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1988 50th Anniversary Superman poster.

In 1999, Wizard Magazine gave Kevin Smith the opportunity to cast his "Superman Lives" script for publication. Not surprisingly, Smith cheekily casts his friends, and actors he previously worked with for the film, but some of his picks are interesting to think about. Especially for the Peters mandated polar bears.

Couple of GxK "retro" style posters.

Supervoid did a script breakdown of the once-proposed TMNT 4.

In 2001, DC Comics ran the "Just Imagine" series of titles, which featured Stan Lee's re-imaging of DC Superheroes. To which, Wonder Woman was one of these.






In this Stan Lee version of Wonder Woman, Wondy is not Diana Prince, but Maria Mendoza. Who wields a divine golden staff (empowered by a Sun God) that turns her into Wonder Woman.

I can't honestly say I was really crazy about this reimaging (or really any of the other "Just Imagine" books), but if there was a silver lining, is that the book does feature Jim Lee on cover art, as well as penciling the interiors as well.

Interesting enough experiment, sure. The novelty of Stan Lee dabbling with DC Superheroes was enough to peak some curiosity. Just not enough to really clamor for more.

[52 Pick-Up]

52 Pick-Up 1986

Honestly, I only watched this for the first time fairly recently, and what a treat it was! The film stars Roy Scheider, Ann-Margret, Clarence Williams III, and also John Glover as a sleazy, but highly entertaining main villain (his narration bits are absolutely hilarious!). It's adapted from a Elmore Leonard's novel of the same name, and it shows. I pretty much did a blind purchase with the the recent blu ray from a Kino Lorber sale, thinking, "It's got Roy Scheider in it. I'll give it a shot!", and needless to say, I'm glad I did.

Sure, it's a Cannon film production, but unlike what Tobe Hooper experienced with his Cannon film trilogy, Golan/Globus was very hands off on this film, and pretty much gave director John Frankenheimer free reign, and final cut. If you go by what the critics of the 1980's had to say about Cannon films, the majority were not kind, but "Runaway Train", and "52 Pick-Up" stood out. 

Hudson says they tried getting Rick Moranis back, but for whatever reason he just wasn't interested.

Yeah, because Rick is such an important part of the success of all of this. I think everybody understands that and agrees with that. I don't know why. I haven't had a personal conversation. I talked to Ivan Reitman before he transitioned, who I know had spent a lot of time trying to convince Rick. I know that the other guys have talked to him, and I'm not sure why. He just said no.

I know they offered him more money than they offered me. And if I thought going to his house would make a difference, I'd be there. Because I'd love to see [him]. And not just in Ghostbusters, but I just think he's an amazing talent. I would love to see him working, but obviously, it was a personal choice. [Maybe] if they did a country western album or something, but I don't know. I'd love to see him back if there was any possible way, you know?[/i]

https://screenrant.com/ghostbusters-frozen-empire-rick-moranis-return-no-why-explained/

I've read somewhere that Rick Moranis was prepping for his return to Hollywood last year with the "Shrunk" legacy movie. Which is now on indefinite hiatus. If you're going to make a "comeback", you might as well go for the franchise where you were the undeniable star, and not just a supporting player. Makes all the sense in the world, though for me, Louis Tully will always be Rick Moranis' signature role. Followed closely by Dark Helmet from "Spaceballs".

I thought Singer got it right by casting a wrestler in that role. At 6'9", ~270 lbs and built like a brick $#!+ house, it's hard to argue against Tyler Mane. But if not him, then some other super jacked wrestler should've gotten the gig.

Kevin Nash has stated that he was, apparently, the first choice for Sabretooth, but declined when he found out that he would essentially be taking a substantial pay cut to participate in the film, for the months off needed from active wrestling.

Nash did briefly portray Super Shredder back in 1991, and later appeared as "The Russian" in the 2004 Thomas Jane Punisher movie.

But since you mention it, one thing I did want to draw attention to is Magneto as envisioned by Lee/Kirby vs. Magneto as interpreted by Claremont.

Lee/Kirby pretty obviously intended Magneto to be Super-Nazi. He's the Superior Man out to bring the world to its knees because he believes his power gives him the right to do so. Considering Lee/Kirby were both Jewish, it makes a lot of sense that the Nazis loomed large in their imaginations. Reading those early Lee/Kirby X-Men issues, it's hard to escape the idea that Magneto is basically Super Hitler. The metaphor of Nazis is barely a metaphor in their approach to the character.

Right. Exactly. As much as some people want to memory hole this fact, Magneto, as originally intended by Lee/Kirby, was Super Hitler. People tend to forget the generation Stan and Jack came from, and the Nazis were the models for a whole lot of villains back in those days. His counterpart, Professor X, is the good guy in a wheelchair. Pretty clear what's going on there.

Claremont obviously wanted to go in a different direction. Magneto was as physically imposing as ever. But he had that sympathetic backstory of being a survivor. He knew only too well what mankind was capable of doing to each other and certainly to him. As you know, he sees his war against the human race as a preemptive strike in an inevitable war. His history creates an intriguing irony to the character that he wants to subjugate and ultimately exterminate his would-be exterminators. So, what is the moral difference between him and the people who have persecuted him?

Yes, indeed. Magneto starting out as a ruthless killer, to something of a "freedom fighter", has been baked into the cake for nearly 50 years now. As such, Mags worldview is a testament to the ultimate "tragic irony" of the character.

We should also mention McKellan's performance. It's fine for the films that he appeared in. But you are correct when you say that McKellan's Magneto and comic book Magneto have very little in common aside from a name and a backstory. I have become concerned that McKellan's portrayal of the character will "haunt" future live action incarnations. Rather than being the physically imposing powerhouse that Magneto was intended to be (and was consistently drawn as for all or most of his publication history), future live action performances are very likely to somewhat emulate McKellan's casting.

Maybe that's inevitable if his World War II history remains an unbreakable aspect of Magneto's canon?

Only way around a senior citizen Magneto for the movies, that I can think of, is that supposedly mags is a geneticist to some extent in the comics. If you have Magneto state in the film that he was successful in slowing down the natural ageing process, this could be used to illustrate, in his mind, more credence that mutants are just that much better than neanderthal humans. Another possibility, is that he sorta feeds off Earth's magnetic field, which in turn slows down his ageing. Because ... well ... comics.

Personally, I'd rather Magneto remain as holocaust survivor, since, again, it's been baked in the cake for quite awhile now. From what I gather from the comics, and have read online, Claremont was originally intending to have Magneto's background be that of a gypsy, but the Fantastic Four people vetoed the idea because it was just too similar to Doctor Doom's background. Thus, the holocaust survivor origin was born. Which pretty much quickly changed his demeanor from "killer" to "sympathetic shades of grey mutant freedom fighter", and essentially ignored the previous more villainous maniacal portrayal from the Lee/Kirby and even Neal Adams days.