Civil War has Ant-Man, is Basically Avengers 3

Marvel put out a press release today announcing the full cast of Captain America: Civil War...and it is a lot of people. There's a full team of Avengers, plus all of Cap's supporting cast, plus Ant-Man, plus Black Panther, plus Sharon Carter and whoever Martin Freeman is playing. I haven't seen a movie this stuffed that wasn't called "The Avengers" before. And since the storyline of this film involves the Avengers and the consequences of their actions, I'm left to wonder how this is a Captain America movie at all. The good news is, it's Marvel. They haven't made a misstep yet. We'll see, when the film comes out on May 6th. View the full press release after the jump.

Disney Infinity 3.0: Star Wars

In what was probably the worst kept secret of all time, Disney Infinity has finally announced that their 3.0 edition will be Star Wars. Now, feel free to join me in looking at that beautiful picture up above and jumping for joy. Hit the jump for all the details and a kickass trailer!

Geekly Roundup, April 25th: Playing Games With Your Heart Edition

While we don’t have a podcast this week, we’ve got some fun things, some exciting things, and some strange and unusual things to bring you in this week’s Geekly Roundup!

First, though, a serious note: our hearts go out to those suffering from the devastating earthquake in Nepal and the families of the over 1,800 killed by the tragedy. If you want to provide help, both CNN and Mashable have put together lists of reputable charities working to render aid. Forgoing one comic, app, piece of DLC, collectible, or beverage this week will absolutely be worth it for someone in desperate need right now.

With that said, it’s a Geekly Roundup and so we have to move on to less serious but still terribly interesting news — read on!

 Perlman and LeFauve to write Captain Marvel

Already well-celebrated for their excellent penning of Guardians of the Galaxy’s screenplay, screenwriting team Nicole Perlman and Meg LeFauve have been tapped to write the script for the upcoming Marvel movie Captain Marvel. Given that this is a strong character with a lot of depth that has resonated strongly with a huge number of fans, the strength of Guardians makes Perlman and LeFauve a brilliant choice for a movie about Carol Danvers.

 Hideo Kojima doesn’t appear at Famitsu

From Kotaku, an account of one of Japan’s most prestigious video game award ceremonies — and the fact that both Hideo Kojima of Metal Gear Solid fame and Konami as a whole were completely absent from the event, something not at all in line with Kojima historically. The strange confusion in Kojima’s status with Konami — one which the company refuses to explain and on which Kojima has remained oddly silent — has only grown deeper, as it was recently announced that the outstanding downloadable demo for PT will be disappearing from the PlayStation Store shortly.

 JK Simmons to visit alternate universe in Counterpart

The outstanding JK Simmons portrays a UN bureaucrat who discovers his department has a secret portal to an alternate universe in Starz’s new Counterpart, as related by Deadline. The series is written by Jungle Book remake writer Justin Marks and the first episodes will be directed by Imitation Game director Morten Tyldum; the series is described by Deadline as a sci-fi espionage thriller with a metaphysical twist.

 Final Fantasy XIV re-imagined as a fighting game

What do you do when you’re waiting for the release of your much-touted Heavensward DLC? Remake a major boss battle from your MMORPG into a Street Fighter-style game, of course! This YouTube video featured by Kotaku is a showcase for some of the fun visuals offered by FFXIV’s in-game assets. As the video itself points out, there are no plans to add 2D-fighting content to FFXIV, sadly for everyone else.

 Can you survive the Battle of Hogwarts?

Continuing the recent surge in quick-and-dirty choose your own adventure games on news sites, Buzzfeed brings us an enjoyable race through the Battle of Hogwarts featuring two non-main characters trying to contribute to the massive struggle at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Absolutely worth a read if you enjoy choose-your-own-adventures.

Elsewhere around the Internet:

Japan’s maglev train breaks 12-year speed record (Science Hook)

Navy creates clear clay armor (Popular Science)

Ada Lovelace reborn in graphic novel (The Takeaway)

Harleen Quinzel gets her first lab-coated action figure (io9)

A first look at Scream Queens (Entertainment Weekly)

Second Quest: A horrifying modern graphic novel fable based on The Legend of Zelda (Kotaku)

Tokyo Ghoul’s :re cafe is a real place, and you can go there (Kotaku)

And now, Downton Abbey characters battling with lightsabers (Nerdist; Rob James-Collier/YouTube)

Each and every one of these are worth a look, but if you’re at all Star Wars and/or Downton Abbey-inclined, the last one really deserves a glance; it’s a fun and rather self-aware romp that also goes towards James-Collier’s fundraising for the London Marathon. Tune in again next week for more from around the Internet in our next Geekly Roundup!

The Geekly Roundup is a weekly Ace of Geeks feature that brings together all the interesting things we've encountered across the Internet this week.  Contributions for this week's Roundup were submitted by Ellie, Ben, Raven, and Lauren.

Marvel's Daredevil is Brutally Brilliant Art

This isn’t the Daredevil I grew up with. This show doesn’t have any of the signifiers for which many know the character. There aren’t a lot of high flying acrobatics. We don’t constantly see the world through the beautiful and haunted perception of the Man Without Fear. And we most certainly don’t get the colorful cast of characters like Elektra, Bullseye, or (most importantly) Stilt Man. This is something else entirely.

And thank gods for that, because a show that had adhered so closely to the source material might have denied itself the excellence we’re seeing here today.

Geekly Roundup April 12th: Movies and Dicks Edition

Welcome back to the Geekly Roundup, your source of all the fun, interesting, and poignant news we’ve collected that didn’t make it into an article this week! We've got ancient remedies, dick pics, awesome new casting and more!

In today's round up, Lauren, Ben and Mark talk about Medieval remedies for modern, drug-resistant infections, as well as Marvel's tearful goodbye to DC as DC says goodbye to New York city. Then the group discusses recent controversies in Final Fantasy and the Hugo Awards. Check it out now!

Daredevil's Final TV Costume Revealed!

Earlier this morning, there was a teensy little leak on Netflix, that accidentally blew the lid off of what Daredevil's final costume on the new TV show (premiering this Friday!) would look like. It was a low res image, but Marvel's used to dealing with leaks by now and always want their content represented in the best possible way. So they responded by giving us all a peak at the final costume, and it looks fantastic. Comic inspired, but still feeling gritty in a real world way. Hit the jump for the reveal video, and a full look at the new Daredevil.

Who will be the All New, All Different Avengers?

Marvel released a nice little teaser today for their Free Comic Book Day issue of their All-New, All-Different Avengers, with two members revealed and four in shadow. So who will be the newest members of the Avengers post Secret Wars? Here's our thoughts, with some educated guesses and some rampant speculation. Hit the jump to see more.

Marvel Universe Live - Fun for Kids, Maybe Not Great for You

Arena shows are a tough thing, especially in the modern world. Back in the day, the Ninja Turtles would show up, tell a few jokes, kick a foot ninja in the face, and everybody goes home happy. But now these supposedly "kids properties" are the subjects of major motion pictures, with billions of dollars spent and effects by the wizards at Industrial Light and Magic. It's no longer enough to just show up in costume and call it a day - a modern arena show has to bring kids at least a semblance of the same magic they'll see on the big screen. So far, Batman was on point but disappointing, and How to Train Your Dragon (I can't believe we never reviewed this) blew me the hell away. So where does Marvel Universe Live fall on that scale? Somewhere in the middle.

Is Marvel skipping SDCC?

For the past two or three years, the absolute highlight of the madness known as San Diego Comic Con's Hall H has been whatever surprises Marvel has cooked up for the fans. From Tom Hiddleston showing up in full costume and character as Loki, to seeing the entire Avengers cast together on stage for the first time, they've always brought something to stop the show.

Which makes it interesting to think that this year, they may not be there at all.

In answering a fan Q&A session on his personal Facebook, James Gunn dropped this particular bomb:

Cue the fan freak out. In response to whether he might be playing with his fans or trying to trick us, Gunn said the following:

“@starglooms: @JamesGunn @DrunkenShots guys, he could be lying” I have never lied about anything to the fans, ever.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) March 7, 2015

So what does this mean? With Avengers: Age of Ultron dropping a few months before SDCC, Marvel may feel like they don't need to be there, although they could still show to promote Ant-Man. If they don't show at all, the lines for Hall H could be significantly shorter this year.

Or longer, as people assume Marvel will show up to surprise them, and then riot when they don't.

Update on the Marvel Experience - Thankfully, Not Cancelled

Yesterday, we ran an article questioning the seemingly up in the air status of the Marvel Experience's tour. From what we'd seen, it looked like the remainder of the tour had been cancelled. Happily, that's not the case. We were contacted by Tracy Mallozi, managing director of the Rose Group, who filled us in on the details.

The short version of what's happening is good news and bad news. The good news is good news if you live in the San Diego or Chicago area - the show is staying in Del Mar until March 1st, after which they're taking the show to a newly announced stop at Chicago's Soldier Field. During it's time in Chicago, the show will be "reconfigured to both double down on guest excitement and be able to better utilize existing infrastructure of stadiums and ballparks," and "retooled with more interactive games and upgraded content." After that, the show will finally come to San Francisco in the Spring of 2016.

So yeah - for those of you who were excited to see this one-of-a-kind event in San Francisco this spring, you will have to wait a year...but it does sound like it'll be a better show once it gets to you. Ticketmaster has announced that you'll have the option (not yet available, from what we can tell) to receive a refund, or reschedule for a 2016 date. We're anxious to check it out ourselves. Read the full press release after the jump.

Is the Marvel Experience Cancelled?

The Marvel Experience, a traveling theme park of sorts that Marvel has been taking around to different cities, has been generating a lot of buzz. The show has a 4D show, a simulator ride, and more awesome Marvel props and costumes from the MCU than you can shake a stick at. It looks like an awesome experience all around.

However, fans were dismayed this morning when they logged on to the main site and discovered that tickets and show times for any shows past the February stop in Del Mar, California were completely missing. Ticketmaster.com shows the upcoming shows for the San Francisco leg of the tour as "cancelled."

The show had been experiencing major technical difficulties in its early stops, but the official page has no announcement about any delays or cancellations. We've reached out to Marvel and Hero Ventures to see if we hear anything back.

Spider-man is Coming Home to the Marvel Cinematic Universe!

This. Is. Huge.

Marvel has just announced that they have reached a deal with Sony Pictures to include Spider-man in an unspecified upcoming Marvel film. They don't name the film, but the Sony leaks from last year all pointed towards Captain America: Civil War as the film in question. We'll see if they can make a change that large in time..

After Spidey's appearance in the upcoming Marvel film, Sony will release their next Spider-man film on July 28th, 2017. Sony will continue to have financial and the "final creative control" over the Spider-man films. Whether this means they'll allow Marvel to come in and make their films of the quality we've come to expect from the MCU remains to be seen.

Also not known is whether Andrew Garfield will continue on as Spider-man. We'll find out very soon. Fingers crossed that Spidey makes his first cameo sooner than we think.

Marvel and DC Announce Diverse New Comics

Today was a big day for comic books, as massive announcements came from both sides of the Marvel/DC aisle. Marvel made their big announcement that was supposed to appear on The View today (it ended up on their website and mashable instead), and DC announced a whole lineup of new books. The wonderful thing is that a great many of the new books are led by diverse casts - the comic book industry is starting to change. Hit the jump for the full announcements.

Witness the Dark First Trailer for Daredevil

Marvel dropped their first trailer for their Netflix original Daredevil series today, and it looks very different from anything they've done before. Drawing from the darker runs on the hero by folks like Frank Miller and Brian Michael Bendis, this is clearly a hero in a city that's lost control, bringing back the light by any means necessary. The show is taking itself further than any Marvel property has before, with gallons of blood in one shot. They're using the lack of regulations on Netflix to their advantage.

It's also really dark. Like, hard to see, dark. See for yourself after the jump.

Carrie-Anne Moss Joins Marvel/Netflix's AKA Jessica Jones

Marvel has announced another cast member for it's AKA Jessica Jones series, and this time, it's Carrie-Anne Moss. Best known for playing Trinity in the Matrix Series, Moss is a favorite for her appearances in diverse fare like Silent Hill and Memento. She joins David Tennant, Krysten Ritter, Mike Colter, and Rachel Taylor as the cast for this new series continues to fill out.

Marvel didn't provide a name or a description for Moss's character, but their head of television, Jeph Loeb, did have the following to say:

“Carrie-Anne has proven her ability to play complex characters with deep and layered inner lives,” said Jeph Loeb, Executive Producer/Marvel’s Head of Television. “Her interaction with Jessica Jones will be one of the many highlights of the series.”

AKA Jessica Jones will be the second Marvel-produced series to hit Netflix, after Daredevil arrives on April 10th of this year. Netflix will also produce series for Luke Cage and Iron Fist, all leading up to a team up of all four shows in the Defenders mini-series.

David Tennant joins cast of Marvel's new series "A.K.A. Jessica Jones" for Netflix

It's just been announced that David Tennant - yes! The Doctor - will be joining the cast of Marvel's new series for Netflix titled "A.K.A. Jessica Jones."

A former super-hero trying to rebuild her life as a private detective, Jessica Jones keeps getting drawn into cases involving people with unusual abilities. David Tennant is cast as her nemesis Killgrave - a villain from her past, he pops up again to wreak havoc in her new life.

In the comics,  Killgrave was the real name of the Purple Man, a villain with mind control powers who used them to dominate Jessica and make her into his personal slave for months - one of the main reasons she quit being a superhero.

As any fan of David Tennant's incarnation of The Doctor will tell you, he will be able to pull this off with no problem. My prediction is that he will most likely play this as a "wolf in sheep's clothing" thing - we KNOW he's evil, but he's just so damn likable!

Agent Carter, Gamer Gate, and the plight of the modern day woman.

So I finally caught up with Agent Carter, and I love every second of it.  It blends wonderful female characters with the challenges of being a woman in a man's world.  I don't consider myself a radical feminist, but I definitely believe in the equality of all human beings regardless of their skin color, sex, or orientation.

I'm really excited to see how the show deals with women's issues after the war.  As horrible as it was, war was actually a great opportunity of equality for women because society as a whole had no choice but to accept women into the workforce to keep the country running.  When all the GIs came back, the women were pushed out and forced to go back to their previous lives as secretaries, phone operators, and homemakers.  Carter actually says at one point in the pilot, "during the war, I felt I had a purpose."  There was a new hierarchy in the workplace: men, cripples, and then women.  The newly empowered women were instantly depowered, because who would begrudge their job to a returning GI when so many men didn't make it back?

But that was the 50's right?  Everything is different now right?

The End of the Marvel Universe

We've covered Marvel's upcoming Secret Wars event before, and why I think the long rumored reboot that came with it is a terrible idea. Today, Marvel held a press event to give all the details on the aftermath of Secret Wars, and it sheds a little more light on what they're doing. The good news - it's not a reboot. The bad news - it's the End of the Marvel Universe. Read on for more details:

We Already Have a Great Wonder Woman Show - It's Called Agent Carter.

Agent Carter promotional television show poster

During Maggie Gyllenhaal's acceptance speech at the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards last Sunday, she mentioned how proud she was to see that women were gaining a voice and being represented, multi-dimensionally, in entertainment. On a recent commercial, ABC made claims to being a leader in representing women by showing a span of a few of their television shows over the last decade, including ALIAS, Scandal, and now, Agent Carter. To me, (and many others out there) one character comes to mind with whom most identify women's equality, and that's Wonder Woman. Agent Carter, now three episodes in, has surprised me. Because Marvel comics has accomplished something that the owners of Wonder Woman haven't been able to do in almost 40 years. They've brought Wonder Woman's essence back, and done it better than the company that owns the rights to the character.

Secret Wars Revealed!

Yesterday, you heard our theory on what Marvel's Secret Wars teasers could mean. Today, more details were revealed by Marvel itself, and they're damned exciting. Hit the jump to watch the video!