2005 was not the best year for Marvel movies. Between Man-Thing and Elektra, I wasn’t sure if we’d ever see another Marvel movie again. For some reason the studio thought that this Daredevil spinoff film would be a good idea. Instead it made fans and audiences really second-guess comic book movies. Jennifer Garner said that she felt this movie was terrible, and that she only filmed it because of contractual obligations from Daredevil. Ben Affleck even filmed a cameo reprising his Matt Murdock role, but was it cut from the final film. The rights to the character reverted back to Marvel at the same time they got Daredevil back. That makes me wonder if we’ll eventually see her appear in the new Netflix series.

Elektra the warrior survives a near-death experience, becomes an assassin-for-hire, and tries to protect her two latest targets, a single father and his young daughter, from a group of supernatural assassins.

2005 - FANTASTIC FOUR - 20th Century Fox

After 20th Century Fox released Daredevil and Electra, I wasn’t sure what we would get with Fantastic Four. Of course I hoped it would be good - I’m a half glass full kind of guy - but damn. Just because I hoped for a good film didn’t make it so. Fox sure did drop the ball...again. Of course it was better than the 1994 version that was never released. Hugh Jackman was offered the role of Reed Richards in the movie, so on top of playing Wolverine he also had the chance to play The Punisher and Reed Richards. That would have made a shared universe a little weird. The movie also starred Chris Evans, who went on to play Captain America. Apparently Stephen Soderbergh was interested in directing the movie, which I imagine would have been awesome. The film was released the same year as Batman Begins, which ushered in the dark and gritty vision of comic book movies. This movie is one of the reasons why fans aren't excited for this year's new reboot.

A group of astronauts gain superpowers after a cosmic radiation exposure and must use them to oppose the plans of their enemy, Doctor Victor Von Doom.

2006 - X-MEN: THE LAST STAND - 20th Century Fox

This is the first X-Men movie that Fox really screwed up. Hiring Brett Ratner to direct it was the worst thing that they could have done to the franchise, and they really didn’t recover from their string of bad movies until X-Men: First Class. After Bryan Singer dropped out to do Superman Returns, Joss Whedon was one of a few directors who were offered the opportunity to direct the movie, but he turned it down to work on Wonder Woman for Warner Bros., which never happened. (Whedon obviously went on to direct Marvel's The Avengers.) This was originally intended to be the last X-Men film featuring any of the original cast. There would have them been multiple spin-off films like X-Men: Origins Wolverine. Even though movie sucked, it still had the biggest Memorial Day box-office opening ever. It’s a good thing, too, because the movie had a $210 million budget, making it the most expensive film ever made at the time.

When a cure is found to treat mutations, lines are drawn amongst the X-Men, led by Professor Charles Xavier, and the Brotherhood, a band of powerful mutants organized under Xavier's former ally, Magneto.

2007 - GHOST RIDER - Columbia Pictures

Ghost Rider is the sixth Marvel movie in a row that disappointed the majority of the fans. I’m not sure what was happening, but all of the films since Spider-Man 2 couldn’t live up to the standard that it set. I know my faith in seeing another great superhero movie was shaken. Ghost Rider was kind of the nail in the coffin. It was really frustrating that all these comic book films with great potential were being wasted. Nicolas Cage was a huge fan of the character, but a lot of people didn’t care for him in the role. Hulk’s Eric Bana was in heavy contention for the lead role, which I think would have been a better choice. This was also Sam Elliott's second Marvel movie. The first one he starred in was Hulk.

Stunt motorcyclist Johnny Blaze gives up his soul to become a hellblazing vigilante, to fight against power hungry Blackheart, the son of the devil himself.

2007 - SPIDER-MAN 3 - Columbia Pictures

Spider-Man 2 set a very high standard for superhero films, and fans were really excited to see the third chapter in the Sam Raimi-directed franchise. Many of us were hoping that Spider-Man 3 would be an end to this run of bad comic book movies we had seen. Well, in the end Spider-Man 3 let a lot of fans down. I actually thought the movie was OK. I thought the first half was great, and then it started to lose me after Peter Parker went all emo on us. Raimi is the first director to helm three installments of a superhero franchise, and the budget for the film was around $250 million. Raimi did not want to have Venom as a villain in the film due to his “lack of humanity,” but producer Avi Arad basically forced the character in to the movie. It probably would have been a much better film had Venom not been involved. 

A strange black entity from another world bonds with Peter Parker and causes inner turmoil as he contends with new villains, temptations, and revenge.

2008 - IRON MAN - Marvel

Then Iron Man came along and took comic book films to a whole new level. This was the first movie that was produced and developed by Marvel Studios. It was a huge gamble for them, but boy oh boy, did it pay off. This is the movie that launched the Marvel franchise that is still going strong today. If it wasn’t for Jon Favreau’s Iron Man, who knows what other crappy films we would have seen get made. This movie lit a fire under Hollywood's ass, and now it seems like the fans never really have to worry about seeing a bad comic book movie again. The movie took 17 years to get into development. The rights to Iron Man went from Universal to 20th Century Fox to New Line Cinema, then finally back to Marvel where they belonged. Had any of those other studios took it on, I’m sure it would have bombed. This is also yet another film where Hugh Jackman was offered the lead role. Joss Whedon was also in discussions to direct the film at one point before Favreau came on board. The development of Iron Man was a perfect storm, and thankfully it all worked out the way it was supposed to.

After being held captive in an Afghan cave, an industrialist creates a unique weaponized suit of armor to fight against evil. This leads him to conflict within his own company.

2008 - THE INCREDIBLE HULK - Marvel

Mark Ruffalo was also originally wanted for the role of Bruce Banner in the film by the director, but Marvel insisted Edward Norton be cast. Norton was eventually replaced by Ruffalo in The Avengers. Even though the Captain America shield was placed in the background of one of the scenes in Iron Man, it wasn’t until the post-credits scene of The Incredible Hulk that we realized what Marvel actually planned on doing with their their movie franchise, and it was insanely exciting! There was also a scene cut from the beginning of the film that featured Captain America frozen in ice with his shield. They actually crossed over the Marvel universe on the big screen and thus the MCU was born. 

Bruce Banner, a scientist on the run from the U.S. Government must find a cure for the monster he emerges whenever he loses his temper. However, Banner then must fight a soldier whom unleashes himself as a threat stronger than he.

A lot of people were excited about seeing Neill Blomkamp direct the first Alien film when that concept art was released. Then when the movie got a greenlight, fans were ecstatic. Shortly after that, Chappie was released in theaters, and some people's excitement turned to worry. 

I personally still believe that Blomkamp is a solid filmmaker, and Alien might be the film to pull him out of his slump. During one of Empire’s recent Podcasts, the director talked a little bit more about how his Alien project and deal all came together. Here’s what the director had to say:

"2014 was a really weird year for me because I usually know quite decisively what I want to do, and in the process of post-production on Chappie, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do. I had a bunch of different ideas for different films. My favourite, on a gut instinct, artistic level, was Alien, by a long way.

"But I had this inhibiting mental roadblock about wanting to work on my own stuff – and not being held accountable, whether it’s by a studio or by fans, or whoever, I just wanted to be left alone to do my stuff. That’s kind of a big deal for me.

"If you go back even three or four years, I’ve wanted to make a film in that genre, in that franchise. I’d come up with an idea, and when I met Sigourney (Weaver) on the set of Chappie, I presumed that she would never want to play Ripley again. Rightly or wrongly, I had that in my head. I also didn’t know where you could go with her, given Alien 3 and 4.

"So when I started speaking to her, I just wanted to know more about the process of making the first two films. The first two are the ones that I care about. Then I started to realise there was a whole film – at least a film, if not more – that still contained Ripley, which I was really surprised by.

"So when I went back to Vancouver for 2014 unclear of what I wanted to make, I knew that my artistic compass kept driving me to Alien. Whenever I wasn’t needed on Chappie, I spent time on Alien, to the point where I hired my own concept artist and fleshed the entire movie out, basically. Even then, I still didn’t know if I wanted to do it.

"Every film I do, I genuinely believe it’s the last I’ll do. I didn’t think I’d make another film, let alone a big studio one. But it came from a place of love, and I was like, ‘If I’m a fan, then other fans should see the stuff.’ Here’s one person’s take on it, you know? So Fox didn’t know.

"I saw Sigourney again, and her enthusiasm in it, and me still not knowing what I was doing... Well, the thing that actually made it really clear was that we have xenomorphs all over the house [including drinking glasses depicting graphic scenes from the films]. No bullshit, that actually is what made me realise that there’s a massive portion of my brain that’s taken up by the world of the xenomorph. And I’m like, ‘Hmm. Valid point.'"

We’ve heard in the past that this next Alien movie could be the last one, and that it would close out the story of Ripley. But in this interview, the director leaves the door open and says there could be "at least a film, if not more.” If the first movie does well at the box office, you can bet that 20th Century Fox is going to want to cash in on the revitalized franchise. 

To see some cool photos featuring a makeup test for Hicks, click here.