Marvel Comic Book Bits: New Origin And Blackout Confirmed For ‘Ghost Rider’ Sequel; Possible Locations For ‘The Avengers;’ Bryan Singer Answers ‘X-Men’ Questions; Stan Lee Confirms New Cameos
By Russ Fischer/March 16, 2011 6:30 pm EST
Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine have been making Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance as a sequel to the 2007 movie Ghost Rider, and Brian Taylor just told Movieline that they’ve revamped the character’s origin for this sequel.
And with respect to this film’s relation to the original, he says,
And Johnny Whitworth from Limitless confirmed to AMC (via ComingSoon) that he’s playing Blackout in the Ghost Rider sequel. He’s a thug inadvertently given demonic powers by Ghost Rider. He says of the film,
We’re just looking at it as an evolution. The movie takes place years later. We’re not disowning the first movie but this Ghost Rider is an evolved form of the previous Ghost Rider. And the mythology that went behind it is stuff that never got delved into in the first movie, anyway. Like, they don’t talk about who the demon is from when Johnny Blaze becomes the Ghost Rider. We get into that and really get into who that guy is, what his story is, and what makes GR the way that he is.
Next up, Stan Lee confirms that he’ll cameo in The Amazing Spider-Man, as well as in Captain America and more. He said via Twitter,
I play the villain who, at the beginning, up until like page 70, is human. I’m not a very nice guy. I’m bad. I get turned into, for those who read ‘Ghost Rider’, the character Blackout. I get turned into him by the devil to complete my job. That gives me the fortitude to fight Ghost Rider and the supernatural abilities to compete on some level with that guy.
CBM points to listings that mention possible shooting locations for The Wolverine (Japan and New York, which we knew — let’s not speculate now on whether the current Japanese tragedy might cause trouble there) and The Avengers. Here’s the latter listing:
“Cameo time approacheth! First, my classic cameo in the new Spider-Man cinematic triumph! Then cometh Captain America and others–”
Finally, Bryan Singer answered questions about X-Men: First Class via the film’s Facebook page. Here are the questions and answers posted today; the rest of the cast will be following his lead in the coming weeks, so we’ll have some more slight info soon. There’s nothing really significant here, but serious fans might enjoy the Q&A.
Q: If you were a mutant what kind of power would u want to have and why?
A: I would like the power of Nightcrawler or Azazel; the ability to teleport anywhere.
Q: Who is your favorite x-men character and why?
A: Professor X because he is both powerful and vulnerable.
Q: Was there a character from the old comics you would love to have seen in this movie that hasn’t been in previous movies, and was not able to be put into this movie?
A:Quiksilver.
Q: What made you choose Emma Frost to play a part in “X-Men: First Class”? Overall, what do you think of her character in the movie?
A: You can’t have the Hellfire Club without Emma Frost. She is sexy and scary.
Q: Does this movie fall in the category of prequel, reboot or bit of both? Nevertheless, I’m very open-minded for this movie! =)
A: Prequel
Q: What are your plans for the X-Men franchise after First Class?
A: I am just focusing on this one at the moment.
Q: Is there less pressure producing this film as opposed to directing it (like X-Men 1 and 2), or are the pressures just different – with different things expected from you?
A: I can absolutely say from my standpoint that there is less pressure. There is no position with more pressure than directing. Hats off to Matthew.
Q: What was the deciding factor on changing the origin story of the X-Men instead of going with the comic book?
A: I felt that to earn the First Class title, it was important to go back to the formation of the X-Men and the beginnings of Xavier and Magneto’s relationship.
Q: What about this period in history intrigued you?
A: It is a time of socio-political upheaval in the world. The height of the cold war period. The birth of the civil rights movement. And the birth time of the X-Men comic book.
Q: Was it a conscious decision by the team to pick and choose which parts of previous movies would be canon to this movie? (White Queen already appearing in other movies, etc.)
A: We did our best to maintain continuity with the other films. But as sometimes happens for the sake of telling the most compelling story possible, we made a few concessions.
