Channing Tatum is set to star in a big screen adaptation of a sci-fi novel by Joe Haldeman called The Forever War. The project has had a very long road to production. Special effects artist Richard Edlund, who worked on films such as Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark, picked up the rights in the 1970s and held onto them for over 20 years. Then, in 2008, Ridley Scott acquired the rights to the property and was developing it as a project that he would direct. It never ended up happening though, and the rights lapsed. 

Now the project is in a bidding war between Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures. I’m not sure where all this excitement was when Edlund and Scott were developing it. Scott is no longer attached to the project, but Prometheus screenwriter Jon Spaihts is attached to write the script. 

The novel was published in 1974, and it has been described as “a science-fiction epic, a bit of The Odyssey by way of Blade Runner, built on a brilliant, disorienting premise.” 

The story follows “a young man conscripted into a military task force in a war against an alien species named the Taurans. Through many battles, the man rises up the ranks of the military but travelling through space has time-warping effects, causing him to age normally but Earth to spin centuries.The planet undergoes many changes, including the melding into one homogenous race, the elimination of heterosexuality, and the speaking of a new language.  At the same time, he tries to remain connected to his true love, a fellow (and female) soldier who also uses space-time to slow down her aging so she can be with him.”

With Tatum on board to star and multiple studios on fire to get their hands on it, I guess this story is primed and ready for that feature film to finally happen.

Via: THR

Stan Lee wasn't the only guy at Marvel creating superheroes and supervillains. Two main characters being introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for Roy Thomas. He, along with artist John Buscema, created the villain Ultron and the android hero The Vision in 1968.

There is actually a scene in Age of Ultron that pays tribute to Thomas. It is placed during a dream-like sequence that Captain America is having while he's at a USO event. At that event a band is playing, and the name of the band is the Roy Thomas Players. 

Thomas recently did an interview with THR in which he talked about creating Ultron and The Vision. When discussing Ultron, he said he was just looking for something to be a robot:

"He always had a smile on his face in the comic. I got the idea of his look from a Captain Video comic book from 1951. I must have showed it to the artist, John Buscema, otherwise I don't think he would have drawn the robot to look like that. It isn't the same face, but it had the same kind of malicious smile I wanted. That robot's name was Makino, who was a just in a one-shot story in Captain Video No. 3. But he was really formidable. He wanted to take over the Earth and obliterate humanity. I liked the tone of it, and that became the inspiration for Ultron."

Ultron turned out to be quite the foe for the Avengers, and he's awesomely portrayed in the movie. When asked about how The Vision was created, he talked about going to Stan Lee with idea:

"I said, 'What if I brought back The Vision from the old comics?' He said, 'Naw, just do an android.' I never asked him why. He didn't care what I did as long as it was an android, so I made up an android and called him The Vision, and he looked a lot like the old one. John Buscema added this great artistic touch, this little jewel on his forehead. I think in the movies, they are making it related to those gems of Thanos they're going to use in the next two movies, if I'm not mistaken."

He went on to talk about his influences for the character:

"I was influenced a little bit by Mr. Spock, though I didn't see any of that [Star Trek] much on TV. I used to hear it on the TV in the next room when I was playing poker on Friday nights. Also — a comic book writer who became a friend of mine in later years, Otto Binder, back in 1939 or '40, he had written the original title of the story 'I, Robot,' about a robot with human intelligence and feelings named Adam. That was one of the first sympathetic robot stories."

Stan Lee's reaction to the character wasn't 100% positive. Even though he liked it, there was one thing his didn't like.

"He liked it, but Stan hated the color of The Vision. 'Why'd you make him red? Red's not a good color!' I didn't want to make him green like The Hulk or Blue like the Atlanteans. I suppose I could have made him white, but the paper we printed on was so poor, that you would have been able to see the other side, so we didn't make things white that we didn't have to. I don't think he ever thought The Vision was a really strong name. It seems a little wimpy, but I felt Vision—it really means like a ghost or a mirage or an image." 

I liked the red color on the character. It made him look like a guy you wouldn't want to mess with. Both Ultron and The Vision are great characters, and it's so cool that they were brought to life and included in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Make sure to read the rest of the interview in which he talks about what it was like for him to work at Marvel back in the day.

Here's a new trailer for A LEGO Brickumentary (once known as Beyond the Brick). Narrated by Jason Bateman, the movie appears to explore the origins of the company, its expansion into global domination, and the cultural impact its had on filmmakers, sports stars (um, hello there Dwight Howard), and more. Even before The LEGO Movie, I had adult friends who were super into LEGOs, but it seems like the movie was a catalyst that opened the floodgates in a big way. Are you a LEGO maniac? Will you watch this documen—excuse me, "brickumentary?" The film arrives in theaters and On Demand July 31st.

Oscar winning Director Daniel Junge and Oscar Nominated Director Kief Davidson take us on a journey through the LEGO universe...like you have never seen before. They explore the brick that has captured imaginations for generations and look at the fundamental question...is it a toy or something more? A LEGO® BRICKUMENTARY delves into the extraordinary impact of the LEGO brick and the innovative uses of for it that has sprung up all over the world. The narrative will take us to art galleries full of LEGO creations, introduce us to Master Builders making movies, into the world of LEGO therapy, and bring us along to meet AFOLS (Adult Fans of LEGO), each with amazing stories to tell. A LEGO® BRICKUMENTARY explores the essential nature of human creativity and the ways we seek to build and understand our world.

The Millennium Falcon is undoubtedly one of the coolest spaceships in science fiction. When fans saw the Falcon show up in the first teaser for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, they totally lost their minds. But what if you didn't have to watch a movie to see Han Solo's classic ship? What if you were a kid and you could sleep in it? Sounds pretty great to me, and one father thought the same thing and had PlainJoe Studios build his son a Millennium Falcon bed. The finished product is above (although word is the entire room will eventually be Star Wars-themed), but in this in-progress shot below, you can get a better look at a desk that's actually connected to the bed/ship that extends down the wall. This sure beats those old race car beds, huh?

Via: Geekologie

Star Wars Rebels Season 2 looks insanely amazing! If you haven't seen the epic trailer for it yet make sure to click here and check it out. I seriously can't wait to see how the second season is going to play out, and it all starts on Saturday, June 20th at 9pm with an extended premiere. Fans will be treated to a full hour episode called “The Siege of Lothal,” which was screened for an audience at Star Wars Celebration last month.

Continuing the epic tradition of the legendary Star Wars saga, Star Wars Rebels unfolds between the events of Star Wars: Episodes III and IV and tells the story of the motley but clever crew of the starship Ghost who together face threatening new villains, encounter colorful adversaries and embark on thrilling adventures. In its second season, Star Wars Rebels will feature recurring appearances by fan-favorite characters including Darth Vader and Ahsoka Tano with James Earl Jones reprising his iconic role from the films and Ashlecky Eckstein returning to voice the Clone Wars character. Dee Bradley Baker will also return this season as Captain Rex (as well as Gregor and Wolffe).

Rebels also features the voice talents of Freddie Prinze, Jr. (Kanan), Vanessa Marshall (Hera), Tiya Sircar (Sabine), Steve Blum (Zeb), and Taylor Gray (Ezra). 

Earlier this week it was rumored that the this series could possibly crossover into the live-action film territory. You can read more about that here. 

Check out this mind-blowing Ultron cosplay inspired by the character design from Joss Whedon's Avengers: Age of Ultron. The costumes were created by Village’s Hope, who partnered with Disney to show up at the premiere of the film in Thailand. 

What's amazing about these costumes is the fact that they were created out of EVA foam, PVC leather, and LED lights. It's crazy to think that the shiny metal armor that you see in these photos are actually made out of foam. These are some talented individuals. 

Via: Fashionably Geek

I loved Rodney Ascher's Room 237, a documentary about peoples' wacky interpretations of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. Now Ascher is back with a new doc called The Nightmare, which takes a look at a condition suffered by millions of people called sleep paralysis. The trailer does such a good job of explaining what that condition is — and the utterly terrifying things that some people see while they're in that state — that I'll just recommend you watch it to understand the full weight of what these people experience. Check out the trailer, and make sure to read our review of the movie from this year's Sundance Film Festival.

I don't know if you remember this or not, but back in November of last year Idris Elba said that Loki was going to be in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Well, if you've seen the movie, then you know that he's not in it. He was originally supposed to be, but Joss Whedon ended up cutting him out, and in an interview with MTV the director explains why:

“Tom is not in the movie… Idris misspoke… twice. We did shoot something and it didn’t play. The movie has so much, is so filled and we didn’t want it to feel overstuffed. I really wanted to have Loki in it but I understood the decision, ‘Now there are too many voices in the chorus.’ At some point the embarrassment of riches is actually embarrassing.” 

It would have been nice to see Loki return, but the movie does work without him, so if there was no need to include him in the story, then so be it. I'm sure that deleted scene will show up at some point, maybe with the release of the Blu-Ray/DVD. At this point it doesn't seem like we'll see Loki back on the big screen in the MCU until Thor: Ragnarok, which comes out on July 28th, 2017.

A new "making of" featurette has been released for Mad Max: Fury Road, and it takes us inside the crazy world that George Miller has created. The video offers interviews with the cast and crew as they talk about the film, as well as footage from the badass-looking movie. One of the interesting quotes from the video comes from Tom Hardy, who says: 

“George will ask you to do things which may seem…insane. And then they will turn into something really wonderful... You’re not really in a movie… you’re in George’s head.”  

If any movie causes my head to explode while watching it this year, it probably going to be this one. Here's the synopsis:

Mad Max: Fury Road offers post-apocalyptic action set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and most everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life.

Within this world of fire and blood exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order. There’s Max (Hardy), a man of action and a man of few words, who seeks peace of mind following the loss of his wife and child in the aftermath of the chaos and Furiosa (Charlize Theron), a woman of action and a woman who believes her path to survival may be achieved if she can make it across the desert back to her childhood homeland.

Check out the behind-the-scenes mayhem below. Mad Max: Fury Road opens in theaters in 2D and 3D on May 15th, 2015.

Via: Fandango

I struggled with coming up with a better headline for this post, because in true James Bond fashion, I wanted to incorporate a pun if I could. But what could I use? Time-onds Are Forever? Live and Let Time? Quan-time of Solace? The Watch is Not Enough? Eventually I came to the realization that there actually aren't ANY good Bond-related time puns out there, so I went with the tried and true simple choice, like a nice Bond suit: nothing overtly flashy, and functional enough to get the job done. I've become a big fan of watches over the past year, and I've also been rewatching all of the Bond films in anticipation of Spectre, so this couldn't have come at a better time for me (get it?!).

Via: Tic Watches

A remake of the 1997 sci-fi mystery thriller Cube is in development over at Lionsgate with the new title of Cubed. The original movie was directed by Vincenzo Natali, and it was an awesome flick. The story centered on seven strangers, all with different personality characteristics, who are involuntarily placed in a crazy 17,000 room maze containing a bunch of deadly traps.

Cubed will be directed by Saman Kesh, who is best known for a sci-fi short he made in 2013 called Controller, which is being developed as a feature at Shawn Levy’s Fox-based 21 Laps. He came up with a new vision of the film, and it’s being written by Phil Hawthorne.

Roy Lee’s Vertigo Entertainment (The LEGO Movie, Poltergeist) and screenwriter Jon Spaihts (Doctor Strange) are attached as producers. 

If you haven’t seen the original Cube yet, you’ve got to check it out. I included the trailer for it below. I’m surprised that the movie is getting the remake treatment. It’s one of those great indie movie gems that doesn't need one, and none of the fans have been asking for it. 

Via: Variety 

Welcome to the first episode of The 5Cast to be featured on GeekTyrant! I posted a little introduction to the show the other day, but this is the first regularly-scheduled episode that we've had here on the site, and you can expect a new episode every Friday moving forward.

With Avengers: Age of Ultron in theaters now, it seemed like a great time for Tyler and I to rank our Top 5 pieces of Avengers tech/gear. From Cap's shield to Mjolnir and much more, I think you'll enjoy our discussion. Be sure to e-mail us your own lists, suggestions, and thoughts about the show at 5castpodcast@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at @The5Cast.

We have three new episodes of The Flash left in Season 1, and things are getting crazy! We have an exciting extended trailer for you to watch for the upcoming episode "Grodd Lives." It focuses on Barry Allen and Reverse Flash, who have their work cut out for them when they have to go up against Gorilla Grodd. The promo also includes a pretty big SPOILER, so watch at your own risk. 

"Grodd Lives" - Barry (Grant Gustin) must deal with the Reverse Flash’s (Tom Cavanagh) latest threat to a member of the group. To make matter worse, Dr. Wells unleashes Grodd on the city in order to distract Barry and the team. Joe (Jesse L. Martin), Barry and Cisco (Carlos Valdes) head down into the sewers to catch Grodd but the gorilla quickly gets the upper hand after he kidnaps Joe. Iris (Candice Patton) and Barry have a heart to heart talk. Dermott Downs directed the episode written by Grainne Godfree & Kai Yu Wu.

Avengers: Age of Ultron is in theaters now. You can read our written review, and we'll have a podcast review coming for you later this afternoon. If you're into trivia, WatchMojo has put together a list of 10 facts from the film — although from the sound of it, they hadn't actually seen the movie yet when they put this together. But that doesn't stop them from pointing out some truths about Joss Whedon's blockbuster sequel, and if you're looking for some water-cooler talk for early next week, you may be able to impress your non-comic-book-loving friends with a few of these tidbits.

While Marvel celebrates the release of its huge superhero team-up film Avengers: Age of Ultron this weekend, Warner Bros. and DC are still preparing to unveil theirs. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice doesn't arrive in theaters until March of next year, but we're slowly starting to see some more from Zack Snyder's movie, including a look at the Batwing earlier this morning. Now El Mayimbe has posted a new piece of (leaked?) promo art featuring multiple Batsuits for Ben Affleck's Batman.

Official promo art for #BatmanvSuperman! IMHO that's the best cinematic batsuit on the left. His Superman shit kicker armor is on point too. Very #THEDARKKNIGHTRETURNS #Batman #Batfleck #dccu #dccomics #dc #dcmovie

A photo posted by Umberto Gonzalez (@umbertogonzalez) on Apr 30, 2015 at 3:31pm PDT

I actually agree that the left costume looks like the best cinematic Batsuit yet. I like the style of it, and the fact that we haven't seen the dark grey in the modern era means that at least Snyder is trying to do something a little different than previous incarnations of the character. That "Supes-Buster" armor on the right, though? I haven't read The Dark Knight Returns in like 10 years, but unless that thing is laced with Kryptonite, I'm not sure it would have much effect against the Big Blue Boy Scout. (Feel free to rip into me in the comments if it is actually laced with Kryptonite — I've been meaning to re-read TDKR anyway, and that might inspire me to do it.)

I haven't seen all of Spike Jonze's films — I still need to catch up with Where The Wild Things Are — but Her has stuck with me ever since I walked out of the theater and Being John Malkovich is one hell of a feature directorial debut. Jonze's movies are always gorgeous and have a real beating heart to them...he's a guy who puts his soul into his films, and they're always intensely personal (sometimes uncomfortably so). Check out this cool video tribute to his feature film career from editor Miguel Branco (via LaughingSquid):

If you haven't caught up with Star Wars Rebels, now is a great time to jump in. Disney is making the entire first season available to stream for free on StarWars.com from right now until this year's Star Wars Day, May the 4th, which is this coming Monday. The season two premiere date was just set for later this summer, so this is an excellent opportunity to jump in and see what all of the hype is about. We've embedded the series premiere, "Spark of the Rebellion," for you below, but head to StarWars.com to stream the whole first season.

Commence #StarWarsRebels binge! The entire 1st season is available on http://t.co/mVXi17I07U now through May the 4th. http://t.co/s2L2WOxXZT

— Star Wars (@starwars) May 1, 2015

Executive produced by Dave Filoni (“Star Wars: The Clone Wars”), “Rebels” features the voice talents of Freddie Prinze, Jr. (Kanan), Vanessa Marshall (Hera), Tiya Sircar (Sabine), Steve Blum (Zeb), and Taylor Gray (Ezra). Continuing the epic tradition of the legendary “Star Wars” saga, “Star Wars Rebels” unfolds between the events of Star Wars: Episodes III and IV and tells the story of the motley but clever crew of the starship Ghost who together face threatening new villains, encounter colorful adversaries and embark on thrilling adventures.

Hayao Miyazaki‘s Spirited Away is such an epically imaginative film, and it's one of the best films that he made. The team over at CineFix retells its story in 8-bit (and a little 16-bit) glory in a new episode of "8-Bit Cinema." Even in this lower quality simple video game form, the ideas, vibrant visuals, and wonderful weirdness behind this great film still come off strong. 

It's here! That wonderful time of year where we put up the big trees, decorate the house with lights, and give presents to...

Rayner (Pet Monkey, from offscreen): Dude, wrong day.

Matt: What are you talking about?

Rayner: It's Free Comic Book Day, not Christmas! Since I've saved you from embarrassing yourself, it's probably a good time to tell you that I sold your comic collection for a favorable amount of shares in a new type of Taco Cart (he owns several). It hovers, AND comes with a huge set of knives from Ronco.

Matt: Who said you could sell those?! 

Rayner: Relax, I didn't get that much for them anyway.

Matt: That makes it worse!

Rayner: Is it my fault that nobody likes books about Darkhawk and Cardiac?

Matt: No, that's the world's fault.

Rayner: Agreed.

Matt: Whatever.

No segue could ever bridge that gap, so we'll just get to business. Free Comic Book Day 2015 is upon us, and to help navigate the all day affair, here is a rundown of what you can pick up from your favorite local comic shop! Here are some of the highlights.

Marvel Has Two Books that should interest fans, those being All New Avengers #1 and Secret Wars #0. The team of All New intrigues me significantly, so that's an easy one. 0 issues can be hit or miss (emphasis on "miss" in recent years), so we'll see. 

DC has two issues as well. Divergence contains 3 different previews that set Batman, Superman, and the Justice League up for their upcoming story lines. While most know who the new Batman is, the book still piques my interest. On the kid's front, Teen Titans GO! has a new team up with Scooby Doo.

Zenescope's FCBD selection will include Jurassic Strike Force 5, a fun sci-fi book with Super Ninjas, an epic threat, and of course tacos. They kind of had me at tacos. They'll also have a standalone story in the mature-themed Wonderland series, so there's a little bit for everybody. 

Boom Studios will be offering their 10th Anniversary collection, which features 10 short stories from a variety of franchises, including Jim Henson's Labyrinth, Mouse Guard, Adventure Time, Munchkin, and more! 

IDW's FCBD offerings include the much anticipated Prelude To Vengeance, as well as Transformers: Robots in Disguise #0. Both the TMNT and Transformers books have been extremely well received. If those aren't your speed, you can always try Motorcycle Samurai. 

Action Lab Entertainment will be offering the adorable Katie Cook-helmed Gronk for adults and kids. If you're looking for something for the whole family, you really can't go wrong with Gronk. 

Finally, Graphix will have the lovely Cleopatra In Space available (by Mike Maihack). The art is fantastic, and it's also great for the whole family.

There will be tons more to choose from, so for the whole list you can head here. Remember, support your local comic shops as much as you can, especially when they go out of their way to make FCBD a great experience for you.

In this week's episode, Free, Joey, Elijah, and Ben dive into Joss Whedon's Avengers: Age of Ultron. They give some general thoughts on the film before moving into spoilers and discussing everything from the differences between the MCU and X-Men universe's versions of Quicksilver to just how the heck the Russo Brothers are going to be able to create a coherent movie with Avengers: Infinity War.

Let us know what you thought of the film in the comments below, and we'll be back next week with a new episode.