Berkeley Place

It’s been a few weeks—I’ve been busy—so some of this may be old . . . But at least there’s a lot of it!

1. WALKING DEAD. Of course this is the lead story . . . AMC released a 4-minute trailer, and confirmed that the show will launch on Halloween for a special 90-minute episode directed by Frank Darabont, followed by 5 more episodes for the first “season.” (They’re already in pre-production for season 2.) If you’re not saying you can’t wait until Halloween, you are hereby forbidden to read my blog ever again.

2.  SMALLVILLE. Buzz is starting about the September 24 debut of the final season of the [pretty good, then bad, then really good, then pretty good, then dull] series “Smallville,” which has been around long enough to wear out its welcome. The final season will be not-Superman-or-Superboy’s battle alongside Green Arrow and probably at least half a dozen others (not-Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman, Hawkman, etc.) against Darkseid. Also, the incredibly hot prudish nudist Erica Durance (anybody who heard her interview with Howard Stern a few years ago knows what I mean), who plays Lois Lane, will also play Isis(?) this season. Oh, and Supergirl will be back. Could be good, but keeping Clark out of the tights has gone on too long. Folks are asking what to replace this series with? Howzabout Superman??? ‘Cause this show never had him.

3. ANT-MAN. Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim flick got a mixed reception (but I loved it!) and was a box office dud, but he’s still the only guy attached to an Ant-Man movie. Wright wants to make it a spy thriller. Really? Ant-Man (to me) is kind of a silly character. I only really liked him when he went inside Iron Man after Tony’s systems were fried during a battle with the Hulk (I think that was Iron Man #153, but I’m doing this off the top of my head) during the terrific Roger Stern days. (I did like Scott Lang’s appearances in the brilliant Brian Michael Bendis series, “Alias.”) Other than that, he’s a b-lister who should stay off the a-list. If they’re looking for lesser-known folks to get the spotlight, a Giant Man/Wasp movie would be more interesting, or more Blade flicks! Hell, I’d rather see a whole slew of guys: Power Man and Iron Fist, a Daredevil reboot, Moon Knight . .

4. IRON FIST. Marvel Studios hired Rich Wilkes (of the horrible “xXx” action film) to write a screenplay. Of course, we all know that “write a screenplay” rarely translates into a movie that human beings can actually see. But if the chi is with him, Danny Rand will be the first star of a Disney film about a Marvel character (the currently slated Marvel movies are all Marvel Studios productions, started before the merger).

5.  DEADPOOL. You have to give it to Ryan Reynolds. Despite all indications to the contrary, he’s pushing to get the Deadpool movie made and talking it up constantly. As Rob Liefeld tweets, “There needs to be a &^%# Deadpool movie NOW!”

6. NEIL GAIMAN’S SANDMAN. Sandman, a most excellent comic book series under any criteria that ran from 1988-96 and was partly responsible for the creation of D.C.’s Vertigo imprint, may be coming to T.V. I know, you’ve heard that before (it was supposed to be coming to HBO), but now it looks like D.C.’s bigger sister, Warner Bros., sees a market on the CW—which is starving for material and is owned by (of course) Warner Bros. The odds, then, of the project actually reaching completion seem a lot greater.

7.  BATMEN. If you were a fan of Batman: International (I wasn’t) then you may be excited by the news that when Bruce Wayne is done returning, he will wear the Batsuit. But Grayson will, too. Apparently, Batman is going to incorporate himself around the world—kind of like the Avengers: Initiative idea. Se, we’ll have Batman, Detective, Batman and Robin, Batman Inc., and Batman: The Dark Knight. Every month. Marvel should do this with Deadpool, since they can’t seem to publish enough of him every month, either.

8.  DAREDEVIL AND GAMBIT. Looks like Gambit will be the new Daredevil. I’m not psyched about it, but my son is apeshit. Daredevil and Gambit are, respectfully, his two favorite heroes. So for him, this is like a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup: Two great tastes that go great together. Daredevil will be ending at the end of the Shadowland arc in November with issue #512. Andy Diggle will return with Daredevil Reborn #1 in January. How much you wanna bet Daredevil Reborn” lasts about 13 issues, and then they go back to the regular numbering with #525? (Or later with #550?) Murdock will be back, that’s for sure. Reborn will feature the art of Davide Gianfelice, who is currently impressing the world on the indie ”Northlanders” series.  Here’s the cover of “Reborn,” drawn by Jock:

And to close this out . . . Nuthin’ but:

SPIDER-MAN NEWS

Yeah, Brand New Day is ending and the book will drop to a twice-a-month schedule.   As of now, I don’t think Marvel plans to fragment the Spider-Universe the way it was before BND by having half-a-dozen Spider Books each month (thank God), but major changes are afoot.  I hope so, because BND is going out with an uncharacteristic whimper.  The usually great series’ concluding arc “OMIT,” is not just silly, it’s lame and boring and doesn’t even seem to fit in with the overall BND story.  Here’s some of the changes a’coming that I’ve heard:

- Spidey will get new tech.

- The next storyline, “Origin of the Species,” was originally called “The Sinister 666” as it features several classic Spider-Villains like a new Scorpion, Rhino, and Electro.

- Norman Osborn, Carnage and Spider Girl (a.k.a. Arana) will be getting their own titles, although Oz and Carnage’s will be miniseries. One will be Oz in prison, the other will be Spidey and Iron Man vs. Carnage. No announcement yet about creative teams.