Deleted Captain America Scene from Avengers

An amazing scene that focuses on the day in the life of Steve Rogers. I wish they included this in the original cut.

Marvel Announces Captain America Sequel Release Date

The Avengers isn’t even in theatres yet and Marvel has given its fans another Avenger film to look forward to. Walt
Disney Studios announced today that the sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger is set to be released in theatres on April 4, 2014. The sequel will pick up where The Avengers leaves off.

For those planning to see The Avengers next month (everyone), this is definitely a less than subtle hint to stick around for the traditional post credits scene.

Here’s the full press release:
The Walt Disney Studios has announced a release date for Marvel Studios’ sequel to the blockbuster Captain America: The First Avenger on April 4, 2014. The second installment will pick-up where the highly anticipated Marvel’s The Avengers (May 4, 2012) leaves off, as Steve Rogers continues his affiliation with Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D and struggles to embrace his role in the modern world.

Avengers Super Bowl Spot Filled with New Glimpses

If you didn’t catch it during the game, here’s the Avengers Super Bowl spot (extended version). It’s ripe with new details and glimpses to analyze and gush over until May. One of my favorite shots has to be at 42s, the emphasized sound of each hero’s weapon as the camera pans around is a very nice and epic touch. May 4th can’t come soon enough.

Avengers assemble!

R.I.P. Joe Simon

The comic book industry has lost another legend this week. Joe Simon, co-creator of Captain America passed away at age 98. Simon has had an incredibly influential career and is seen as one of the founding fathers of the comic book industry.  In the 1940′s Simon worked on the comic book companies, Timely which was the forerunner to Marvel, and National Periodicals, which later become DC. He is considered one of the most prolific writers of the “Golden Age” of comics and has created dozens of superheroes and villains.

Most famously he worked closely with legendary artist Jack Kirby and in 1940 the two of them created Captain America, who debuted in “Captain America Comics” 1 in December of that year.  The comic caught the public’s attention immediately due to the fact the cover had a picture of the Captain delivering a right-hook to Hitler, a year before the U.S. was in the war.

Simon later said, “Jack and I read the newspapers and knew what was going on over in Europe. And there he was — Adolf Hitler, with his ridiculous moustache, high-pitched ranting and goose-stepping followers. He was the perfect bad guy, much better than anything we could have made up, so what we needed was to create his ultimate counterpart.”

He also always kept his sense of humor. When recently talking about a character he and Kirby created called the Blue Bolt, he was quoted as saying, “Like Captain America, Blue Bolt got his powers from an injection, long before the baseball players were doing it.”

It is nice to note that in his waning years Simon got to see his beloved Captain America return to mass popularity in the American mind. In fact, with the recent push in movies, the Avengers have been outselling X-Men.

So there we have it, so long, Joe, you will be missed but your legacy will always remain.  That being said, we can only assume you passed away. You might have faked your own death to hide from your arch nemesis and are planning on reappearing a year from now to vanquish evil everywhere.

Avengers Assemble!

Marvel Studios just released a new set of posters to promote the upcoming Avengers extravaganza. All the characters are in their expected ‘hero’ stance with the exception of Scarlett’s Black Widow- who’s seemingly most heroic attribute is her butt. Nevertheless, not sure how this movie can live up to all this hype but…in Joss we trust.

Captain America spotted on the Avengers set!

The Avengers is currently shooting in downtown Cleveland posing as NYC.

Captain America fighting:

Explosions.

Comic Con Quickies…Random Thoughts and jokes

There is so much to do at SDCC and I have so many thoughts about it that I decided it was easier to just write some quick hits. So for your pleasure, here they are!

- I was really disappointed to find that the Castle panel had nothing to do with actual castles…apparently it is a TV show.

-Whenever people go up to panels to ask questions they say things like, “Hey Nathan Fillion, I loved you in Firefly etc..” Everybody loves the stars in their best work, but what about their not so great work? I am going to start complementing shows they did that weren’t good. I was inspired to do this during the Ringer panel with Sarah Michelle Geller, everybody kept saying they loved her in Buffy. I wanted to tell her…”Hey Sarah, I loved you in Scooby Doo, your best work to date.”

-My other option is to say I loved them in a movie/show they weren’t in. “Hey Sarah Michelle Geller, I loved you in Scream.”

- Shark Week definitely DOES not refer to the guys trying to meet girls at Comic Con.

- Lena Headey (Game of Thrones)  was seriously buzzed at SDCC..then again, so was I.

- Summer Glau, whom you know we love (dare we mock her again) was in the Knights of Badassdom panel, I wanted to ask her, “Summer, how did you role in The Cape prepare you for this role?” Yes, make a joke of their failures.

-Knights of Badassdom is about LARPers- Live Action Role Players – I am not one to judge, considering my nerdy interest, but you can’t get much deeper in the nerd pool then LARP. Many actual LARP’ers were used as extra’s in the film. I wanted to ask the panel, “What was the LARPers response upon encountering women for the first time?”

-BTW – Knights of Badassdom – Worst panel ever. I had high hopes for it, the cast is great, but the director wouldn’t shut up and let them talk and it was obvious he was over selling the movie, and heavy metal music.

-Game of Thrones is also what happens after a couple of days of convention food. Alternately, it gives new meaning to the Gaslamp quarter….okay how about CONstipation…I will stop here.

- I hate the same old, boring, stupid questions….”What was it like to work with this person?” What do you expect them to say, “Oh, it was horrible, I am never working with that no talent hack again?”  I also hate the question, “How did this past role prepare you for this role?”  Truth is, from what I have heard, most roles don’t prepare you for a future role, you just get in there, embrace your role and act. (Of course there are some exceptions.)

-If you thought the Exhibit Hall had some stank to it you needed to go wait in line pick up your badge at the Town and Country…smelt like a Jawa crawled up and died somewhere.

-Gaslamp Quarter – I really enjoyed the Gaslamp this year. In the past couple of years they have really started to push events outside of the convention itself. Lots going on, NERDHQ, Coco Moca Art Gallery, Southpark set up etc. and TONS of after parties, was almost more fun the convention itself.  I met a couple of people who didn’t have SDCC passes but just went to enjoy the scene outside of it.

- If you see Cowboys and Aliens at midnight is it Midnight Cowboys and Aliens?  Look it up you none cinephiles.

- I found it highly ironic I had trouble finding the Lost panel.

-If I get another 5:00 A.M. tweet from Team Coco I am switching to Jimmy Kimmel

Well that about wraps up all my bad jokes for now. I’m sure I will think of more though!

Captain America Screening at Comic Con ’11

 

I’ve Got Swag and You Know You Want It.

This is the first article by guest writer Aileen Cacayorin:

Stuff We All Get. San Diego Comic Con is known just as much for its plethora of giveaway’s as it is for being the mecca of all things pop culture. There’s a reason all attendees of the Con get a “swag bag”, and yes, the ridiculously large size of the bag is completely necessary. Even if you’re not a fan of comics or don’t enjoy going to panels, you can make your money’s worth just by spending the entire event collecting “swag”. You’ll see a lot of  cool giveaways and wonder how to get them. Sometimes it’s directly from the exhibitors or their employees, but the majority of the time, it’s from a brand ambassador, and that’s where I come in.

(I can literally fit inside one of this year’s swag bags.)

What’s a brand ambassador? Simply put, we help spread brand awareness, and our actual tasks vary depending on the event and brand. At Comic Con, you probably recognize us as the people you’re trying to “sweet talk” into giving you some free stuff. This year, I was one of them.

I can’t talk about the specific exhibit I was staffing, but you probably went to it. Comic Con is one of the biggest and funnest events you can work as a brand ambassador, but it’s also one of the most stressful. We’re not attendees, we’re there to work and most of us don’t get the fun of attending panels, exploring the exhibit floor for hours, or trolling for swag. We spend most of the day on our feet (and for some, outside underneath the sun, I’ve got the sunburns to prove it) and we deal with crowds of people harassing us for free stuff.

Believe it or not, our job isn’t to just hand out freebies. Yes, part of the job entails giving you promotional items, but overall, our job is to represent the brand and spread awareness positively and professionally. The things we’re handing out are part of a much larger promotional campaign designed to increase brand knowledge,  which is why so many items are given away conditionally. Trust me, we want to give you free stuff, but we also have to do our job.

On that note, here’s a round up of some of this year’s SDCC swag:

Most In-Demand Swag: Pan Am Bags

As part of the promotion for ABC’s new fall show, Pan Am, Con attendees could board Pan Am “flight” at the ABC booth, watch a preview of the show, and receive one of the highly sought after trademark Pan Am bags. These bags varied in style from simple messenger bags, to slightly nicer and sportier messenger bags, and even the classic leather weekend bag. Each one had the famed Pan Am logo, making them the hottest swag items at the convention. Tickets for these flights would be gone pretty much as soon as the exhibit floor opened. The only other way to get one was to be at the right place, right time outside the convention and those went fast.

Yea, I wanted one too.

Rarest Swag: The Flaming C shirts and Oven Mitt

One of the main attractions outside of the convention center itself was Team Coco’s The Flaming C art exhibit. Flaming C T-shirts, oven mitts, and capes were given to everyone who went, but they must have run out quickly because I hardly saw any during the Con.

This is a sweet shirt, why didn’t I see more around?

I Need to Start Working Out Swag: Jon Favreau and the Golden Bricks

I went through 6 of these and still didn’t win tickets!!

To win tickets to the world premier of Cowboys and Aliens, you had to follow @CowboysandAliens on Twitter or sign up for text updates. Throughout the day, the Cowboys and Aliens team would be handing out Golden Bricks at random locations around San Diego. Notifications would read something like:

“Another Gold Rush! Head to Fourth and J now for the chance to get a gold brick and win tix to the Cowboys and Aliens Premiere!”

Whenever there was an update, you literally had to be there within 5 minutes if you wanted a brick, and that usually involved a lot of running. Not every brick had a winning ticket, but the bricks contained some sweet consolation swag in the form of exclusive Comic Con Cowboys and Aliens shirts, or a blaster.  If you didn’t win, hopefully the freebies were worth the asthma inducing sprint.

I sprinted 8 blocks to get this?!  WORTH IT.

Smart Phone Swag: South Park T-shirts

For South Park fans, the Comedy Central South Park Interactive Park was a must see, even though it was outside the Comic Con venue itself. If you had a smart phone and were willing to wait in line for 15-30 mins (pretty easy compared to Hall H, I’m looking at you, Twilight fans), then getting an awesome South Park shirt was pretty easy. All you had to do was use your FourSquare app to check into the Interactive Park, show them your check in badge, and you got yourself a free shirt.

However, if you didn’t have a smart phone, you were sh$t out of luck.

Easiest Swag: Real Steel/Shark Week swag bags

These were pretty much just being handed out. All you had to do was stop by Petco Park or the Real Steel truck on Island and first to get one. Also, if you busted a sweet dance move for the DJ outside the Real Steel truck, you got one of these:

Let’s hope the movie is good.

Most Useful Swag: Psych/IGN Sunglasses

Psych sunglasses were being handed out pretty generously, but to get IGN sunglasses you had to play a game of corn hole with the IGN station emcee. If you aren’t good at the game, you probably had to be a good sport about it, as the emcee would call you out on your level of suck. Whether the sunglasses were worth it depends on how easily embarrassed you are. However, these sunglasses came in handy if you were waiting outside for Hall H all day.

Second Location Swag: Nintendo Pokedex 3D shirt

Nintendo had it’s own booth at the Con of course, but if you wanted some gear you had to go to it’s gaming lounge, located next door at the Marriott. If you had time to kill, it was worth the trip as the lounge featured over 80 gaming stations where you could preview a bunch of 3DS and Wii games, including the new Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword!!!

Best Panel Swag: Game of Thrones

The Game of Thrones panel was one of the hardest panels to get into. Those who waited for hours outside Ballroom 20 to get in were rewarded very well, not just with a great panel, but with some pretty awesome gear. I didn’t get to go but apparently after the panel, you could go to the fulfillment room (they seriously need to rethink that name, if you know what I mean) and get a Game of Thrones bag, complete with T-shirt, book, and mouse pad.

Worst Panel Swag: The Cleveland Show

This doesn’t mean the panel itself was bad. It was actually kind of fun and we got to preview The Cleveland Show’s upcoming Christmas special: Die Semi-Hard. However, if you went to the fulfillment room you probably left pretty . . .err . .. unfulfilled. All you got was a tiny Cleveland Show pin, which is kind of a tease considering right next to that giveaway were some pretty sweet Avengers shirts for anyone that went to the Marvel panels.

Overall Best Swag: Marvel

In my opinion, this goes to Marvel, not just for quality but for variety as well. Every day the Marvel booth (designed to be a replica of the SHIELD headquarters!!) had something different to offer. There were exclusive posters, comics, Captain America iTouch and iPhone 4 cases, passes to an early screening of Captain America, and of course those highly sought after and extremely cool Avengers T-shirts. Giveaway hour at the Marvel booth was always chaos and there would literally be mob of people desperate to get an Avengers shirt or whatever else was being handed out. During the last giveaway hour on Sunday, it was actually complete mayhem as the best was saved for last. Among the drool worthy items given out were limited edition figurines, signed movie poster boards, Captain America shields, and no less than three Marvel themed guitars signed by Stan Lee, Chris Evans, and Joe Quesada!

I thought Thor had a hammer..not an axe.

If you want more of Aileen’s generally awesome work follow her on Twitter @A1L33N

SDCC Through Noob Eyes, vol 1

This is the first post by guest writer Patrick Haney. Welcome Patrick!

Freakin' A! It's Captain A!

For many of you babblers, SDCC 2011 was just another installment in your Comic Con franchise, but for me, this was my SDCC origin story. Welcomed into the fold of the famed Babble On CON-tourage, I battled the long lines and mediocre panels alongside Tony, Jeff, Johnny and the rest of the gang.  So for you that have always longed to check Comic Con off your bucket list, here is a review of the best that SDCC had to offer this newbie.  Let the vicarious living begin:

To be completely honest, I went into my first Con with low expectations of how many famous faces I would see to defend my inner child from being disappointed (he’s a crier, and nobody wants to see that).  However, I have to admit that all of my expectations were exceeded.  I shook hands and geeked out all over Jim Lee, Zachary Levi, Adam Baldwin, Aziz Ansari, Blaire Butler, Olivia Munn, Taryn Manning, Diedrich Bader, Gil Gerard and Judah Friedlander.  And those were just the celebs kind enough to acknowledge my presence.  The list of famous faces I saw at events, signings and panels would go on for a parsec.

One of those celebrities that graced an event I attended was none other than the First Avenger himself, Chris Evans.  Making a “surprise” appearance that everyone expected, Chris showed up with an entourage of USO girls to say a few words before the country’s first showing of Captain America.  During the movie the crowd cheered and clapped and nobody had to explain why people were laughing at the Stan Lee cameo to the person sitting next to them (I love you, babe).  Even without Mr. Evans, seeing the best comic book movie of the summer with a Comic Con crowd would have made this one of the highlights of the weekend.

And like me, I’m sure many of you have sat around with your friends surrounded by a library of comic books inventing new characters and writing your own stories.  Maybe it was as a kid, and maybe it was last week, but we’ve all been there.  Yet last weekend I had the great pleasure of seeing my grade school buddy, Brent Peeples (@peeplesart), showcase his own talents in Artist Alley.  With an Image title on the way and a cameo on G4, it was finally my chance to say, “Hey, I know that guy,” and to see a childhood dream come true.

Now you may be expecting to hear about the panels or the swag or the cosplay, and while these were great I feel like the bulk of Comic Con coverage has done these items justice.  What you’re really missing from most stories is the camaraderie that is built each year inside those convention walls.  I went to Comic Con 2011 a noob, but I left Babbler.  I became a part of a league of above average gentlemen, and I hope to be standing shoulder to shoulder with them all in outrageous lines soon again.  So to my CON-tourage and to all others who would someday walk the great exhibition floor I say this: Babble On, my friends…..Babble On.

Captain America Trailer #2

The more we see, the more we like. Marvel, keep it coming!

First Look at the RED SKULL

Entertainment Weekly broke a new image of the Red Skull played by Hugo Weaving (The Matrix) in one of the highest anticipated superhero movies of all time, Captain America: The First Avenger. I have to admit, the Skull looks pretty stellar. Weaving is still recognizable and it’s a great homage to the classic Red Skull. As far as super villains go, he looks right up there with Heath Ledger’s Joker. I’m becoming a believer.

Below is an article interviewing Director Joe Johnston by Entertainment Weekly:

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: The strength of heroes is often found in their weaknesses. What vulnerabilities does Captain America have that make him interesting and relatable?
JOE JOHNSTON: What I like is he’s not a superhero in the true sense of the word. He becomes a superhero but doesn’t have any super powers. He is just the best possible, human specimen. Imagine the fastest, strongest Olympian athlete. Add 30 percent. That’s Steve Rogers.

The movie is set during World War II, when there was great pressure on men to fight, but Steve is physically frail at the beginning and the military doesn’t even want him.
The thing that appeals to me is he is everyman. He’s a 98-pound weakling. All he really wants to do is the right thing and serve his country and [at first] nobody wants him because he’s too weak. He’s been picked on all his life. But he’s a guy who never gives up. That’s his trademark.

After he gets the super-soldier injection, that’s when he becomes the only hope of stopping the Nazis’ Red Skull. Is part of what makes him a hero that he remembers what it was like to be pushed around?
Yeah, for Steve Rogers it’s a very personal thing. At one point he says, “I don’t like bullies, I don’t care where they’re from.” He makes a complete physical transformation to a perfect human specimen. But inside he doesn’t change at all. It must be tempting to go back and say “I’m going to get that guy who beat me up in high school.” He does get revenge in the film, but on the Nazis — not on people who maybe picked on him. Before he gets the injection, the doctor tells him: “Whatever happens, stay who you are.”

The first issue of Captain America in the Marvel Comics featured him punching Hitler in the jaw. That was March 1941, well before the U.S. even entered the war. Is there still a political side to Cap?
He was created as propaganda tool, but he soon became much more than that. There are all these incarnations over the decades, but the film is not a flag waver. It’s about a guy who wants to do the right thing, and that transcends all nationalities and borders. He’s going to do the right thing no matter what flag is on his chest.

How do you feel about the title being changed to The First Avenger for release internationally?
There was some concern [the name] Captain America will not play in certain countries. If it were up to me I wouldn’t thread the needle so carefully. I’d call it Captain America, since that’s what it is.

Chris Evans was also in Marvel’s Fantastic Four movies as human flame Johnny Storm. Did that work for or against him in casting, since Cap is much more of a noble, upstanding good-guy?
The character is bigger than any actor. I always saw it as an advantage that Chris Evans wasn’t a household name. When you pick someone not so well known, he’s not bringing a lot of baggage to the role. I cast him in what I seen him do in other projects. He brought a whole other layer to what was on the page, and it’s been great watching him become that character.

Did you have to think much about the upcoming Avengers movie when working onCaptain America?
I really didn’t. Because this was a period film, because this was the origin story, I didn’t have to worry about the Avengers which was a present day story. We have present-day bookends and bring Cap back at the end and then I basically hand him off. And The Avengers is its own thing.

As a fan, and someone who is creating a critical ingredient, what do you expect from this clash of characters in The Avengers?
The fact that they are all so different is what will make it exciting. You bring these elements together and they all have different outlooks and come from different worlds. I think there is an opportunity for conflict within the group. There’s gotta be. It’s not the Boy Scouts. [Laughs] There’s going to be rivalry and certain amount of infighting and conflict. Like I say I’m going to be there as an audience member like anybody else.

Does working on a superhero movie deplete your interest in superheroes?
I’ve had other offers for movies like this and usually turned them down. To me there’s something less interesting about a guy who can fly, and throw tanks around, and stuff like that. The reason I wanted to do this one is he is so relatable. I can relate to him. Maybe it’s every kid’s dream to go into a pod and come out looking like Captain America. [Laughs] And you don’t even have to exercise or lift weights! It’s great!

How do you relate to someone who can fly, and is bulletproof, and can throw tanks around?
Movies like that are a lot harder to do, because how you make someone like that vulnerable? Someone like Superman. I don’t know if that’s the best example, but it’s certainly the one that comes to mind. How do you make a guy who is invincible seem real? Kryptonite, that is his one weakness, but I don’t know. It’s much easier with a guy like Steve Rogers who has all kinds of built in weaknesses, because of who he was and how he grew up.

There was a previous Captain America movie in 1990, starring Matt Salinger [coincidentally, the son of author J.D. Salinger]. Not many people have seen it, but did you take a look…?
No, no … It’s something they chose to not make a big deal about. The guys at Marvel said,”Nah don’t even bother. It’s so unlike anything we’re doing with the character now.”

Was it worth watching if only to see what not to do?
No, we’re perfectly capable of making our own mistakes!