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.

At Least Twenty New, Canon, Star Wars Books Coming

One of the really tough things about getting new readers into the Star Wars Expanded Universe, back before it was destroyed by the new Lucasfilm initiatives, was that it contained too much material. Removing it was said to be an effort to streamline the universe. Well, now it looks like we might head back in that direction anyway. Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Lucasfilm will release twenty new books in an effort to bridge the gap between the original Star Wars trilogy and the new film, The Force Awakens. And thanks to the new Story Group initiative, all of these books are officially canon.

Not all of these are novels - the report seems to include new comics from Marvel, new sticker books from Doring Kindersly, and a "Ships of the Galaxy" book from Studio Fun. (If it's anything like the gorgeous Ships of the Line books that Trekkies have been getting, that's exciting.)

On the novel front, we're getting a book called Star Wars: Aftermath, likely to take place just after the original trilogy, with no author announced yet. (Timothy Zahn, Timothy Zahn, oh please, Timothy Zahn.) Also from the EW report:

Cecil Castellucci (author of Tin Star) will write Moving Target, an adventure following Princess Leia; Jason Fry, who earlier wrote Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy, will be the author of The Weapon of a Jedi, about Luke Skywalker; Claudia Gray, author of the Evernight series of fantasy books, will write a book titled Lost Stars; and Greg Rucka, a comic book scribe and writer of the Atticus Kodiak novels, will pen Smuggler’s Run, a Han Solo tale.

The most exciting news out of that is Greg Rucka writing a Han Solo novel - I can't wait to read that when it comes out. More news as it comes, but let us know what you think of the new, in-canon, Expanded Universe in the comics.

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.

Are All of Joss Whedon's Shows and Movies Connected?

Officially? No, not really. (Unless Joss has been hiding this from us all this time.) But an anonymous Imgur user put together a pretty convincing timeline that connects Buffy, Angel, Cabin in the Woods, and finally Firefly into one cohesive universe. Check out the explanation and the image after the jump. (Also, massive spoilers for all of those shows are involved.)

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:

The Geeky World of Body Building

• What is the signifigance of C6H12O6 and C5H10O4 being so similar? 
• Why have some Branch Chain Amino Acids been utilized in an attempt to treat certain cases of Hepatic Encephalopathy? 
• Why is friction an important factor to take into consideration when utilizing this equation: W=fR,1? 

Review those (rhetorical) questions that I posted for just a moment. What type of the person do you think would be most familiar with the answers to those questions? I polled a pretty wide group of people for their replies. Most, if not all, said something to the effect of biologist, biochemist, doctor, or research specialist. However, each of the three questions make up a fraction of knowledge which the majority of dedicated bodybuilders posses. Surprised? You shouldn't be.

Marvel's Movie Schedule through 2019 revealed!

Marvel Studios, the folks behind the monster hits The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, had a special press event today to announce something "secret." Speculation ranged from announcing actors in specific films to announcing their entire slate for the next few years. Well, it turns out...they did all of that.

Benedict Cumberbatch is Doctor Strange! UPDATE: CONFIRMED!

Image by Anne Wu

UPDATE: 12/4/14 - Marvel.com has confirmed Cumberbatch's casting as Doctor Strange! While the press release is light on details we didn't already know, Marvel Studio's Producer Kevin Feige had this to say:

“Stephen Strange’s story requires an actor capable of great depth and sincerity. In 2016, Benedict will show audiences what makes Doctor Strange such a unique and compelling character."

Variety, pretty much the most reliable source for film news you could ask for, is reporting that Marvel has finished it's hunt for the new Sorcerer Supreme, and the man they've chosen is none other than Smaug and Sherlock himself. He's reported as being in "final talks" which usually stands for "done deal" in Hollywood - but something could go horrible wrong at the last second, so cross your fingers.

What do you all think? I'm pretty excited - Cumberbatch has always shown gravitas, but in Sherlock he also shows the vulnerability needed to make Dr. Strange a real person, not just a caricature shouting "BY THE HOARY HOASTS OF HAGGOTH!" all the time.

Although, I'll be a bit sad if he doesn't shout that at least once.