Word from Marc Malkin at E! Online is that geek favorite Joss Whedon and documentarian Morgan Spurlock are looking to follow around a bunch of costumed lovers of the arts in the months leading up to August’s San Diego Comic-Con. According to a source, the pair are currently developing the idea, which will focus on a small group of convention-going supergeeks and the people around them.

It’s a wonderful notion, assuming it will celebrate the fandom. One has to believe that a team like Whedon (who owes everything he has to that crowd) and Spurlock (a generally fair filmmaker) would turn it into a celebration of what Comic-Con is really about, or a condemnation of what Comic-Con has become. And not a forum for which to poke fun at folks who dress up like Stormtroopers. That would be the cheap and easy way out, and a way that doesn’t show Comic-Con attendees for what the really are: some of the most passionate and gracious people on the planet. There’s a tight community there, underneath the swarms of Twilight fans and movie bloggers, and I would love to see something about their story.

Photo courtesy of DVD Town

San Diego Comic Con 2009 has come and gone and my head still isn’t right yet.  For those of you that have made the trek down for the full Convention know that it can be a tiring experience full of frustration and wonderment.  By the last day you’re sluggish and might have the Day 4 Limp going on, but it’s always worth it and within hours of leaving you find yourself wanting to go back.  A year later though, as I’m still not up for it again just quite yet.  Enough messing around, here is what I liked and what I didn’t.

10 Things I Liked

10.  San Diego. There is some talk about moving Comic Con when the San Diego Convention Center contract is up and I can see both sides of the argument.  Con grows every year and is already straining the capacity of the building.  But San Diego is a great city with good weather and good public transportation, so if it stayed there, I’d totally be down.

9.  The Tin Fish. Speaking of San Diego, if you’re ever by the Convention Center or PetCo Park, hit up The Tin Fish, a very excellent restaurant with awesome fish and chips.

8.  Celebrities. As an entertainment writer, seeing Robert Downey Jr. isn’t uncommon or earth shattering, but when you’re walking the floor at Con and you see Stan Lee next to Lloyd Kaufman or Mark Hamill shaking hands with James Callis, there is something special about that.  Plus, you get to see celebrities who might not always hit junkets or have big films out like stunt-actor extraordinaire Ray Park or the very friendly and jovial Doug Jones.

7.  Meet the Press. In the on-line press community there are several of us who have talked and worked together and become friends without ever seeing each other.  Con is one of the few events to get us out of our basements and into the sunlight where we can finally see each other in person.

6.  Parties. Rocking and rolling with celebrities and press dudes is fun.  This year Focus Features had a fun little get together, there were drinks and a conference with Peter Jackson, and IESB.net’s Wrath of Con which had Capcom themed drinks.  Mm, Jill Valentine.

5.  The Exhibitors. All the big boys are present, like Marvel, Sideshow Collectibles, Paramount, yatta yatta yatta, and that’s cool.  But what I really enjoy are some of the smaller exhibitors, people you may not have heard of who are offering great stuff.  I bought a print from Ben Walker (www.benwalkerart.com) which is awesome.  I picked up some random small press comics and also hit up the big boys like Hasbro for some exclusives, like the Baroness 12″ Figure.  Yes, I’m a huge nerd.

4.  The Fans. Some other sites may be full of douchebags who do nothing but complain about the crowds and the fans and the people in bad costumes, but I love it.  That’s what makes Comic Con so unique.  These people take time out of their lives to make costumes and come and celebrate what they love.  We press members get in for free and some of us are even paid to be there and work, where as the real fans cough up their own money to have a good time.  Certainly, some amongst them are weirdos, but for the most part I love being in the middle of it.

3.  Iron Man 2. The footage shown for Iron Man 2 was pretty bad ass.  War Machine blew me away as he blew away a bunch of bad guys.  This film looks like its on track to equal or surpass the first film.  There’s not much more to say other than it looks great.  Oh, and the t-shirt they handed out was sweet.

2. District 9. I had the pleasure of watching this film down in San Diego and if you saw my video-blogged thoughts, you know I thought it was awesome.  It had a poignant message, an unexpected emotional center, and plenty of awesome, body exploding alien action.  Watch this film when it comes out!

1.  Nerds: The Night Generation. I already mentioned my love of the fans above, but what really is awesome is seeing the next generation of fans being brought up.  Kids in Storm Shadow costumes or young people picking up their first non-mainstream press comics, that’s great.  My favorite sight of the entire SDCC was a young girl, maybe five or six, carrying a replica machete and wearing a Jason Voorhees mask that was signed by Kane Hodder.  Awesome.

Best Panel You Didn’t Go To: The Goon.  Just like last year, Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon showed up to bring the laughs.  If you want to learn about The Goon, this panel sucks.  But if you want to laugh your ass off, welcome to it.

5 Things I Didn’t Like

5.  Hall H. Hall H shows some great stuff – it’s the biggest room at the Center so it gets panels like Iron Man 2 and Warner Bros Showcase, but the problem is its still not enough.  So many people are left outside and have no way of getting in or seeing the panel.  Lame.  Broadcast this on CCTV to the people outside so they can be a part of it without standing in line for 4 hours in the morning!

4.  The Hate. There is a lot of hate at Con, whether it is websites bickering at each other, people saying Twilight somehow ruined Comic Con, or just people at the ends of their ropes snapping.  Hey, just relax everyone.  This is Comic Con, lets take it easy.  Plus, as Kevin Smith pointed out, cute young Twilight fans at Con may end up being hot, legal comic loving babes in 3-5 years.

3.  The Smell. It’s a bit of a cliche to complain about this, but you really need to bring deodorant and some among us need to keep it nearby at all times.  Just sayin.  Also, I avoid the bathrooms at all cost in the convention center.

2.  No Time. I missed so many awesome panels just because there isn’t enough time in the day to do it all, especially if you want to get into Hall H and some point.  Panels I missed that I wish I didn’t:  Psych, Burn Notice, True Blood.

1.  No Comic Con Attack Squad. For various reasons involving alcohol, drugs, jail time, or just plain laziness, none of the Attack Squad of Rejects from last year made it down this year.  I was basically flying solo the whole time which is both sad and a little boring.  One guy with a press badge comes off creepy when he tries to talk to you, while a group of guys with a camera is legit.  I don’t get it either.  Anyway, if you decide to hit up Comic Con in the future, bring friends.  Nerd friends.  Or hot female friends.  Ya know, whatever.

Did you go to Con?  What were you likes and dislikes?

As you may know by now, the 40th Annual San Diego Comic-Con International has come and gone. Over this past weekend, Hollywood descended upon it’s southern neighbor to take over the Convention that was once all about comics. In fact, if you ask any Con veteran, the Hollywood commercialization coup is one that seems to supercede the original intent of the Con — you know, to show off the work of the best in the comic book and pop art business. But that’s a discussion for another day. Today’s discussion is all about those Hollywood promos, the big-budget films that were brought to San Diego to delight fans large and medium-large.

You may also note that our coverage of the event was different this year, as our entire crew didn’t exactly make it all the way to San Diego. Instead, we had Scott the Intern here updating our Comic-Con ’09 Homepage with aggregated news from around the web. The benefit to this kind of coverage is that you, our faithful readers, got a birds-eye view of what was happening at the Con, instead of just one person’s perspective. As well, it also aided in landing our finger on the pulse of what was hot at this year’s event. That leaves us in a perfect position to recap for you the films that made the biggest splash this year. We’re going to do that below, with our list of the 7 Most Buzzed About Movies of Comic-Con 2009.

7. Mystery Team

On Sunday afternoon, the kids from the Derrick Comedy group took the stage in Ballroom 20 to promote their little-known Sundance sensation Mystery Team with a series of sketches and a new short film. From what we’ve been told, it absolutely killed. And we couldn’t be happier for director Dan Eckman and crew, who were kind enough to sit down with our Kevin Kelly for a post-panel interview. We’ve been beating the drum to their tune ever since Mystery Team dropped at Sundance, and it makes us (me in particular) very happy to see new audiences getting excited about it. It’s an awesomely twisted comedy that will have you in stitches, just as it did the Comic-Con audience.

6. Tron Legacy

Even though they didn’t show any new footage from their upcoming Tron sequel, Disney and director Joseph Kosinski still rocked Hall H with the footage they recycled from last year. Only this year, they did it in 3D. As well, their viral marketing effort with Flynn’s Arcade — which can be seen in detail over at First Showing — was particularly captivating for the Con crowds. Also, did you see the concept art they showed — those light cycles look really badass. Who isn’t looking forward to Tron Legacy?

5. Kick-Ass

Every year, Comic-Con has at least one surprise. And if you’ve already taken a gander at the rest of this list below, you’ll note that none of the films below this one were a surprise at all. Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass however, was a big surprise at the Con. One of the few actual comic book adaptations on our list, Kick-Ass was one of those known but not widely known properties that made a major splash this year. According to Edward Douglas over at Superhero Hype, the footage shown proved that Vaughn’s film will be very faithful to the original Mark Millar comic — and to say the least, there will be action.

4. Avatar

No one is going to be surprised about the waves that James Cameron’s upcoming sci-fi epic Avatar made when it splashed down at the Con on Thursday. What is surprising though, is the tempered expectations that were urged by the men and women of the blogosphere who covered the event. As we highlighted in our recap of coverage from around the web, the experience was an impressive one — one that immersed fans in a 3D world that was incredibly impressive. And for a moment, at least until that evening with another film on this list was screened, it was the hot topic of the Con. However, it didn’t exactly change the way people look at the silver screen, nor did it leave anyone crippled with an awesome-overload. So temper those expectations kids, but hold on tight to that excitement.

3. Where the Wild Things Are

Few people go to Comic-Con for an emotional experience, but then again, few people knew that Spike Jonze would show up with touching, beautiful footage from his adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s classic Childrens’ book, Where the Wild Things Are. Even the blackened, almost non-existent soul of CHUD front man Devin Faraci was warmed by what was shown that day in Hall H. Needless to say, while Avatar and Iron Man 2 left no dry seats in Hall H, Spike Jonze and crew left no dry eyes with their several minutes of footage.

2. District 9

Of all the movies that brought footage to the Con, only a few actually gave attendees the chance to see the entire film. Producer Peter Jackson and director Neill Blomkamp did just that with their highly-anticipated sci-fi actioner, screening it on Thursday night for a select group of lucky attendees. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and as our own Robert Fure told us, it wasn’t just because people got to see the film early — it was because District 9 could very well be the must-see sci-fi film of the year. Take that, James Cameron.

1. Iron Man 2

Once again, director Jon Favreau stepped onto the stage in Hall H and lit it on fire, blowing the roof off of the convention and caused a collective geekgasm of epic proportions. Alright, so maybe it wasn’t as big as I just described, but just like in 2006 Jon Favreau surprised audiences with a rockin’ series of clips. In his recap, FSR’s man on the scene Robert Fure said simply that the Iron Man 2 footage was “awesome.” The awesome carried over into several of our online brethren saying that Iron Man 2 won the Con, stole the show and dominated the buzz. Could it be because Iron Man 2 was one of the last major panels of the weekend? Not likely. It probably has more to do with the first look at War Machine shooting up the place. If I had to take a guess, that is.

For more of our coverage from San Diego, go check out our Comic-Con 2009 Homepage.

“We’re talking to Marvel about Black Panther,” former Lost star Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje told MTV News at Comic-Con this past weekend. “This is the first round, so you know, hopefully they’ll look at G.I. Joe and see the potential. But it’s about time we have a black superhero, isn’t it?”

It is about time, Mr. Eko. And Marvel Studios has in their grasp a great potential starting point for launching a black superhero into the mainstream. Black Panther was one of the first modern black superheroes in comics, penned first in 1966 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The head of state of the Panther tribe in the African nation of Wakanda, the Black Panther uses a heart-shaped herb that grants its user enhanced strength, agility and perception, much like the large feline upon which his costume is based. The modern day Black Panther, known as T’Challa, joined up with The Avengers for a period of time and has also appeared in books with The Fantastic Four and Daredevil.

If you’ll take a walk back in time with me, you’ll remember that director John Singleton said that he was approached to develop a Black Panther film back in 2007, but that has since gone by the wayside. In a Variety report dated March 26, 2009 though, Marvel Studios admitted to the fact that they were gathering “scribes [to] help Marvel come up with creative ways to launch its lesser-known properties, such as Black Panther, Cable, Doctor Strange, Iron Fist, Nighthawk and Vision.” It stands to reason that they could be putting feelers out for actors, directors and other crew for smaller, surprise productions. Marvel does like to put on a good show, even if it means keeping us in the dark on stuff — we all remember the stunt with keeping the Samuel L. Jackson cameo in Iron Man. I wouldn’t put it past them.

As well, the studio now has a ton of momentum with Iron Man 2 wowing audiences at Comic-Con, heading for another successful release. If they can get Paramount on board, they could jump start some of these smaller movies quickly. Finally, lets not rule out the possibility of Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Black Panther in one of the upcoming superhero films, such as Captain America, Thor or Iron Man 2. Or even The Avengers. Who knows what’s happening out there in Manhattan Beach.

You can view the entire interview clip below, courtesy of MTV Splash Page.

One thing you can’t accuse Film School Rejects of is sitting on their laurels and being quiet when it comes to singing the praises of Derrick Comedy and Mystery Team. Seriously, this movie deserves both your eyeballs and your dollar bills. Possibly your ears as well, but if you can read lips then you’ll still enjoy. it. We caught the flick at Sundance, and haven’t been able to shut up about it. Part of the reason for that you’ll be able to see in this video interview straight from Comic-Con: these guys are damned funny.

We sat down with Donald Glover, D.C. Pierson, Dominic Dierkes, Dan Eckman, and the lovely (hey, those guys are lovely too) Meggie McFadden to talk about the film, Comic-Con, and what’s next. If you head beyond the break and watch the full (and hilarious) video, you’ll see why Derrick Comedy should be on your radar as a group to watch in the next few years. They feel like they’re teetering on the cusp, and will hopefully land in America’s lap soon.

And by soon we mean this Fall, as the movie rolls out in a tiered released and will be coming to a city near you. If it doesn’t, start saving your gas money now, and get your butt to a theater that’s showing it. You can thank us later.

For more from San Diego, keep it locked on our Comic-Con 2009 Homepage.

I have no idea how fun Comic-Con was this year obviously, but it seems like at least Jon Favreau had a blast. I imagine you would to if you were surrounded by thousands of people singing your praises and soiling themselves when you show them clips of War Machine from Iron Man 2.

It’s been tough to get any real statements out of the production besides quick, sharp twitter updates that amount to “filming with RDJ” and “eating sandwich at craft service table. lolz,” but luckily, a hard-hitting journalist broke through the ranks at the Con to nail the Jon Favreau to the floor about what the status of The Avengers is.

Take it away, kid wearing an orange beanie indoors during the summer!

Certainly tip-toeing around the prospect, but it sounds like if someone asked him outright if he wanted the job, he’d answer in the affirmative in a heart beat. It’s fairly obvious, though. The man looks like he has an immense amount of fun working on this stuff (which certainly shines through in the product), so it seems only natural that he’d want to direct when all the Marvel heroes come together.

It’s also interesting that he’s been able to see, or is in the loop on, the Thor concept art. Kenneth Branagh seemed like a strange choice, but I wonder if more people will give him the benefit of the doubt now that he has Favreau’s seal of approval – however tacit it might be.

What do you think?

Robert Fure just checked in with me once again with yet another video blog from his hotel room in San Diego. This time he’s got a preview/review of some raw footage that was shown Saturday night for Give ‘Em Hell, Malone, starring Thomas Jane and Ving Rhames. As you may remember, we’ve been tracking this film for quite a while as there are a few friends of the site involved, including Tim Bradstreet who served as production designer. Check out the film’s synopsis below:

A tough as nails private investigator (Malone) squares off with gangsters and their thugs to protect a valuable secret. Malone goes through hell to protect the information but he dishes some hell as well…

And now, the video blog from Mr. Fure, who reacts quite positively to the raw footage from Malone, from director Russell Mulcahy.

Be sure to stay tuned for more coverage from Comic-Con from Robert as we get caught up on everything that he saw. Just keep your clicks heading toward our Comic-Con 2009 Homepage.

As you may know, not all of us made it all the way to San Diego for Comic-Con this year. However, our own West Coast editor Robert Fure did make it to the big Con, where he was witness to a few awesome panels and activities. Among those awesome panels was the Marvel Studios presentation of Iron Man 2.

Director Jon Favreau and Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige were on hand to show off the first footage for the upcoming superhero sequel. Included in the footage was the following:

• Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) eating a donut while sitting atop Randy’s Donuts. Up walks Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, yelling “Sir, I’m gonna have to ask you to exit the donut!”
• Tony Stark and Nick Fury interacting inside the donut shop, talking about Stark joining Fury’s “team,” to which Fury responds “I remember, you do everything yourself. How is that working out for you?” Stark then makes a quip about Fury’s eye patch.
• A scene in which a Senator (played by Gary Shandling) is trying to convince a federal court that Tony Stark should surrender the Iron Man suit, as it is property of the United States government. Stark responds by saying that it’s not a weapon, but a high tech prosthetic extension of himself. “I am Iron Man, the suit and I are one. You can’t have it!”
• A montage that is voiced over in a Russian accent, “You come from a family of thieves and butchers…” The montage includes shots of Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow doing some ass-kicking, Tony Stark having a big party with girls dancing in front of an American flag, and finally: the first look at Whiplash. Mickey Rourke stands as the Russian villain in his big Whiplash suit on a race track, powering up his suit and swinging his electrified whips violently.
• Another scene that shows Iron Man flying at night, dodging missiles just before the Iron Man 2 logo appears.
• A final extra sequence that shows Col. Rhodes (Don Cheadle) in a hanger with a suit that looks similar to Tony Stark’s Mark II armor. With him is Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), a rival weapons developer of Stark. Rhodey presents the suit to Hammer, who then shows him an assortment of weapons to be attached to the suit. A quick cut and War Machine is revealed, firing the various automatic weapons attached to his suit.

According to those who witnessed the footage, it was all the awesome that we’ve come to expect from Jon Favreau’s young franchise. For a first hand reaction from our man Robert Fure, check out the video below. Iron Man 2 is scheduled to hit theaters on May 7, 2010.

Warning, this article may contain spoilers from Season 5 of Lost. All of the season 6 details are non-spoilery or speculative, though.

For those of us who did not attend the Lost panel at Comic-Con this past weekend, two things are clear. One is that we missed one awesome show. The second is that we didn’t really need to be there, as the entire panel has ended up on YouTube for all to see.

But before we get into that, it is time to give you a little primer as to what we learned as we watched the events of the panel. According to showrunners Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, the sixth and final season will be a shift in a completely different direction. “The time travel season is over,” they explained. “The flashforward season is over. Season 6 is something different.”

During the panel they showed several faux advertisements, including one that shows Kate on America’s Most Wanted. Of course, as with everything Lost related, it’s all in the details. According to Adam Quigley’s report on /Film, the AMW report about Kate said that she intended to kill her stepfather, but accidentally killed a plumber named Ryan Milner by mistake. There was also an Oceanic Airlines commercial that touted that the airline had gone 30 years with a perfect safety record. Check out the Oceanic commercial below:

In addition to America’s Most Wanted and the Oceanic Commercial, they also showed the following commercial for Cluck’s Chicken, in which CEO Hugo “Hurley” Reyes talks about a recent trip he made to Australia. He also mentions that ever since he won the lottery, he’s had nothing but good luck. Check it out below.

Does this mean that Faraday’s plan worked and Flight 815 never crashed? Perhaps. The creative team also said that season 6 will see the return of several characters that we have not seen since season one (which we can only assume means that Claire will be coming back). However, they also mentioned that both Faraday (Jeremy Davies) and Juliette (Elizabeth Mitchell), two non-Flight 815 characters who are presumed dead, will be back in season 6.

Additionally, these faux advertisements also hint at changes in the universe that go beyond preventing the crash of Flight 815 on the island. Why would Hurley be having nothing but good luck? How did Kate not kill her stepfather? These two events occurred long before the plane crash. As with anything related to this show, we just don’t know where this could go — but we do know that this means something. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from 5 seasons of Lost, it is that nothing is done without some sort of reason. I will leave you to determine what, exactly, these faux ads mean.

Cuse and Lindelof also made mention of Richard Alpert, whose backstory will be explored in the final season. He is said to have a flashback in Season 6 that is described as being “very involved.” That leads me to believe that there is more of Richard in the final season, which is great because I’ve been wondering about that guy for a while — my “Richard is obviously an alien” theory doesn’t hold up so well anymore, but who knows.

As for the rest of the panel, I will let you watch that below. There is a really great interaction between Jorge Garcia, who plays Hugo, and Cuse/Lindelof (seen in the second video below). It just goes to show the true showmanship of the minds behind this show — everything is well-planned and in celebration of the show’s immense following. No matter how wild and crazy this show gets, these guys have always found a way to inspire trust in its audience — a trust that carries over into my belief that Season 6 is going to be awesome.

For more, check out the videos below.

Also notable and Lost related is a new ARG that ABC has launched in advance of the final season. It is a very in-depth new website called Lost University that is taking enrollment beginning September 22, 2009. You can check it out for yourself at LostUniversity.org and let us know what you find in the comment area below.

Watchmen director Zack Snyder was in San Diego this past weekend. And even though he was there to do a live Blu-ray commentary for the release of said Alan Moore adaptation, he was generating a little bit of buzz for his next film, Sucker Punch.

Courtesy of Deadline Hollywood Daily, we have a first look at the Sucker Punch artwork he unveiled. He did so via a box of free t-shirts that were given away during his live Blu-ray event. In the image below, you can see the film’s leading lady Emily Browning in there somewhere. This has a very Suicide Girls aesthetic to it and while it has almost nothing to do with the actual film, it does look very cool.

Sucker Punch is scheduled for a March 25, 2011 release. Check out the new art below.

During the Comic-Con panel for Mike Judge’s upcoming film Extract, actor Jason Bateman once again stoked the fire that is the Arrested Development movie. The project, which has found itself in its own state of ‘arrested development’ over the past few years, has been gaining traction in recent months. And according to Bateman, it could be happening as early as the next 6 months and as late as the next 18 months.

According to a report from /Film, Bateman took time to state that “there is no reason to think that it is dead.” He also explained that series creator Mitch Hurwitz has been too busy with other television work to write the film, but that could change very soon.

Bateman also talked a bit about the movie’s potential jumping off point, an obvious one in the eyes of most fans:

It could be as early as the next six months or as late as 18. Mitch hasn’t told me what he has in mind. As fans of the show know, you can look at the very last scene of the last episode, [which] kind of dovetails into what the film could be. Maybe pitches to Ron Howard the idea about making a show about the family. He says “no, that wouldn’t work, but maybe a movie.” Read into that what you will.

For those who like to follow the Arrested Development movie development closely, there’s another event in the near future that could produce even more news. As we reported earlier this month, series Executive Producer Ron Howard will be in Austin for the Austin Film Festival in October. Another one of the fest’s special guests is Mitch Hurwitz. It’s safe to say that we’ll be there to see what may or may not transpire.

For more from San Diego, check out our Comic-Con ’09 Homepage.

During his panel at Comic-Con on Saturday night, director Kevin Smith mentioned that the title of his upcoming film, currently called A Couple of Dicks, might be in for a change before it’s all said and done.

According to our friends at /Film who attended the panel, Smith revealed that major networks are balking at the film’s title, many saying that they will not run advertisements for the film until after 9:00 pm. The networks in question, unfortunately, are the big three (ABC, NBC and CBS). “We’re all still paying for Janet Jackson’s tit,” Smith said during the panel, a Comic-Con Saturday night staple. “That boob haunts me.”

The Warner Bros. film is clearly a story of two detectives, played by Bruce Willis and 30 Rock star Tracy Morgan, but networks are still antsy about advertising for any movie with ‘dicks’ in the title. It’s sad, as this is not the first time that a Kevin Smith movie has undergone this sort of neutering due to a title. Zack and Miri Make a Porno was stripped down to Zack and Miri for many networks and print ads, citing the use of the word ‘porno’ as potentially offensive. The short answer from here is for people to get over it, but it is what it is. Networks look at their bottom line and see the faces of a family-heavy, somewhat conservative daytime audience and they dare not take the risk. You can’t really blame them for protecting themselves financially. Hopefully for Smith, a creative and catchy alternate title can be found.

A Couple of Dicks (or whatever it ends up being titled) will hit theaters February 26, 2010. For more from San Diego, check out our Comic-Con ’09 Homepage.

If you’ve been following Comic-Con 2009, you may already know that Marvel Studios’ presentation for Iron Man 2, which took place yesterday afternoon, figuratively blew the lid off of Hall H at the San Diego Convention Center. Once again, director Jon Favreau brought stunning footage to the Con and wowed fans with first looks at Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Don Cheadle as War Machine. But more on that later, as our man on the scene Robert Fure will be checking in with his own report.

Following the panel presentation, Marvel Studios President of Production Kevin Feige sat down to speak with a group of journalists to talk about Iron Man 2 and various other upcoming Marvel projects, including The Avengers. According to Collider, who was part of the group of journos, Feige revealed the line-up for The Avengers. The film will include appearances by Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Nick Fury and Black Widow. See below for the direct quote:

Kevin: I think we know. It’s going to be Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Nick Fury. I think it’s safe to assume that there will be some members of the Hulk universe in the film as well. In terms of the additional, I think Black Widow for sure. SHIELD’s organization for sure. And, again, what’s exciting to me about the Avengers movie are seeing those four characters together and interact with each other. Anywhere from the first issue of the Avengers to Civil War, the dynamic between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark is awesome and fascinating. It brings out sides of the others that won’t be brought out in their own franchises. Throwing Thor into the mix is a whole other thing and I think that will be cool. So to pile in another ten or fifteen…or frankly even four…I think will be too many.

Feige also went on to skate around the question of whether or not The Hulk will make an appearance, saying simply that writer Zack Penn is currently working on outlining the film. Translation: things could always change.

The Avengers is scheduled to hit theaters May 4, 2010.

I hate to hate movies, but I really didn’t have much fun with the latest entry into the Turtles universe. It was too clearly for a younger generation without having near the depth that even the original Saturday morning cartoon had. It just seemed flat and heartless even though the story concept wasn’t all that bad.

I’ll take the original films any day – that scene where they hiding out in the country and Raph is laying in the bathtub? Damn. That entire sequence adds this great sense of real dramatics to what is otherwise a pretty campy, funny film.

So when I heard the news coming out of Comic-Con that producers Scott Mednick and Galen Walker are trying to build the next film to be darker than the last entry, I gave a big sigh of relief. I think that’s the overall key to making a great Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – there has to be weirdness, campiness, and an earnest sense of drama to base the action on.

According to First Showing, the most likely trip that the story will take is down memory lane to show the Turtles at an earlier point in their career. It might even be an origin story, but I imagine for this particular franchise, pouring green slime on some baby turtles could take anywhere from 10 to 30 seconds, so there’s a good chance they could get right to the ass-kicking. Either that or Master Splinter has to send Leo off to train with Pai Mei.

Of course, I’m also hoping that Digital Undergound gets to do a rap for this one as well. Maybe a collabo with Vanilla Ice.

What do you think? Is that Raph? A little too Raph.

Oh, Ken. He’s like Barbie’s play thing. Which is weird considering that she’s like a little girl’s play thing. If there was ever a better representation of the hollow-smiled, super-rich, perfectly-sculpted dream guy I’m not sure what it is. But it looks like Michael Keaton is about to become his voice in Toy Story 3.

ComingSoon has confirmed that Keaton will be lending his talents to the crotchless man, probably because the role, as well as Barbie’s, will be beefed up a little bit. And, probably because it’s a Pixar film. Who doesn’t want to be involved with one of those?

No word yet as to whether Keaton will be listening to the band Aqua non-stop in preperation.

John Lasseter commented that, “it’s a totally different emotional core that this movie has. We’re really excited for it.”

I have no idea what that means.

But I do have an ideas as to when the movie is hitting theaters: June 18th of 2010. Just a little less than a year away.

What do you think?

Even though it is clear that people are talking most about the Avatar footage from yesterday at Comic-Con, there is another movie that seems to be sneaking up on everyone’s water-cooler list: Neill Blomkamp’s alien apartheid film District 9. Producer Peter Jackson and director Neill Blomkamp were on hand last night in San Diego to screen the film for the first time to an audience of geeks, the likes of whom stood in line for hours just to be among the first to make the journey into this brave new world. Our own Robert Fure was on hand and has already posted his quick reaction to the film here.

In addition to Robert’s first hand account, we’ve also received an awesome batch of photos from the folks at Sony Pictures. Within the gallery below you will find shots of the MNU truck (the government agency in the film that works to keep aliens inside the quarantine zone known as District 9) and MNU agents patrolling the streets of San Diego. I know that we showed you photos of this earlier in the week, but I think we can all agree that these are better.

District 9 is in theaters on August 14, 2009. Check out the gallery below, followed by the full synopsis provided by the studio.

Over twenty years ago, aliens made first contact with Earth. Humans waited for the hostile attack, or the giant advances in technology. Neither came. Instead, the aliens were refugees, the last survivors of their home world. The creatures were set up in a makeshift home in South Africa’s District 9 as the world’s nations argued over what to do with them.

Now, patience over the alien situation has run out. Control over the aliens has been contracted out to Multi-National United (MNU), a private company uninterested in the aliens’ welfare – they will receive tremendous profits if they can make the aliens’ awesome weaponry work. So far, they have failed; activation of the weaponry requires alien DNA.

The tension between the aliens and the humans comes to a head when an MNU field operative, Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley), contracts a mysterious virus that begins changing his DNA. Wikus quickly becomes the most hunted man in the world, as well as the most valuable – he is the key to unlocking the secrets of alien technology. Ostracized and friendless, there is only one place left for him to hide: District 9.

As we reported yesterday, star Seth Rogen was on hand at Comic-Con in San Diego yesterday to unveil the coolest prop from his upcoming movie The Green Hornet. Joining him on the floor of the San Diego Convention Center was co-writer Evan Goldberg (Superbad) and director Michel Gondry (Be Kind Rewind). The trio unveiled “The Black Beauty,” the car that will carry The Green Hornet and his sidekick Kato to the places where they will kick the asses of bad guys.

In support of their presence at the event, Columbia Pictures have sent over the film’s official synopsis and some photos from the floor of Comic-Con. Both can be seen below.

A classic character of film, television, radio, and comic books returns to the big screen in Columbia Pictures’ feature film The Green Hornet, starring Seth Rogen as the vigilante crime-fighter. The film will be directed by Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) from a screenplay written by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg (Superbad, Pineapple Express), based upon “The Green Hornet” radio series created by George W. Trendle, and produced by Neal H. Moritz (The Fast and the Furious). The film is slated for release summer 2010.

For more from San Diego, check out our Comic-Con 2009 Homepage.

The folks at Sony Pictures have sent over a bunch of photos from their work in San Diego promoting their upcoming zom-com Zombieland, including two new production photos and a bunch of photos from around the Con. Allegedly Sony went around town and painted the faces of random Con attendees to make them look like zombies, turning the Avatar-crazed crowd into a mass of walking dead. Needless to say, that’s some pretty cool shit. Kind of like the viral promotion for The Dark Knight last year when they made everyone into clowns. Y’all remember that, right?

In the horror comedy Zombieland focuses on two men who have found a way to survive a world overrun by zombies. Columbus is a big wuss — but when you’re afraid of being eaten by zombies, fear can keep you alive. Tallahassee is an AK-toting, zombie-slaying’ bad ass whose single determination is to get the last Twinkie on earth. As they join forces with Wichita and Little Rock, who have also found unique ways to survive the zombie mayhem, they will have to determine which is worse: relying on each other or succumbing to the zombies.

Directed by Reuben Fleischer and starring Amber Heard, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, Bill Murray, Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson, Zombieland hits theaters on October 9, 2009. Pictures are below. For more from San Diego, check out our Comic-Con ’09 Homepage.

If you’re like me, you love wandering around the heat of Comic-Con, grabbing free issues of Playboy with Olivia Munn on the cover, and signing autographs as Edward James Olmos’s stunt double. Of course, when I’m not being hounded by fans I’m drop-kicking my way into super-secret surprise screenings of District 9. That’s right. I’m tired of sneaking into things. Unless those things are private parties hosted by Peter Jackson after the super-secret surprise screening of District 9. The parts I remember of that were awesome.

Sadly, I can’t fully review the film just yet since we’re under embargo, but that won’t stop me from sharing my thoughts on the flick in glorious video! No spoilers unless you’re really sensitive about being told that there’s a lot of action and blood. Because there just might be:

I realize I look fantastic on an iPhone camera even if I’m disobeying the rule of thirds. And now, back to drinking that gallon of Pepsi.

Bottom line: this movie is really great with some great characters, some solid action, with a few surprises in store for fans.

What do you think?

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s panel in Hall H at Comic-Con in San Diego, Disney has released the long-awaited Tron Legacy footage onto the web for all to see. As Con attendees from last year will remember, this is the visual effects concept footage that director Joseph Kosinski made that sold Disney on him taking the reigns of the sequel.

As we explained in yesterday’s update, there was a lot of concept art shown for this film and by-and-large, it impressed everyone in Hall H. The film picks up years after the events of the first film and follows the story of Sean Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) as he searched for his father, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), who has gone back inside the computer to try and defeat the Master Control Program. Olivia Wilde and Beau Garrett will also star.

Tron Legacy hits theaters in 2011. Check out the VFX concept footage below or head over to Flynn Lives to catch it in mouthwatering HD.