Voices From Krypton

JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON TWO EARTHS TRAILER

"GREEN LANTERN" PRODUCER BRUCE TIMM TALKS "FIRST FLIGHT"

In the tradition of Superman: Doomsday, Justice League: New Frontier, Batman: Gotham Knight and Wonder Woman comes the latest in DC's direct-to-DVD animated titles, Green Lantern: First Flight, being released this July. Over at GreenLanternFilm.net we've posted an interview with veteran producer Bruce Timm, who discusses the film. Just click HERE.

OA REPORT: THE UNFILMED GREEN LANTERN

Before he decided to take KITT out for a spin, Knight Rider writer/producer Gary Scott Thompson attempted to charge up a trio of power rings for a big screen version of Green Lantern (which has spent about a decade in development). Our sister site Green Lantern Film.net has scored an exclusive interview with him on the subject, said interview available HERE.

STAN WINSTON STUDIOS ON "GREEN LANTERN" AND "IRON MAN 2"

An article in the Los Angeles Times regarding the late Stan Winston and Stan Winston Studio states that the name of the operation is being changed to Legacy Effects, and mentions that one of the projects in the pipeline is the forthcoming Green Lantern.
   "The last two major American movies that will have Winston Studios listed in the credits will be Terminator Salvation and then the Cameron-directed 3-D film Avatar, which is fitting considering the importance of both the killer-robot franchise and its original director in the career of the late wizard... The Winston name will also appear on a German film called Pandorum. After that, the Legacy era officially begins (as far as movies are concerned) with the Bollywood production Robot and then, if things go as expected, with Iron Man 2 in 2010. Legacy is doing some early design work for a planned movie for Green Lantern, the DC Comics character..."
   In other Green Lantern news, the online io9 commented on the fact that the movie, to be directed by Greg Berlanti and scripted by Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Michael Green, could go into production as early as Spring 2009. In what could be a MAJOR SPOILER ALERT, they describe the film's plot as follows:  It "will start with the death of Green Lantern Corps member Abin Sur on Earth after a battle with the intergalactic baddie Legion (the latter will appear as one of the movie's villains). The dying Abin Sur snubs Clark Kent to pass the potent bauble to Hal Jordan, a civilian grappling with the death of his father. Once annointed, Jordan finds himself busy romancing aerospace businesswoman Carol Ferris, all the while gaining an enemy in Hector Hammond, who obtains powers while performing a government sanctioned autopsy on Abin Sur. Facing certain defeat, Jordan journeys to the Green Lantern motherland, Oa, to ask for help in defeating the tenacious Hammond.... The movie looks like it'll be somewhat steeped in space travel and, as such, is a total fanboy pleaser."

PART 2: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW -- KEVIN J. ANDERSON ON SUPERMAN/BATMAN "FIRST ENCOUNTER"

In this exclusive interview with Voices From Krypton, Kevin J. Anderson continues his preview of the followup to The Last Days of Krypton, First Encounter, which chronicles the first meeting between Superman and Batman. You'll find the audio file after the excerpt below.

VOICES FROM KRYPTON: These days it seems that Superman is a little more comfortable with being a part of humanity, but in the book it feels like there’s still a pretty large gap as far as he’s concerned.

KEVIN J. ANDERSON:  That’s a lot of the internal struggle of Clark/Kal-El in that he is trying to relate and at one point he throws up his hands to his mom and says, “I don’t understand these people. I don’t understand their problems. “ Martha says, “Do you think we understand them, Clark?” She tries to make him see that the things he doesn’t understand about humanity is a perfectly normal part of being human. It’s very poignant, because he’s Superman and when he’s sitting there in her kitchen eating apple pie and drinking milk, he says, “What right do I have pretending to be Clark Kent and living a life of my own? People need saving 24 hours a day. If I’m having coffee with Lois Lane for that hour, how many people die in car accidents or plane crashes? Shouldn’t I be Superman 24/7? And Martha Kent is insisting he deserves his own life and has to be among human to understand humans. This isn’t just a book of chapter after chapter of Superman stopping bank robberies, saving crashing airplanes and beating up bad guys. I think that’s the difference with the novel; you can really get into the reality of everything. On a comic book page, you can’t have pages of the character’s face as he ruminates. In a novel you can at least do it a little more in depth.

VOICES FROM KRYPTON: How do you view the relationship between Superman and Batman?

KEVIN J. ANDERSON: The structure of the novel, and I don’t know if I should say this, is that it’s almost like a classic romance. First they get together, they hate each other, they’re at odds, then they gain an understanding and they come together.  There’s a lot of friction because Superman does not agree with Batman’s tactics, and Bruce is having a lot of problems with Luthorcorp. He also figures out that the only other company that can create these things – the bullet proof suit, the ability to fly -- is Luthorcorp, so Superman has to be working for Luthor. Who else could have made someone like him? So there’s an immediate at odds and the situation worsens. They also look at their duty in a completely opposite way. Batman kind of wants to stop the little criminals – the muggers in the alleys, the rapists, the thugs – whereas Superman wants to promote world peace and stop wars and keep the governments from killing each other. So it’s a big picture or little picture thing. Obviously something happens where they have to work together to do both.

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When you're done checking out the Kevin Anderson interview, check out our new sister site devoted to the sitcom The Big Bang Theory. There you'll find interviews, vidoes, news and more. Just click HERE.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: KEVIN J. ANDERSON ON THE SUPERMAN/BATMAN NOVEL "FIRST ENCOUNTER," PART 1

After the success of last year’s The Last Days of Krypton, it’s not surprising that author Kevin J. Anderson has been given the chance to dip back into the DC well and what he’s emerged with his First Encounter, the 2009 novel that will chronicle the first time that Superman and Batman meet.
   “These are big books, not paperbacks, so you want to do something significant,” says Anderson. “So I thought the best way to go would be the first meeting between Superman and Batman. But I was still wrestling with it a lot, because I personally love the superheroes in the past. I did a JSA series set in the ‘40s and I just think those heroes belong in the ‘40s and ‘50s; that’s just my preference.”
   Then he was struck with the idea that if they were to meet each other in the 1950s, it would place the books setting during the Cold War between America and the Soviet Union.
   “Then all of these things came up,” he says. “That was the beginning of the UFO craze and the time of all of those great – or not so great, depending on your point of view – sci-fi movies, like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, Them and Invaders From Mars. Everybody was seeing UFOs. This would be set eight or 10 years after the Roswell crash. I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun for Perry White to have Clark Kent look into the UFO crazy and find out if there were any of these little green men wandering around on earth?’ Of course, Clark wants to find out if he’s the only alien on earth, if he’s truly the Last Son of Krypton or if there are others. So he’s passionate about that. I’ve also got Lex Luthor, who’s pretty much promoting the Cold War. He’s trying to increase international tensions with his counterpart, a KGB general in the Soviet Union, because Lex is making so much money selling weapons. There’s also the element of Bruce Wayne’s board of directors being blackmailed by Luthorcorp for sensitive information.
   “The other thing I thought was the most fun,” Anderson continues, “is that Bruce Wayne is just fascinated by this Superman guy. How does he fly? How do bullets bounce off of his chest? Bruce is down in the cave working like crazy to figure out how to make a suit so that bullets can bounce off his chest and whether or not he can rig something so he can fly. Bruce Wayne is a rational guy, he doesn’t believe Superman can be some alien from space flying around. I just had so much fun tracing these ideas and seeing how they can all come together.”

When you're finished listening, become a member of the Voices From Krypton Community (it's free) where you'll have your own page from which you can blog, ad photos music and video, interact with other members and, coming soon, check out exclusive interviews. Just click  HERE to join.

   To hear the rest of the interview, please click below..

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THE OA REPORT: DAVID BOREANAZ AS GREEN LANTERN?

According to a report at Moviehole.net, David Boreanaz (Angel, Bones) was supposedly the inspiration in Brian Murray’s recently posted artwork for the currently-in-development Green Lantern, and may be in the running of the role of Hal Jordan. It could be an interesting choice, as the actor voiced the character in the animated adaptation of Justice League: New Frontier.
   “Hal’s an interesting character,” Boreanaz offered at the time. “Having been part of the Korean War, he’s kind of damaged goods, yet he’s striving to get back to being himself. I think Hal’s sense of duality is fascinating – his holding onto his past, overcoming it and being heroic with it. It’s about coming to an understanding of where your strengths are and where your weaknesses may be – and as an actor, to go into his dark place and work from there. I found that very appealing."
  For the Moviehole story, please click HERE.

FROM THE WATCHTOWER: IS JL FILM STILL ALIVE?

From everything that's been gathered, the Justice League film is pretty much finished until the individual characters have been explored in their own films (at least that's the latest).  But what muddies the waters a bit is the fact that on September 5th, Daily Variety wrote about producer Dan Lin, saying, "He's lead producer on Guy Richie's Sherlock Holmes, which begins shooting with Robert Downey, Jr. in October, and is waiting for WB's marching orders on Justice League." Okay, so far, so dead. But today - while reporting that Lin would serve as producer of the scifi film Karma Coalition -- Variety stated, "Lin is producing a number of pics for the studio, including superhero film Justice League." Just makes one wonder what the status of the film really is.

BRENDAN FRASER ON J.J. ABRAMS' "SUPERMAN"

While speaking to actor Brendan Fraser about Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Voices From Krypton editor Edward Gross had the opportunity to speak to actor Brendan Fraser about both films. Additionally, the conversation veered to the J.J. Abrams screenplay for "Superman," for which Fraser was offered the title role. What follows are his reflections of that experience.

When you're finished listening, become a member of the Voices From Krypton Community (it's free) where you'll have your own page from which you can blog, ad photos music and video, interact with other members and, coming soon, check out exclusive interviews. Just click  HERE to join.

 

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GOTHAM CENTRAL: BATMAN'S WEEK IN REVIEW

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Jeff G.  I've been invited to do a weekly round-up of Batman news here at Voices From Krypton (I will also be doing some Batman comic and graphic novel reviews).  I have a Ph.D. in Batmanology from the University of Self-Aggrandizement.  But enough about me, let’s get to the news. 

   Over at Newsarama.com, Brian Azzarello (Lex Luthor: Man of Steel) offered a glimpse into he and Lee Bermejo’s October 22^nd graphic novel Joker.  Fans are anticipating the release because of Azzarello’s success with Lex Luthor: Man of Steel and Lee Bermejo’s gruesome scarred-face Joker (Bermejo’s design actually preceded The Dark Knight).  According to Brian, the premise is Joker, released from Arkham, finds that his assets have been divvied up by the Gotham underworld and he wants them back.  The story is told from the point of view of one of Joker’s henchmen.  Many guest stars are promised, including Killer Croc (who plays a big role as one of Joker’s henchmen), Penguin, Riddler, and Two-Face.  Brian said, “It’s a brutal book. I have a reputation for writing all kinds of hardcore, violent things. This is the most violent thing I’ve ever written.” 

   Fans of All-Star Batman and Robin, The Boy Wonder (not me) will be relieved to hear that issue #10 has just been released.  It’s amazing that this title started in July 2005 and is only now on issue #10.  Apparently, Axl Rose is fed up with the delay (joke). 

   Looking at the current release dates, Morrison’s “Batman R.I.P” is taking a hiatus for the month of September. 

   Time for some movie news:  Blu-ray.com has The Dark Knight DVD release date as December 16^th.  In the domestic box office, The Dark Knight recently broke $500 million.  As for sequel news, there really is none at this point; Johnny Depp affirmatively denied being cast as The Riddler and denied that any casting is being done.  A sequel will likely happen, but Nolan was not too keen initially on even doing The Dark Knight.  The sequel and Nolan’s involvement is a “wait and see” matter.  But I hear two more DC animated original movies featuring Batman are planned, one being tentatively titled Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (based on the Loeb/McGuinness story of the same name which saw Lex Luthor deposed as President of the United States). 

   That’s all for this week batfans.  Tune in next week, same bat-time, same bat-channel. 

--Jeff--