Transformers: Prime and G.I. Joe: Renegades, New Animated Series

This is something that I just stumbled across, in April Discovery Communications announced that they will launch a new cable network, The Hub, a multi-platform joint venture with Hasbro, Inc. The cable television network will feature original programming as well as content from Discovery’s library of award-winning children’s educational programming; from Hasbro’s rich portfolio of entertainment and educational properties built during the past 90 years; and from leading third-party producers worldwide. The network’s goal will be to entertain, enlighten, empower and educate children and their families.  The Hub lineup will include animated and live-action series, specials and game shows, and the network will extend its content through a robust and engaging online presence. The Hub will launch October 10, 2010 (10-10-10) reaching approximately 60 million U.S. households on what is currently Discovery Kids channel. The online home of The Hub is www.hubworld.com.

Now, why is this news on a geek site? The Hub will air reruns of Transformers Generation1 and G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. I think that its long over due for these two classic series to have another run on TV. And I’m surprised that neither the Cartoon Network or Boomerang have been showing these. These are two series that have endured the test of time with a strong fan base that seems to grow with time. And why its great that these two classic cartoons form the 80s will be shown again, that’s not all. There will be two new animated series, Transformers: Prime, and G.I. Joe: Renegades, that will be airing their first season of 26 episodes each on The Hub this fall.

There hasn’t bee a whole lot of details released about either show so far, but a partial list of voice actors for the series has been announced.

Transformers Prime

Cast includes: Peter Cullen (“Transformers” Trilogy – Optimus Prime), Frank Welker (“Transformers” Trilogy – Megatron), Gina Torres (“MadTV”), James Remer (“Dexter”), Josh Keaton (“Justice League: Circle of Two Earths”), Kevin Michael Richardson (“The Batman”), Markie Post (“The Fall Guy”), Jeffrey Combs (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). Produced by Hasbro Studios.

G.I. Joe Renegades

Cast includes: Charlie Adler (“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”), Lee Majors (“Six Million Dollar Man”), Clancy Brown (“Shawshank Redemption”), Jason Marsden (“Batman: The Brave and the Bold”), Johnny Messner (“Tears of the Sun”) and Kevin Michael Richardson (“The Batman”) Produced by Hasbro Studios.

I think its awesome that Peter Cullen and Frank Welker, two voice actors from the origianl Transformers cartoons, will be reprising their roles of Optimus Prime and Megatron. And one of my personal favorites, Jeffrey Combs, who was pitch perfect as The Question on Justice League Unlimited, will take on the role of Ratchet.

Oblivion The Movie

Radical Publishing and Disney announced their collaboration on a film adaptation of Oblivion, based on an illustrated novel by Radical Publishing. Oblivion was created by Tron: Legacy director, Joseph Kosinski, was written by Rex Mundi creator, Arvid Nelson, and illustrated by Andrée Wallin. The movie version of Oblivion will be directed by Kosinki and will be produced by Radical’s President and Publisher, Barry Levine, along with Kosinski. Radical Studios’ Executive Vice President Jesse Berger is signed on as Executive Producer. Kosinki is repped by Verve and Anonymous Content while Radical is repped by CAA and David Schiff.

In a future where the Earth’s surface has been irradiated beyond recognition, the remnants of humanity live above the clouds, safe from the brutal alien Scavengers that stalk the ruins. But when surface drone repairman Jak discovers a mysterious woman in a crash-landed pod, it sets off an unstoppable chain of events that will force him to question everything he knows.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Joe Kosinski on Oblivion,” said Barry Levine, president of Radical Pictures. “Joe is one of the most creative forces in filmmaking today. From the moment he teamed with Radical to produce the book and film, he had such a clear vision of the Oblivion landscape and universe. Add to that Joe’s successful partnership with Disney on Tron: Legacy, and you have all the ingredients for a phenomenal action/adventure film.”

Oblivion, the 128-page illustrated novel, will be released in Summer 2011 and will feature prose, combined with over 40 fully painted landscape renderings. Oblivion will be distributed worldwide through Random House.

Fans are encouraged to visit the Radical Publishing websites www.radicalpublishing.com,www.facebook.com/radicalpublishing and www.twitter.com/radicalcomics for more information.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The Animation

Adult Swim has a crush on comic book character Scott Pilgrim. They’re crushing so hard that they have commercials announcing that Adult Swim wants to marry Scott Pilgrim. The commercial is to promote an animated short that is a flashback from volume two of the Scott Pilgrim comics, and will air in two parts on the Cartoon Network between two commercial breaks on August 12 between 12 and 12:30 AM.

“Being huge fans of the comic, and very excited about the film, we asked if we could produce an animated short in the style of the comic,” Adult Swim producer Jason DeMarco said. “The filmmakers and Bryan Lee O’Malley were into the idea, so we actually made it!”

The short, titled Scott Pilgrim vs. The Animation is animated by Titmouse, Inc. and the live action film’s cast provide voiceover work for the short. Michael Cera and Allison Pill voice their characters from the film, Scott Pilgrim and Kim Pine, respectively, while Mae Whitman and Jason Schwartzman voice two characters that don’t appear in the live-action movie. Whitman is Lisa Miller, a friend of Scott and Kim’s, and Schwartzman is Simon Lee, a villain who has the hots for Kim.

The four-minute shorts show the beginning of the friendship between Scott and Kim, who ends up becoming the drummer in Scott’s band, Sex Bob-Omb. The short begins with Scott and Lisa meeting for the first time outside of the principal’s office. The animation style is heavily influenced from creator Bryan Lee O’Malley’s art style in the comic book, and there is a continuity bond between the novels, the film and the short.

If you happen to miss Scott Pilgrim vs. The Animation when it premieres on Adult Swim you can catch it online at the Adult Swim website and the Scott Pilgrim and Adult Swim Facebook pages.

Matt Wagner’s Mage Optioned For A Movie

Variety is reporting that Watchmen producer Lloyd Levin has picked up the rights to Matt Wagner’s Mage: The Hero Discovered; the first part of the Mage comic book trilogy that began at Comico in 1984. Mage: The Hero Defined, the second part of the trilogy came out from Image in 1997, however, the third and final part, Mage: The Hero Denied still has not been released. Levin will have the rights to the entire 15-book run that makes up the Hero Discovered arc.

Mage is the story of Kevin Matchstick, a man who learns that he has superhuman powers and gains a magic baseball bat while attempting to defeat an evil being called the Umbra Sprite. It is later revealed that his baseball bat is actually the legendary sword Excalibur, which has taken on a new form, and that Matchstick is  a new incarnation of King Arthur.

Mage has always been a favorite book of mine,” said Levin. “It’s one of the great untapped comic books from the ’80s renaissance that also spawned Watchmen and Batman: The Dark Knight.” Levin will produce the film alongside Eureka co-creator Andrew Cosby.

“It’s a great that Lloyd is taking on this material because his approach (to comic books) is to capture the essence of the original source material,” added Wagner. “The timing is good, too, because in the past, (filmmakers) tried to fix the material. Now they try to adhere to the material.”

Mage was previously optioned by 300 and Watchmen director Zack Snyder, but the movie was never put together. Levin will now finance the development and production of Mage. And he is no stranger when it comes to adapting comic books to the screen. Levin has previously produced Hellboy, The Rocketeer, Time Cop and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, in addition to being attached to produce an adaptation of Terry Moore’s Echo.

Dini Joins Ultimate Spider-Man Team

The news was released a few months ago that a new animated series, Ultimate Spider-Man, will be coming to Disney XD next year, and will be based on the comic book series by veteran writer Brian Bendis. Now, more news about the show was announced at Comic-Con International. Ben 10 creators Duncan Rouleau, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, and Steven T. Seagle, the team collectively known as “Man of Action” will be joining the project alongside Bendis himself.

And even bigger news for animation fans is that  veteran writer and producer Paul Dini will be joining the Ultimate Spider-Man team. Dini is known for his work on some incredible shows such as Batman: The Animated Series, Justice League, the ABC television series Lost, and the Batman: Arkham Asylum video game.

MTV News has this interview with Dini who explained some of the team’s plan for the series and how it will differ from recent and existing Spider-Man cartoons. He also dropped some hints about what the upcoming “redefinition” of Peter Parker will entail.

MTV NEWS: First off, I have to ask about the roles you and the rest of the “Ultimate Spider-Man” creative team will play in the series. This is an all-star team, after all…

PAUL DINI: We’re really all just going to go off each other’s energy. Brian’s work is a great part of the inspiration for the series, and the Man Of Action writers are going to handle the bulk of the episode scripting. Everything is going to be produced under the watchful eye of Jeph Loeb. We had an early meeting last week with myself, Jeph, and a few of the directors and designers, and I think every body’s on the same page with what we want the show to look like and the feel of the show.

MTV: Given the title of the series, everyone expects it to be an animated version of Brian’s comic book series. Will it be an adaptation, or will it keep certain elements and go off in its own direction?

DINI: It’s 50/50. There are elements that are going to come directly from the comics, and there are elements that are just going to take it into an entirely new and different direction — and yet, they’re going to harken back to that particular iteration of Spider-Man.

MTV: How will it differ from recent and existing series, like “Spectacular Spider-Man”? Is there something that’s going to distinguish the “Ultimate” adventures of Spidey from the “Spectacular” stories?

DINI: We’re going to be pairing him up with new and different Marvel characters. There’s going to be a lot of guest-star action, and there’s going to be a redefinition of Peter Parker within the Spider-Man world. We’re going to change a few things — nothing too dramatically, but you look at the Spider-Man concept from the early ’60s and you take a look at where teens are now, and you realize you can’t really go back and redo what was done so well in the comics. You have to ask, “What if this was all happening today? How do you redefine ‘With great power comes great responsibility?’ How do you redefine the villains of that world and the supporting characters?”

You also don’t want to repeat the same old tropes. As much as I love elements of Spider-Man’s past, I don’t really want to go back in and retell the Gwen Stacy and Green Goblin story in animation just so I can do my take on it. I don’t want to redo the first Spider Slayer story. I don’t want to redo some of those classic Lee/Romita and Lee/Ditka stories just for the sake of seeing them rendered in animation. For now, I just want to approach Spider-Man with fresh eyes, taking a few things we know about him and just doing a new spin on the concept. I think old-time fans will find what we’ve done with the character to be pretty good and thoughtful, because we’re not out to junk-up Spider-Man. That’s not our intent.

MTV: You’ve said what you don’t want to do, but what’s the general approach toward “redefining” Peter Parker in “Ultimate Spider-Man?”

DINI: It’s sort of like what Brian did with the whole ‘Ultimate Spider-Man’ idea. He just looked at it from a new perspective. There were things that made the fans sort of sit up and say, ‘Hey, I never thought of that before, but it really does work with Spider-Man’s universe.’ That’s the same thing we’re doing here.

We’re also taking a much different approach visually with the way we show how Spider-Man moves and works and acts within this new world. It’s going to be a complete change as far as the visualization of what it’s like to be Spider-Man.

MTV: So much of your career has focused on Batman and the DC heroes. What’s the appeal of Spider-Man for you?

DINI: I love Spider-Man, and I’ve never worked with the character before. It’s fun to try something new. There’s a different energy to Spider-Man than there is to Batman. Batman is dark and moody and spooky, and in some cases, methodical. There’s more of an element of a procedural around Batman, and there’s all sorts of great things you can do within his world. In animation, when we first rendered Batman’s world at Warner Bros., we were able to make it very dark and noir-ish and grim, which all takes its cues from Batman’s character.

Spider-Man’s world is more chaotic, more kinetic — it’s almost like stream of consciousness. You have to really put yourself in that mindset to tackle Spider-Man effectively. If you’re redefining the character that way, you want to redefine his world along those lines as well, and move things along and make it a lot faster. He’s a character who makes mistakes and has to go back and set things right and then continue on. He’s somebody who’s constantly thinking on his feet and trying to figure this out, because he hasn’t been doing it as long as Batman — it’s all new to him. It really is “great responsibility.” As cool as it is to be Spider-Man at times, there’s also a price to pay for that — and he has to learn to balance things out.

MTV: As far as timing and stories go, how many episodes are you planning for the first season?

DINI: There’s 26 episodes in front of us, and we’re breaking it into two increments.

Supergirl Returns To Smallville, Other Visitors Expected

Smallville may be coming to a close when next season ends, but it looks like the show will be getting a big send off. Superman’s home town will have many visitors as former cast members return, and new characters stop by for a visit. One highly anticipated visitor will be Laura Vandervoort, who again will fly into Smallville as Kara (aka Supergirl).

“I’m not going to be able to say too much but [the episode] definitely [has] a lot of Clark and Kara discovering their past and what she’s found while she’s been away for the year about their family,” said Vandervoort. “People have always wondered why Clark can’t fly and that’s going to be kind of discovered in this episode. It’ll be good. It”ll be the usual banter between [Clark and Kara] as well.”

The first episode of the tenth season will have an unusual returnee. John Schneider will reprise his role as Jonathan Kent in an episode titled “Lazarus.” He is also expected to return in at least one more episode during the season. I think that Schneider was great in the role of Pa Kent, and I was very disappointed to see him killed off during season five. The title might hold a hint to how they’ll orchestrate his come back, that is if you’re a big fan of the Batman comic books, but that’s just speculation for now. I wonder if this will be a straight-up-honest return, or if there’ll be twist to the newly returned Jonathan Kent? I also wonder if he’ll be back for good, or if he’ll return to the beyond by season’s end?

And while there is a lot of good news, there’s also some disappointing news. Michael Rosenbaum has previously stated that he will not reprise his role as Lex Luthor. He left the show at the end of the seventh season. And another actor played Lex in a brief appearance during season eight, where Lex was apparently killed in a n explosion. However, it was later hinted that Lex was still alive.

The actor of steel himself, Tom Welling, told MTV News that he’s a cheerleader for Rosenbaum’s return. “I want to see Lex [Luthor],”Welling told said. “I want to see him come back. In the show, he’s still alive. He’s just not around. But I want to see Michael [Rosenbaum] and I want to see Lex Luthor. I want to know how that relationship really turns out. Because that’s the big relationship that I believe propelled Clark to become Superman.”

I agree that the relationship between Clark and Lex was one of the most interesting things about the earlier seasons of Smallville. And Rosenbaum was great in the role. Lex should be back for the final season. And he should be in the last episode. It wouldn’t be hard for them to write up an explanation that uses plastic surgery or a clone as a reason for another actor to play Lex for the final season, but it wouldn’t be the same. I hope that Rosenbaum will have a change of heart and will come back for one final season.

Among other rumored guests, Sahar Biniaz is said to be appearing as Hawkman’s long lost love Shayera, also known as Hawkgirl, who was referenced in the episode Absolute Justice. And Michael Shanks will be back to reprise his role as Carter Hall/Hawkman. Geoff Johns hinted in his Twitter feed that Darkseid and the forces could appear in the tenth season. Blue Beetle, the Jaime Reyes version, is said to appear in an episode alongside Booster Gold. And Bradley Stryker is rumored to appear as Floyd Lawton, known in the DC Universe as the assassin Deadshot.

It looks like Smallville is pulling out all the stops for its final season, and is going to go out with a bang.

The 10th season of Smallville will debut on Friday, September 24.

Transformers MMO Coming Next Year

NetDragon, the developers who are also creating online games for both Dungeon Keeper and Ultima in Asia, has a Transformers MMO in the works. The game is said to be out next year, though few other details have been released at this time. One curious thing is that  Asian, North African, Middle Eastern and Russian have been mentioned as territories that would receive the game, but the U.S. seems to be left out for now.

“Transformers is already a household name in China, and we are extremely honored to be able to join hands with Hasbro to bring the excitement and fanaticism of Transformers into the online gaming sector” said NetDragon’s Liu Dejian.

Its hard to say much when nothing is known about the game at this time, but its an interesting idea. My big question is what version of the Transformers will be featured in the game? Will the robots in disguise be modeled after the ones that have appeared in the recent movies, or could we see some classic generation 1 Transformers? My vote is for G1. I’m really not a fan of the recent movie versions of the Transformers, and if that is what they’ll look like, then I would lose a lot of interest in playing this game.

Avengers #4 Teaser Image

Marvel has released a teaser image for the upcoming Avengers #4, and this story looks like it has a whole lot going on. Front and center is Ultron, who can carry a comic by himself. He’s destroyed countries. He’s a nightmare. He’s one of those villians that make you say “Oh, $H!T” when you see him.

And if Ultron isn’t enough, we have Dr. Doom down in the right hand corner. And a bit above Doom is the Juggernaut. And you can see Magneto below Ultron’s right arm. What’s with all of the baddies? I wonder if it has something to do with Kang the Conqueror who is featured in the middle of the image. Kang is a big time Avengers villain himself, but it becomes more interesting with what’s around him. There’s Cyclops in his original costume near the lower left corner. You have Giant-Man knocked out on the left. And that’s not a character and costume that has been seen in a while. And there’s a few others in there that I’m not sure if they were deceased, or are possibly wearing old costumes. At any rate, this looks like a big story.

AVENGERS #4

On-Sale-8/25/10

$3.99

Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS                                                                                                                                                                                            Pencils & Cover by JOHN ROMITA JR.                                                                                                                                                                                          Variant Cover by JOHN ROMITA JR.                                                                                                                                                                                            Women of Marvel Frame Variant by JIM CHEUNG

DCU Online Trailer

Avengers Animated Trailer

The trailer for The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes has been released. I don’t know abotu the theme song for this show. It sounds like an 80s power ballad type of song, and I’m not sure if it works all that well for me. However, it looks like this could be a pretty cool show.