The head of Marvel Studios and one of the masterminds behind their current, stupendously successful franchise building strategy, Kevin Feige, recently did an interview with Entertainment Weekly, and not only did he address all of the plans they have for Marvel Phase II, the series of films that are going to lead up to their next team-up spectacular, The Avengers 2, but he also dropped the bomb that a group of characters who used to be under various other studios’ controls were now back in the Marvel fold. According to an excerpt from the interview pulled out by Comic Book Movie, Daredevil, The Punisher, Ghost Rider, and Blade are now back under Marvel Studios control—but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the House of Ideas has any immediate plans for them. Feige was quoted as saying, “Whenever a character comes back to us, it’s usually because the other studios don’t want to make the movies anymore—and that usually means the [previous] movies may not have been particularly well received. They all have potential, but we’re not going to say, ‘We got it back—make it!’” With all due respect Mr. Feige, screw that. There’s a perfect way to reintroduce all of these abused characters to the big screen, and it’s staring us right in the face.

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s the ongoing saga of one man’s quest to catalog every great movie and TV-related link the blogosphere has to offer. It happens on weeknights, just before bed time, and you should read it often. Share it with your friends, even. We begin tonight with a first look at The Way, Way Back and its stars Steve Carell and Sam Rockwell, who will get in front of the camera for Jim Rash and Nat Faxon the Oscar winning duo behind The Descendants and two men who have acted their way into your hearts in various other properties. In the case of Rash, it was as the Dean on Community. The NYT has a great piece on the pair and their upcoming film.

What is Movie News After Dark DRINKING? It’s what happens when Neil leaves and Kate Erbland and I joke about me doing this column drunk and then don’t realize that’s probably a bad idea until the next day. So hello and welcome to maybe the only installment ever of Movie News After Drinking, brought to you by Old Crow Bourbon. Old Crow Make it a Double! (Note: We should get paid for this). I think my introduction needs to be longer before I put that page break thing here and before I get fired for making a mockery of this column. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance came out today and it should come as little surprise that most people hate the movie. Our boy Jack Giroux reviews the flick over at TheFilmStage where he politely points out that Jerry Springer jokes are old enough to be getting paternity tests themselves (that means they’re like 15 years old).

What is Movie News After Dark? God only knows, but I’m pretty sure we’re going to need a bigger boat… We begin by shining our big ass MNAD spotlight on short filmmaking. Director BenDavid Grabinski‘s short film Cost of Living premiered at this year’s Fantastic Fest, where I unfortunately missed it. Luckily for me and anyone else who hasn’t seen it yet, the short is premiering online tonight around 9PM PST. Cost of Living stars Bret Harrison and Brandon Routh as a couple of security guards who work for a strange corporation. The enchanting Mary Elizabeth Winstead lends her voice to the proceedings as well. Check it out for yourself at www.foindustries.com anytime after 9PM PST. Looks like Sony is following in many other studios footsteps by sending out some sweet swag for it’s upcoming tentpole to top film bloggers. Peter Sciretta over at /Film was one of the lucky ones to receive a replica of Peter Parker’s bookbag from this summer’s franchise reboot The Amazing Spider-Man. Head on over to /Film to read the full story and see plenty of pics!

There has long been a debate in the comic book world about what’s fair as far as creator’s rights are concerned. If you self-publish or work for one of the smaller companies, it’s possible to maintain the rights to any characters that you create while working in comics. If you want to work for one of the big guys like DC or Marvel, however, what you’re doing is work for hire. That means you’re just an employee of said company and any of the characters that you create while writing a Marvel or DC book are not your property, but the property of the company. While young comic creators are more than happy to agree to terms like this when they’re starving and hungry for work, regrets can sometimes develop later on if a character gets popular and starts to bring in huge amounts of revenue. This is especially true now that comic book properties are routinely being developed into big budget films that bring in hundreds of millions of dollars. DC has famously had troubles dealing with the estates of Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joel Shuster, who have been trying to get back control of the Superman pie for many years, and recently Marvel has had its own batch of troubles thanks to a man named Gary Friedrich. Friedrich worked as a freelancer for the House of Ideas back in the early 70s, and part of his output was the creation of a character named Ghost Rider, a

You’ll forgive me, dear reader, if I admit something to you now – I have never seen the first Ghost Rider. Trust me, this was not out of some misdirected hatred of Nicolas Cage-starring schlock (if Con Air is airing on television, I will drop everything to watch it – everything), it was just the way it shook out. And it looks like I might never have to see that film, as Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine‘s next installment of the film appears to have just one thing in common with that first crack on the hellion superhero – star Nicolas Cage. That’s really all you need. When FSR hit Comic-Con earlier this year, our own Jack Giroux learned a number of things about the new film, including first and foremost, that this is a standalone story. Consider Ghost Rider removed from my Amazon Wish List for this holiday season. The full trailer for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance has now careened its way online, and it doesn’t even remotely give a fuck about your stupid rules of the road. Hell, it doesn’t even care that much for the basic rules of mortality. This newest look at the film does not include Cage pissing fire (a shocking letdown), but it does include him vomiting it and whipping it. There are also a bunch of monks with tattoos and a lot of fighting and car-crashing and leather and ugly dudes, so yeah, it’s a Neveldine/Taylor film. Put on a helmet and

No matter what I say below, know this: I will see Shark Night 3D. There are no press screenings, no DVDs mailed to my home. I will head out to a theater to watch it because I love sharks and I love watching people get eaten by them. So to be extra clear: I haven’t seen the film yet. No one has. But still, I’m going to bitch about it, because that’s how I roll. Why? Well, because it’s easy to get mad at this film. It’s rated PG-13. I mean, if there ever was a title for a hard R-rating, it’s Shark Night 3D. After all, Piranha 3D, which was probably instrumental in green lighting this late entry to Shark Week, was well received because of its gore. Its nudity. Its generally over the top nature. Without Jerry O’Connell getting his dick bit off and two hot, naked women swimming for six minutes, that film is a pile of crap. The blood makes it – and the PG-13 rating for Shark Night might break it.

Wow. The trailer for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance contains a lot of chain whip cracking, a lot of skulls on fire, and that wacky flaming vomit/urine combination that got Fure so hot under the collar. Considering the history of the movie and the weight of the first film’s failure that Vengeance carries around its neck, it’s probably a great idea to watch both trailers side by side to see what each production was going for. And whether they achieved it:

Unlike Robert Fure, I’m excited for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Like Nathan Adams, I dislike — not hate — the first film and its Myster Science Theater-esque enjoyability. Understandably, there’s a lot skepticism towards this Ghost Rider installment. I mean, who wants to see a sequel to a film that very, very few people actually love? Not many. Lucky for them, this isn’t a sequel. The fact alone that this is a Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine “superhero” film already gives you a hint that this won’t be a run-of-the-mill action film. They’re out to deliver something dark, bizarre, and one of the few superhero films that doesn’t take itself too seriously. When directors has their lead pissing fire, the odds are something unique is getting made. Here a few things I learned about during the Comic-Con press conference that should make you excited about Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

San Diego Comic-Con is a busy place. No one can cover everything, or even a significant portion of everything. Judgement calls must be made, like sleeping through panels or buying cool toys instead of waiting in line at Hall H. Or you know, just covering A instead of B. I found myself in that situation when it came time for the Sony panel that featured a lot of cool things, including The Amazing Spider-Man and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Instead of suffering though the line at Hall H, which I gladly would have done, I caught up with Spartacus and then went off to see Jason Momoa, the next Conan. Luckily I was able to read all about the Sony panel on Twitter and, well… Shit.

Every week, Landon Palmer and Cole Abaius log on to their favorite chat client of 1996 as TheManFromWaco andTeenWlf2 in order to discuss some topical topic of interest. This week, the pair questions what separates the wheat from the shit when it comes to reboots, prequels and movies capitalizing on name recognition in order to get ahead in the marketing game. What makes a prequel great? How can a reboot really succeed?

The Nic Cage crazy train just keeps rolling right through the station. Already this year we’ve seen him playing a crazy old man in a wig who sword fights witches in Season of the Witch. Well, get ready to take things to the next level.

Just when we thought the idea of a Ghost Rider sequel might have died a slow, painful (and deserving) death, the folks at Columbia Pictures jump back into the game. This time it’s nothing but good news. Nicolas Cage is in talks to reprise his role as Johnny Blaze. And Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the guys behind the Crank series, are in early negotiations to direct. Sadly, the film got a lame title: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

With Bill Nighy’s claim that he doesn’t like watching himself in movies, I figured I’d take the opportunity to suggest the practice to a few other actors. But it’s not exactly what you think.

Well it will be reconceived, whatever that shit means.

Forgive me for not being my normal enthusiastic self in delivering the news. Excuse my complete and utter apathy at this tidbit. See, Ghost Rider was so utterly terrible that I can’t even muster any anger over this. Just pure, soul-crushing disgust.

Beyoncé is throwing her name in the arena for the Wonder Woman movie. Luckily, today is Monday which means I’ve got dibs on going insane over this before Kevin can proclaim WTF?

Don’t know whether to check out Ghostbusters or Ghost Dad next time you’re in the mood for a spooky comedy? We’ve got some flicks you should check out and others to leave on the rental shelf.

While much of the FSR staff was in sunny San Diego for Comic-Con 2008, our own Jason Dorough was sitting at home salivating over the collectibles announcements. Here is what really caught his eye.