Wednesday, July 30, 2003
SPIDER-MAN ANIMATED UPDATE
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Toy Biz will be releasing action figures based on MTV's Spider-Man animated series.
The assortment will be sold under its own brand and not under the Classic Spider-Man brand. The figures will have limited articulation and will come with diorama accessories that depict a scene from the animated series.
The first two figures will be Spider-Man and the Lizard. Click on the thumbnails for a larger look.
In other Spider-Man animated news:
* MTV will now be showing just one new episode every Friday night. The 10 p.m. episode will be original, followed by a rebroadcast.
As reported on Tuesday, this Friday's new episode will be "When Sparks Fly," featuring the return of Electro.
Upcoming episodes will include "Spider-Man Dis-Abled" on Aug. 8; "Royal Scam" on Aug. 15; "Heroes and Villains" on Aug. 22; "Flash Memory" on Aug. 29; "Mind Games, Part 1" on Sept. 5; and "Mind Games, Part 2" on Sept. 12. Friday - Aug 1, 2003
* Here's a rundown of the next new episodes:
SPIDER-MAN DIS-ABLED
Peter Parker (Neil Patrick Harris) is covering a press conference where the Mayor of New York City and Tremaine, a visiting Euro-dignitary, are addressing the public. As they leave the event their limousine is shot with a dart bomb and Spider-Man comes to the rescue. Peter's friend and potential romantic interest Indira Daimonji (Angelle Brooks), an intern at news channel Empire-1 helps him sell his footage of the press conference and ensuing car commotion. Then Peter and Harry's apartment is ransacked and the conclusion is that the robbers were after the videotape shot during the Mayor's speech. A digital enhancement of the tape reveals a woman shooting the dart-bomb! Indy discovers the woman on the tape is Silver Sable (Virginia Madsen), an Eastern European assassin for hire. The unique thing about this assassin is that she only kills criminals so Spider-Man can't figure out why she's going after the Mayor. Spider-Man moves out to thwart Silver Sable's plans which leads to a dramatic showdown on top of a moving limo carrying Tremaine and the Mayor inside. During this fight Silver Sable reveals a secret about Tremaine's real identity that sends Spider-Man reeling.
ROYAL SCAM
Spider-Man is duped by the infamous Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan) into stealing the TX-1 super-chip, designed to de-crypt the confidential satellite transmissions that drive the world's financial markets. Disguised as federal agents, Kingpin's henchmen convince Spider-Man that he should steal the chip from the "mob" and return it to them, the FBI. In return for doing his country this service, he is promised that the bureau will let it be known that Spider-Man helped them out, an endorsement greatly needed in order to improve his rock bottom public image. Of course this patriotism takes its toll on Peter's social commitments. Mary Jane Watson (Lisa Loeb) has a three-night acting showcase that Peter has promised to attend. He misses the first night when Spider-Man learns he was tricked into stealing the chip and must track down Kingpin; on the second night Peter is temporarily abducted by real FBI agents. The third night culminates with a climactic action sequence where Spider-Man outmaneuvers Kingpin for the chip so that he can return it to the real FBI. The real question however is whether Peter will have enough time to make it to MJ's last performance.
HEROES AND VILLAINS
Adjacent to Empire State University, The Villeroy Towers, an urban high-rise tenement, is slated for destruction and the tenants have allied with ESU's student body in protest. The Villeroy Towers residents are at a disadvantage in this fight to save their home until an anonymous donor endows them with one million dollars. This generosity comes shortly after the theft of a pricey gem from the Metropolitan Museum. Spider-Man discovers the guilty party is a modern day Robin Hood named Turbo Jet (Harold Parino) armed with a homemade propulsion system who steals from the wealthy and gives to the poor. Still, stealing is stealing and Spider-Man and Turbo Jet go head to head. Making matters worse, Oscorp is the company behind the Villeroy's demolition - all in the name of progress - forcing Harry Osborn (Ian Ziering) right in the center of this controversy. When Turbo Jet takes Mary Jane Watson hostage during a rally, Spider-Man sets out to prove that Turbo Jet's good intentions are highly flawed.
PUNISHER MOVIE UPDATE
Artisan Entertainment on Wednesday postponed its press conference for The Punisher. The press conference had been scheduled for Wednesday morning in Tampa, Fla., where the film is scheduled to begin production this weekend.
At deadline, Artisan had not given a reason for the press conference's postponement. A representative of the Tampa Convention Center said it was because of "a family emergency" and that the press conference was rescheduled for Monday.
Scheduled to appear were star Thomas Jane, writer/director Jonathan Hensleigh, producers Gale Anne Hurd and Avi Arad, Artisan executive vice-president Andrew Golov and line producer John Starke.
Look for more details soon here in The Continuum.
IMAGE COMICS FIRST LOOKS
For covers and four-page previews of Image Comics titles arriving in stores on Wednesday, CLICK HERE.
Titles include Case Files: Sam and Twitch #2, Faction Paradox #1, G.I. Joe: Frontline #11, Feather #1, Hedge Knight #1 and Spawn #127.
X-MEN: EVOLUTION UPDATE
The Continuum has obtained a first look at "X23," the new episode of X-Men: Evolution set to air on Kids' WB! on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.
The episode features the debut of X23, a character created by Marvel Studios' Craig Kyle, who wrote the episode with writing partner Chris Yost. X23 is cloned from Wolverine, and the episode also includes Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"X23" marked the last episode of X-Men: Evolution directed by Curt Geda, who went on to direct and produce the Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman movie for Warner Bros. "I enjoyed working on X-Men quite a bit," Geda told The Continuum. "I literally heard about the Batwoman project on my last day of X-Men."
According to Kyle, X23 will return in X-Men: Evolution's fourth season.
Click on the thumbnails below for larger images.
In other X-Men: Evolution news, Kids' WB! has released the following schedule of episodes:
"Day of Recovery" on Monday, Aug 4; "Mindbender" on Tuesday, Aug. 5; "Self-Possessed" on Thursday, Aug. 7; "Under Lock & Key" on Friday, Aug. 8; "Dark Horizon, Pt. 1" on Saturday, Aug. 9; and "Dark Horzon, Pt. 2" on Saturday, Aug. 16.
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WOLVERINE STATUE
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Dynamic Forces is teaming with Clayburn Moore on a Wolverine Diorama Statue that will ship in December.
Wolverine follows the sell-out of the Mary Jane Bust.
"With Mary Jane fresh off the water, and freshly sold-out, and the great feedback we received at the annual San Diego Comic Con - we wanted to make sure we gave everyone a first look at this next awesome piece well enough in advance, so we don't have any disappointed fans this time around," said Nick Barrucci, President of Dynamic Forces.
Standing approximately 10 inches tall, and present in 1/6th scale, this piece depicts Wolverine as he appeared in the Hellfire Club storyline -- which ran in Uncanny X-Men #129-134, by the team of Chris Claremont and John Byrne.
"I think Wolverine is one of the most fascinating characters in comics since his first appearance in the Incredible Hulk," said Moore. "Chris Claremont and John Byrne helped establish Wolverine as one of Marvel's signature characters, so when Nick Barrucci of Dynamic Forces approached me about sculpting a scene from the famous Hellfire Club story arc, I was thrilled. It was a challenging piece to sculpt and I hope Wolverine fans will feel I did Logan justice."
More information on the project, including final pricing, will be released in the coming weeks.
EDITOR'S NOTE: COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL
In case you missed some of The Continuum's recent coverage from Comic-Con International in San Diego, here are some links.
* For stories from Preview Night, including an interview with Mike Mignola about the Hellboy movie, CLICK HERE.
* For the CrossGen Comics panel, CLICK HERE.
* For the WildStorm Productions panel, CLICK HERE.
* For a look at the Hellboy movie trading cards, CLICK HERE.
* For a look at the Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman movie, CLICK HERE.
* For DC Comics' Batman panel, CLICK HERE.
* For DC Comics' Vertigo panel, CLICK HERE.
* For the Spider-Man sequel panel, including a first look at Doc Ock, CLICK HERE.
* For comments from Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry about appearing in a third X-Men movie, CLICK HERE.
* For the Smallville panel, CLICK HERE.
* For an interview with Spider-Man 2 producer Avi Arad, CLICK HERE.
* For DC Comics' super teams panel, CLICK HERE.
* For Phil LaMarr talking about the Static Shock/Green Lantern team-up, CLICK HERE.
* For the Hellboy movie panel, CLICK HERE.
BRIEFLY
Look for images from Smallville's third season in about three weeks.
Copyright © 2003, The Comics Continuum