Entertainment: Ryan Reynolds - King of the Comic Book Movie

It would very much appear that Ryan Reynolds is the unofficial king of the comic book movie genre. Not so much that he's starred in a super successful film franchise (although, we'll see what comes out of Green Lantern later this summer), but he is very much interspersed throughout the genre, appearing in X-Men Origins: Wolverine as Wade Wilson, which has led to a green light for a solo Deadpool flick, where Reynolds will reprise his role as Wilson/Deadpool, due out in 2014 - according to latest updates.

He's starring as Hal Jordan in this summer's Green Lantern, and has been in other super-hero related projects over the years, such as Paper Man (if you haven't seen it, DO IT!) and a voice actor for the short-lived, animated series, Zeroman, alongside the late, great Leslie Nielson.

All this aside, Reynolds is also starring in the upcoming R.I.P.D. (Rest In Police Department), based on Dark Horse Comics' limited run series by Peter Lenkov.that ran from October 1999 to January 2000. Ryan plays a deceased cop, killed in the line of duty, while still in the prime of his life. He is then recruited to join the Rest In Police Department, the ghost world police force. He signs up for 100 years duty in exchange for the chance to find his killer.


His co-star in this tale is non other than Jeff Bridges, who will play his ghost police partner, an old pro who's been on the beat since the 1800's.

Gaming: Marvel Universe Online?

Years ago, it was announced that a MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) was to be developed by Cryptic Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios exclusively for Windows using a license from Marvel, called Marvel Universe Online.

It was stated that MUO was to draw from over 60 years of Marvel history, while leaving the door open for future story lines for years to come. Awesome, right? Well, yes. But then that ball was dropped.

On February 11, 2008 a Microsoft spokesperson referred to it as "an inability to compete" with the current MMO marketplace. Less than a week later, Cryptic Studios announced that development would continue using a new IP license of The Champions, a superhero-based role playing game, and MUO eventually became Chanpions Online.


A little more than a year later, Gazillion Entertainment signed a ten year deal to produce Marvel games, including a MMO based in the Marvel Universe. Gazillion's first Marvel title was Super Hero Squad Online, a more kid-oriented game.


Last Thursday, Thursday evening Marvel's community manager tweeted, "Follow/join the @MMMSociety to get the hints & clues about the #MarvelU #MMO. There may even be a hint today..." Well, "today" came and went, but if you head over to the MMMSociety page, you'll find a protected Twitter account with only an avatar and description, which says, "The Marvel Massively Multiplayer Society is your gateway to the Marvel Universe, Marvel's upcoming epic MMO." The protected account suggests the teaser on the Marvel Twitter page may have been premature, but it's likely we'll see some news very soon.

Now dubbed simply Marvel Universe, the game has some pretty stiff competition already in play: not only the Champions Online game that the original MUO eventually became, but earlier this year Sony Online Entertainment launched the highly successful DC Universe Online, or DCUO for short.

But will it actually see the light of day? Only time will tell.

Entertainment: Deadpool, Batman, Superman and Other Comic Movie News

It's no surprise that I'm a huge fan of comic-book flicks, so I was happy with the news on a few of the upcoming projects in the works.

20th Century Fox has tapped VFX expert, Tim Miller, to direct the upcoming X-Men Origins: Deadpool which will be his directorial debut. Fox has also closed a producing deal with Ryan Reynolds, who will reprise his role as the Merc with a Mouth from X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Josh Pence has been cast as a young Ra's Al Ghul for scenes rumored to take place 30 years prior to the present story line in Christopher Nolan's new Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are all returning to lead the cast, which also includes Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, Tom Hardy as Bane, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Alberto Falcone, and Marion Cotillard.

The story line has been kept locked up tight, but for those wanting to read between the lines, Pence's casting throws a few crumbs to follow. Ra's Al Ghul was played by Liam Neeson in 2005's Batman Begins, paving the way for a possible return of the supposedly dead character. Also, while the studio has never confirmed Cotillard's character, it has been rumored to be Talia Al Ghul, the daughter of Batman's mentor-turned-enemy, and once love interest of Bruce Wayne in the comics.

Although it was previously rumored that Viggo Mortenson would play the role of General Zod in Superman: Man of Steel, that role has actually found its way into the hands of Michael Shannon, who received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor for Revolutionary.


"Zod is not only one of Superman's most formidable enemies, but one of the most significant because he has insights into Superman that others don't. Michael is a powerful actor who can project both the intelligence and the malice of the character, making him perfect for the role," Snyder said.

Zod, like Superman, is from Krypton, where he commanded its armed forces. The character appeared in both 1978’s Superman and its 1980 sequel Superman II, where he was played by actor Terence Stamp who is also the disembodied voice of Jor-El in Smallville, which ends it's 10-year run this spring.

And while Green Lantern hasn't even hit theatres yet,  the writing team is already at work on a sequel to the highly anticipated epic. Blake Lively, who plays Hal Jordan's love interest, Carol Ferris has this to say: "There are lots of winks toward the audience, you know, if people like this movie then we will do more and, you know, my character Carol Ferris turns into a villain that challenges and fights Hal Jordan... with some CRAZY costumes."

In a recent interview for Green Larntern, Ryan Reynolds raved that this wasn't an Earth-bound super hero flick. When asked on the Justice League movie answered: "That’s a whole other conversation. That’s a whole business model and nothing to do with me at all," he said. "No one has ever approached me about doing a 'Justice League' movie. We’ll see if they do it in the long run."

But it seems he may have been lying, as his publicist has released a new statement that says: "Justice League is a continuation of the Green Lantern franchise, but will not feature Green Lantern on the team until after Green Lantern's sequel."

This maybe a little premature having any talk of a Justice League movie, but DC does have to compete with Marvel's Avengers rumor mill. And after all, Marvel needs all that Avenger hype, because what in the hell was Marvel thinking of when they made Thor?!