Jingle Bells, Batman Smells…

…you know what? I’ll just let the great giant world of awesome that is Mark Hamill’s Joker spread the news.

Happy Holidays!

Bryan Singer will direct X-Men: First Class

Comics 411 reports that Bryan Singer, director of the first two X-Men films, will direct the next X-Men movie.

Singer spilled the beans while attending the premiere for Avatar. Apparently, the movie will revolve around the teenage “First Class” of X-Men under Xavier’s tutelage.

The details of the movie have not yet been revealed, and that’s why I won’t touch casting with a 39 1/2-foot pole. Like Comics 411 mentions, this news is hardly a surprise–but the First Class theme does create some very interesting questions about Singer’s possible direction.

If you want vintage, the first class includes Jean Grey, Cyclops, Beast, Angel, and Iceman (see left image). However, Angel and Iceman’s characters were drastically de-aged for the films, so unless Singer deviates from the film continuity, they may not appear at all. On the up-side, their first villains were Magneto, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch–and I would love to see the sibling duo introduced in this film. Singer could also use almighty creative license and include the “second wave” X-Men team, including Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Wolverine. Xavier mentions in the first film that Storm was one of his first students, so I can see this happening–and including Wolvie may provide a nice tie-in to his Origins movie as well.

Speaking of origins, I am also holding out that this doesn’t replace a Magneto movie, which could be extremely powerful and political–just like the risk-taking X-Men comics we know and love. However, if First Class already explores that time period, this will probably be the case. (As long as Stewart and McKellan reprise their roles, I will only mildly kvetch about it.)

And hopefully as Singer directs he will be channeling X-Men and X-2, and not Superman Returns. Please, no.

What do you think about Bryan Singer directing the X-Men: First Class movie? Would you prefer a Magneto origins movie?

X-Men: Gifted, Episode 2

http://www.hulu.com/watch/107779/astonishing-x-men-gifted-episode-2

Well, here’s episode two. While I gave grudging acceptance to the first episode, this one really shattered my expectations of the motion comic. Chapter 2 contains several favorite moments for me, as the new team faces Ord, learns of Dr. Rao’s mutant cure, faces the media and has their first family feud.

The artwork was still a nice representation of comics in motion, thanks to Cassaday’s directing. I especially liked how the characters’ mouths moved with the dialogue, and how Kitty phased. However, this was the first episode with action scenes, and the characters floated awkwardly through the air, as opposed to leaping; the attacks felt stiff and artificial, and the camera wouldn’t stop shifting in motion in a desparate attempt to fuse it with some excitement. All this is understandable, as it’s a motion comic. However, the entertainment value also deteriorates: I don’t have to imagine it in my mind, but I imagined it better than this in the original.

While I gave general kudos to the voice actors last time, I can’t do the same now: it was heavily misguided and truly hindered my enjoyment of the episode. The actors read their lines without any emotional baggage of their characters’ history, especially the actress who portrays Emma. While her haughtiness was appropriate at the beginning, there was no hint of a reformed villainess struggling to find her place. Cyclops sounds like a whiny Peter Parker; while I liked Kitty in the first episode, she carried zero anger with her little monologue against Emma (You didn’t read Dark Phoenix Saga, did you?); Wolverine and Beast’s actors do passable jobs imitating Hugh Jackman and Kelsey Grammar. I’m not sure what goes into the voice acting, and it may be really difficult to voice a motion comic, but this doesn’t represent the Astonishing X-Men that I fell in love with.

Bruce Wayne Will Return! (Big Surprise.)

A superhero presumed dead but in fact lost in time?

That doesn’t sound familiar at all…Captain America fans riot in the streets!

Sketches from ‘The Return of Bruce Wayne’

While you’re lighting your torches, USA Today reports that the real Dark Knight will come back into the fold with The Return of Bruce Wayne, set to launch in late spring or early summer 2010.

In an ultra-condensed no-footnotes-needed nutshell, Batman met his temporary fate in Grant Morrison’s series Final Crisis. Darkseid shoots Batman with the Omega Sanction weapon, catapulting Bats back in time, though the other heroes believe he is dead. Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing, takes up the mantle of Batman, while Damien Wayne, Bruce’s son, becomes Robin. The year-long series Batman: Reborn has continued with Dick as Batman and Damien as Robin. But that’s all about to change.

In the six-issue series The Return of Bruce Wayne, Bruce struggles to regain his memory and return to his time, travelling through different eras, including Paleolithic, Pilgrim, Western, pirate, and so on. Does this mean Batman is immortal or reincarnated, or uses fancy time-travel gadgetry with a flux capacitor? Not sure. But one thing is: Morrison is unafraid to take great leaps and risks, and he promises “major twists and reveals, and…big changes to the Batman universe status quo.” If Morrison’s at the helm, anything can go down.

While the interview with Morrison is a fan must-read, the article shies away from that giant elephant in the room: When Bruce Wayne returns, who will be Batman? Would Dick Grayson just hand back the cape-and-cowl and return to his Nightwing duties? Will Bruce Wayne be working with his son Damien, or will Damien choose to work with Grayson? Once again, anything can happen.

As for me, I’ll definitely read the comic, but always with a level of skepticism I’ve grown with over Morrison’s work. Unlike other authors, Morrison’s Bat-verse comes with a required reading list, as his series constantly references one another. (Case in point why I disliked Batman: RIP so much). And I’ll never forgive him for creating Damien, when everyone knows that Terry McGinnis is Bruce’s real son. We’ll see what happens, but until then, I’m holding off the Batman comics, which I haven’t really kept up on since Neil Gaiman’s farewell. (I do the same thing with X-Men comics since Kitty Pryde. Like I’ll ever read another X-comic again.)

PS-If you voted Bruce Wayne in the earlier “Who Will Return First?” poll, I guess you win. Cyber Bat-cookies to you!

What do you think about ‘The Return of Bruce Wayne?’ How do you think Grant Morrison is handling the Bat-verse?

Justice League: Crisis of Two Earths Preview

Legions of Gotham has released some great info on Jusice League: Crisis of Two Earths, the seventh DC animated feature film coming to DVD and Blu-ray February 23, 2010.

Enjoy the sneak peek below!

In Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, an alternate universe exists in which the Justice League are evil, and wreck havoc on the world as the notorious Crime Syndicate. Their heroic Lex Luthor arrives, pleading with our Justice League to save his Earth. “What ensues is the ultimate battle of good versus evil in a war that threatens both planets and, through a diabolical plan launched by Owlman, puts the balance of all existence in peril.”

As the preview mentions, this film will be influenced by several story arcs, but not one specific comic like New Frontier, allowing more creativity–and less analyzing and hair-ripping from fans (hopefully). The film also deviates from those of use used to DCAU with different animation the animation, giving the heroes a more adult look. Does anyone else think Superman’s head is flat?

Additionally, new voice actors are taking the roles of the Justice League and company (much like Justice League: New Frontier). Mark Harmon’s voice acting as Superman sounds fantastic. Oh, and by the way, Owlman is voiced by James Woods. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it, and we’ll see if Hades Woods is up to par when it comes out. I trust Andrea Romano.

Everything executive producer Bruce Timm touches turns to gold, so if you enjoyed previous DC films like Green Lantern: First Flight, Wonder Woman, and Justice League: The New Frontier, be sure to put this on your list! We will review it as soon as it comes out.

See Legions of Gotham’s full press release here.

Preview thanks to YouTube user fcvlnet.