Saturday, March 23, 2002

WESLEY SNIPES TALKS BLADE SEQUELS

Wesley Snipes, star of Blade II, said that he's all for appearing in a third movie in the franchise.

"It's on. It's on," he said on Friday during an appearance on CBS The Early Show. "The response for Blade II has been so great, and the movie's not even out yet. But everybody's talking about doing it. Three's a charm."

Blade II opened in some 2,800 theaters on Friday to mixed to positive reviews.

David Goyer, who wrote the first two Blade films, is on board for the third and has indicated he would like to complete a trilogy with a movie set in the future where vampires rule the world.

Guillermo del Toro, director of Blade II, might also be back.

Snipes said he had no reservations about returning as Blade.

"No, not this time," he said. "Because our first attempt at the film was a noble attempt, but there were a lot of things we didn't really understand. We didn't really know what the world was going to be like."

Snipes said he does about 80-85 percent of his own stunts.

"I'm kind of kooky like that," he said. "I like it. It's energetic. I'm still in good shape and health where I can still do some of the things. It's a lot of fun. There's such an adrenaline rush when you start to play with each other. It's about the closest thing that I can do to live out that dancer fantasy I've always had."

Look for more on Blade II on Monday here in The Continuum.

AVI ARAD TALKS SPIDER-MAN, MARVEL MOVIES

Marvel Studios' Avi Arad said that director Sam Raimi is on board for the Spider-Man sequel and production could begin as soon as January.

Arad was talking on Friday during a telephone conference discussing Marvel's earnings report. He said response to Spider-Man has been very positive.

"We had test screenings around the world - Japan, Germany, France and so on. And their reaction has been overwhelming. It's really a very, very special movie," Arad said. "Everybody on the movie is signed for a sequel, and Sam Raimi, who directed movie one, is doing movie two, which we hope to start in production this coming January.

"So obviously, this particular franchise is going to be predictable (in release) and profitable for us."

Arad said that the strength of Marvel's characters is the diversity of characters and the changing lives of them.

"We are now developing Spider-Man 2 and I can tell you the only reoccurring character that's exactly the way it was in the first movie is the costume of Spider-Man," he said. "Everything else will change. He grew, there will be new villains, he'll deal with new issues and so on and so forth.

"From a product standpoint, when you look at the movie, there will be new opportunities; in fact, there will be more opportunities than in movie one. It takes the first movie, the origin movie, really to tell the story and explain the world. And therefore, it's tougher to deal with more than one villain."

Arad cited the X-Men sequel as an example of franchise growth.

"X-Men 2 will obviously have some of the same characters coming back, because that's the X-Men team," he said. "They, again, have grown up since the last movie. There will be new features, new costumes and, most important, new characters.

"The diversity of the Marvel Universe - take Daredevil, for example. Movie one will deal with a certain group of villains. Movie two will bring in new ones. So it's really easy in our universe with an embarrassment of riches of years and years and years of publishing, to take our sequels make them uniquely new from sequel to sequel."

Arad said that, for the first time, Marvel Studios has a "predictable" production schedule with franchise-ready properties.

"We know that we are shooting for Hulk 1 for June 20, 2003, then we'll shoot for Hulk 2 for 2005," he said. "We know that we are shooting for Spider-Man 2 for two years after the first one. And each one of these movies prove that our franchises lend themselves to become sequels again and again."

Other movies that Arad said are on the "money line" include Daredevil, which started production this week and will lead into an Elektra movie; Doctor Strange; Deathlok; Fantastic Four; and Sub-Mariner.

"That's quite a large movie," Arad said of Sub-Mariner. "It's one of our more interesting universes to deal with, the undersea."

GIVE'EM A CLICK

SUPERPATRIOT RETURNS

Image Comics' SuperPatriot returns in July in a four-issue mini-series, SuperPatriot: America's Fighting Force, by Battle Pope creator Robert Kirkman and artist Cory Walker.

According to Kirkman, this series will focus on the hard life SuperPatriot has endured since surviving a near-death experience and being revived as a cyborg.

"He hasn't been in control of his actions on more than a few occasions," Kirkman said. "Now, he's back in charge of his life, and he's getting into the swing of things. We get to see his apartment, his day-to-day life -- we get to KNOW Johnny Armstrong."

SuperPatriot: America's Fighting Force will also be fleshing out some of the character's history by "retelling" a few of SuperPatriot's adventures from World War II in flashback form, including his origin, which will be revealed here for the first time.

"The main plot revolves around some heavies left over from World War II trying to get rid of SuperPatriot once and for all," Kirkman said, "but the meat of the story will be the flashbacks and the slice of life stuff."

Walker is a relative newcomer to comics who has made quite an impression on Kirkman.

"Working with Cory is a dream come true," said Kirkman. "I met him online and have worked with him before on my Battle Pope book. The talent Cory brings to the table is immense. He has an animation background and it really shows through in the slickness of his art style."

Rounding out the art team is Hi-Fi Color.

SuperPatriot: America's Fighting Force is the third mini-series focusing on the character and the first since SuperPatriot: Liberty & Justice was released in 1995.

To support the launch of the new mini-series, Image is releasing a trade paperback collection of the four-part SuperPatriot: Liberty & Justice the same month. The trade will feature a new cover by original series artist Dave Johnson, as well as supplementary material featuring Johnson's character designs and preliminary sketches.

"SuperPatriot: America's Fighting Force will continue SEAMLESSLY from the Liberty & Justice trade," Kirkman said, "though it won't be picking up any plot threads from it."

Both SuperPatriot: America's Fighting Force and the SuperPatriot: Liberty & Justice TPB will be in stores on July 3.

BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS #27 GOES BACK TO PRESS

DC Comics announced that Batman: Gotham Knights #27 has gone back to press after selling out its initial print run before its in-store date of March 20.

The issue features the lead story "Positive I.D.," written by Devin Grayson, with art by Roger Robinson and John Floyd and a cover by Brian Bolland, along with a "Batman: Black & White" by Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan. The lead story, which guest-stars Superman, closely relates to the continuing "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive" storyline.

"I feel truly honored to work with such amazing characters, and also with the wildly talented likes of Roger Robinson, Brian Bolland and rest of the Gotham Knights creative team, not to mention the exceptional Bat-writers and editors with whom I collaborate," Grayson said. "Batman's story is terrifically compelling, and I'm always elated when sales of any Batbook indicates that something we did allows more readers to experience it."

"All the Batman titles that touch on the 'Fugitive' storyline are experiencing dramatically increased sales," said Vince Letterio, manager - Direct Sales. "Now is a good time for retailers to look at their orders on the upcoming 'Fugitive' chapters and all other Batman-related titles."

Batman: Gotham Knights #27 second printing has an in-store date of April 4.

FIRST LOOK: OUT THERE #9

Out There #9 will arrive in stores on Wednesday from WildStorm Productions and DC Comics. The issue is written by Brian Augustyn, with art and cover by Humberto Ramos and Sandra Hope.

Here's how DC describes the issue, which is part three of the six-part "The Road to El Dorado" story arc:

"The teen heroes take a back seat this month, as Becky meets up with an old friend -- and an old enemy. It appears that El Dorado City isn't the first place she's fought this battle. Is Sterling City the mild-mannered ghost town it appears to be, or have the Twisting Roads from Purgatory led them straight into danger?"

Out There #9 will be 32 pages and will cost $2.95.

GIVE'EM A CLICK

BRIEFLY