Fans Treated To Brand New Captain America Footage

Originally published on For Your Excitement.  27 February  2014.

It seems I was once again not in the right audience at the right time. Fans that turned up to see Marvel’s latest one-shot, All Hail the King, Monday night were treated to the first ten minutes of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

All Hail the King stars Ben Kingsley, reprising his Trevor Slattery role from Iron Man 3. A special screening of the 13-minute short as well as a Q&A with Kingsley, producer Kevin Feige and screenwriter Drew Pearce was held at Hollywood’s Arclight theater. The short will also appear on the Thor: The Dark World blu-ray and digital download.

About the short films, which, like after credits scenes, have become an expectation from Marvel fans, Pearce said simply, “The Marvel one-shots are honestly just a labor of love.”

As for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, as Entertainment Weekly says, “it definitely packs a punch.”

Warning: minor spoilers to follow.

The film begins with Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) training in Washington, D.C. where he repeatedly laps Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie). The two strike up a conversation when their respective workouts are finished and Rogers jots down a record that Wilson suggests he listen to. Cap is keeping a lengthy list of pop culture bits to catch up on, everything from Steve Jobs to Star Wars, which he’s already watched (it’s crossed off the list). Their chat is cut short when Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) pulls up in a sleek black Corvette and then she and Rogers are off on a covert mission.

The footage now picks up where audiences at the D23 Expo saw it, with Romanoff and Rogers on a plane above the Indian Ocean. They joke about Cap’s nonexistent love/social life and he shuts the conversation down by jumping out of the plane. Without a parachute. He lands in the water and climbs aboard a ship where he begins their rescue op by taking out every guard in sight in increasingly badass ways. Eventually, Romanoff and their team join Rogers on the ship and head off to rescue some hostages.

Co-director Joe Russo described the action sequence this way on Slash Film, “This is a more brutal Captain America — a one-man black ops squad. There’s no dialogue in this sequence; just fighting. Cap’s fighting techniques are way more modern than the last time we saw him. He’s learned new moves; the action in general is much more hard-hitting and intense.”

By all accounts, this footage points toward the Captain America sequel being a strong addition to Marvel’s continuing line of Avengers films. The Winter Soldier hits theaters April 4.

Ben Kingsley Returns As Mandarin In Marvel One Shot

Originally published on PopWrapped.  12 January 2014.

Marvel Studios’ latest One Shot will star Ben Kingsley and not everyone’s favorite God of Mischief.

There was widespread fan speculation that Tom Hiddleston’s Loki would be the central figure in the short film, “All Hail the King,” which appears on the Thor: The Dark World Blu-ray. Considering the ending of that film, a Loki One Shot would be logical.

However, Digital Spy reports that Marvel has brought back Ben Kingsley’s Trevor Slattery, who played an important role in the Mandarin twist in Iron Man 3. Considering “All Hail the King” is written and directed by Iron Man 3 writer, Drew Pearce, Kingsley’s casting makes sense. Rumors are buzzing that the short film may even reintroduce the character of the Mandarin.

Previous Marvel One Shots have focused on Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Captain America’s Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell).

The Blu-ray for Thor: The Dark World releases on February 24th in the UK and a day later in the U.S.

First Look: Funnyman Chris O’Dowd Makes His Moves On Natalie Portman In Thor: The Dark World

Originally published on PopWrapped.  9 October 2013.

Every day we get one step closer to seeing Thor: The Dark World on the big screen and every day we seem to learn something new about Marvel’s upcoming film. Case in point: pictures of the IT Crowd’s Chris O’Dowd in his cameo scene.

The British funnyman, who is also known for his work on Girls and in This is 40, plays Richard inThor 2, a man out on a date with Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster in the scenes pictured.

They are apparently interrupted or at least joined by Darcy (Kat Dennings), which is probably a bit awkward. Even more uncomfortable? Based on what I’ve seen in the trailer it looks like this may be about the time that a certain gorgeous demi-god reappears on Earth. Guess we’ll have to wait until November 8^th (or October 30^th if you’re in the UK) to find out.

O’Dowd, who is primarily known for his turns in more comedic films and TV, said back in March to IndieWire that he was not interested in doing action movies because he doesn’t think he can keep a straight face. Marvel is definitely an exception to that as he revealed in that same interview.

“Actually, you know what I’ve done, just for fun because I didn’t think there was any way that I could be in a superhero movie, so I’ve done a scene in the new Thor movie, just for that,” O’Dowd said at the time. “I just do like one scene, which was quite fun.”

Check out a few more pictures below:

Photo courtesy of Marvel via Digital Spy

Photo courtesy of Marvel via Digital Spy

Thor’s Asgard Will Return To Its Ancient Roots Promises Films Director

Originally published on PopWrapped.  18 September 2013.

Source: Total Film

When you have one of the directors of Game of Thrones taking the reins on Thor: The Dark World, it is no surprise that the God of Thunder goes back to his ancient roots. After all, this historical connection is a large part of what separates Thor from his more modern, high tech Avengers companions.

To me the defining thing was that Thor is a superhero amongst many superheroes, but the thing that makes him different is the thing that should be featured in the movie. And that is that he’s also a warrior prince from an ancient culture,” director Alan Taylor said in an interview with Total Film.

One of the big additions is seeing Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth) on horseback, something only briefly glimpsed in the first Thor film. In addition, Thor’s homeworld, Asgard, will have more of a mix between advanced science (or magic, as we mere mortals would call it) and ancient traditions.

When thinking of another film that blends these two together to great effect, Lord of the Rings certainly comes to mind, and the comparison is a fair one according to Taylor.

“They’d (the studio) consciously steered away from that kind of thing in the first one. Because they wanted to make sure they were distinguishing themselves from Lord of the Rings. They didn’t want to be mistaken for that,” Taylor said. “But by the time I came along it seemed like they were ready to embrace a slightly more historical attitude towards it.”

To that end, Asgard will certainly look different than it did in Thor, but if the trailers are any indication, audiences are not going to be disappointed.

Thor: The Dark World opens in UK cinemas on October 30th and in US theaters on November 8th.

PopWrapped Goes To D23’s Star Studded Marvel Panel

Originally published on PopWrapped.tumblr.com.  11 August 2013.

With never-before-seen clips and a handful of cast members on hand, Marvel opened Saturday morning at D23 with a bang.

First up was Thor: The Dark World. Cast members Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, and Sir Anthony Hopkins stopped by to show footage from the upcoming sequel. In a nod to his legendary appearance in Hall H at Comic-Con last month, Hiddleston apologized for not showing up in his costume. “I’m not gonna get this crowd to kneel,” he joked. “We’re at Disneyland.”

The new clip from The Dark World showed Portman’s Jane Foster being examined by Asgardian healers. Jane apparently has a mysterious mystical infection that cannot be healed on Earth, causing Thor (Chris Hemsworth) to spirit her away to his home world. His father Odin (Hopkins) is not pleased but when he orders guards to send Jane back, her infection protects her - or, more likely, itself.