The plot for Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man has been under lock-and-key for quite some time, but a recent press conference in Tokyo, Japan revealed some plot points about the upcoming movie. The video revealed that the movie would be released in Japan on June 30th, just three days before the July 3rd North American release date. Thanks to YouTube user “MrJapanjp” for uploading the hour long video. During the press conference, the cast and crew revealed some details about the story and the characters.

When asked about the difference between Marc Webb’s movie and Sam Raimi’s trilogy, producer Avi Arad said:

“In our movie, [Peter] finds his true love, Gwen Stacy was always the true love of Peter Parker… We found a very, very good story about what makes a human being. About what sets their destiny.”

Arad added that Ifans’ Connors will have connection to both Peter and Gwen and, apparently, Peter’s parents.

“We introduce our villain, Dr. Connos and in the great tradition of Marvel, Dr. Connors is going to be connected to Peter Parker and, in our case even more interesting, to Gwen Stacy. Right there, the challenge of having to deal with a villain who is a mentor and the only one who you can look at and say, ‘So what really happened to my dad?’ That’s a very hard person to fight.”

After some special footage was screened, Andrew Garfield went on to detail the grounded nature of the film:

“As you can see, a lot of the stunts are practical and grounded in reality. That was something that Marc, the director, really wanted to make sure happened in this movie to set it apart from previous ones… I would exhaust myself every day and get into near-death experiences every hour on the hour… I collaborated with [the stunt team] not only on the big stunt set-pieces but also on what happens to Peter’s body when he gets bitten. What happens to his DNA and how that effects the way he moves and the way he interacts with objects. The idea that he has spider DNA running in his system. What that will do to his sense of space. What that will do to the sensitivity of his skin. To have an opportunity to play in that forum with creative and talented people was a real opportunity and gift.”

Sounds like Andrew Garfield has a grasp on the new Spider-Man, and knows what Marc Webb want from him. But I like the fact that this will be a more reality based and grounded Spider-Man movie. The fact that Garfield has spent time doing his own stunts will definitely add the to realism of the movie.

Emma Stone added that the Gwen Stacy she is playing will not be the same as the one her Help co-star, Bryce Dallas Howard, played in Spider-Man 3.

“We haven’t even met Mary Jane at this point,” she said, in an arguably cryptic statement.

Does that mean we will get to met her, and if we do does that mean Stone won’t be in any more of the new Spider-Man films?

When asked if the film would duplicate the upside down kiss from the original, Stone said no, but then responded with the following when asked if Webb’s version would offer something similarly iconic:

“You don’t want to know! You want to watch the movie and find out. Plus, it would be weird if we were like, ‘There’s something iconic coming up!’ You’ve got to decide if it’s iconic or not. But there is a nice first kiss and it’s different than the upside down one. And we liked it.”

The Amazing Spider-Man opens domestically on July 3rd in 3D, 2D and IMAX 3D theaters.

You can check out the first trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man here.

The three-book series, published in 2003 and 2004, tells the story of a former black-ops CIA agent now living a quiet life in retirement until the day a high-tech assassin shows up intent on killing him.

The actor is currently in talks and there isn’t much known about what role he will be playing. Willis will be playing the role of Paul Moses, the retired CIA Agent, formerly working in “foreign acquisitions”.

There is a character in the series called Michael Beesley, a newly politically appointed Director of the CIA. That very well could be the character for Freeman, but that is obviously speculation at this point.

The three book series was created by writer Warren Ellis and artist Cully Hamner. Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian are producing with DC exec Gregory Noveck serving as exec producer. Brothers Erich Hoeber and Jon Hoeber are penning the script.

Join TV and Film enthusiasts from Fused Film’s Entertainment Overload as they talk about the geekiest and biggest movies in this weekly podcast for fans and geeks alike. Welcome to an insightful and entertaining fanboy perspective on all things awesome.

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Episode 62 – A Terminator Overload

Download or Listen Now to Episode 62:

Recorded on May 23, 2009 at Comics and Collectibles in Memphis, TN. With your hosts, Justincredible, Willie Gillis and special guest Markus Seaberry.

• Sports talk
• Voicemails
• Music Review: Relapse (Eminem)
• TV Talk: Upfronts 2009, Saturday Night Live finale, American Idol Finale, Glee, Reaper, and How I Met Your Mother.
• Films We Saw This Week: Justin watched Dance flick. Mr. Seaberry saw Goodbye Solo, Casablanca, Crank and The Soloist. Willie Gillis watched Taken and the Original Terminator Trilogy.
• Video Game Talk: Justin played Godfather II, Bionic Commando and Terminator Salvation
• Big Review: Terminator Salvation

Episode 63 – An UP Weekend with Some Hellacious Fun!

Download or Listen Now:

Recorded May 30, 2009. Hosts Justincredible, Willie Gillis, and our special guests Markus Seaberry, Emily From Ohio, and Mr. F join us for an assorted variety of topics including:

• A little Arrested Development mixed in with some Spider-Man 3 hating
• We discuss the merits of “I’m The Juggernaut Bitch”
• Some Spider-Man 3/4 talk
• Origin stories in comic book films
• Terminator plot holes
• Scrubs season 9 talk
• Emily hates Parks and Recreation
• X-Files season 9, Dollhouse and Buffy
• Then we finish the episode with our Big Review of Disney Pixar’s UP
• Music you hear in the episode is from the Up soundtrack by Michael Giacchino

Thanks for listening to Entertainment Overload! Please let us know what you thought of this episode by leaving a comment below or e-mailing us at website@fusedfilm.com – we appreciate your feedback!

So the first bad casting rumor to really circle the Iron Man 2, is the fact that Scarlett Johansson may be replacing Emily Blunt in Iron Man 2 as the assassin, Black Widow.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Marvel is seeking to replace her with actress Scarlett Johansson.

At this time, Marvel is not commenting on the story. Sources close to the actress have confirmed that Johansson has met with filmmakers, and is very interested in taking on the role of Russian superspy turned Black Widow Natasha Romanoff. At this time, Blunt’s representatives insist that she is trying to make both projects fit into her schedule. Gulliver’s Travels is to start shooting on April 15th. Though, Iron Man 2 does not have a shooting script nor a set start date.

I really liked the casting of Blunt as Romanoff, but like we reported a few weeks ago, Blunt is contractually obligated to the Gulliver’s Travels picture due to Fox holding an option on the actress that was part of her deal when she co-starred in The Devil Wears Prada and the studio wants to invoke it to see that she takes part in the giant tale therefore the Iron Man 2 role was trying to be worked out in terms of scheduling.

So if Blunt has to drop out, Scarlett would be in based on this story, which I think is a terrible second choice. I like Johansson but certainly do not think she could pull off a Russian accent nor the character of Nastasha Romanoff. I truly beleive this downgrades the movie’s ensemble a lot if they cast her, lets hope they can reach a scheduling deal with Blunt.

Recently as of 2007 a new Shadow film has been talked about and most recently, Sam Raimi, has thrown his name into the development of the project.

Now MTV Splashpage has the goods on the project from producer, Micheal Uslan:

“I think the one thing going in is we all see The Shadow as more of a force of nature than a specific person in a secret identity,” Uslan told MTV in an exclusive interview. “The Shadow may actually be many people.”

“We’ve gone back to the pulp roots, the comic book roots of The Shadow, with a dash of the radio roots,” added Uslan. “But we’ve deeply ensconced ourselves in the world of pulps and comics.”

“Sam [Raimi] and Josh Donen are my partners and we have it set up Sony, and a wonderful writer named Siavash Farahani who has worked for me before is writing the screenplay,” Uslan said. “It’s coming along great, we’re very excited about it. You know, it takes time to nurture these things. You probably know all the stories. The first ‘Batman’ film took me 10 years to get made.”

For those who not aware Uslan is an uber comic-book geek who actually taught “Comic Book Folklore” as a college course at an accredited university, he was involved in all the Batman films from Burton’s Batman to this year’s The Dark Knight. However, there is a draw he did recently co-produce The Spirit and we all know how much crap that was.

It seems the vision of this new take on The Shadow is interesting to say the least but I still beg the question, do we really need this? Is today’s audience even aware what The Shadow is? We shall see, if it is marketed right, a name is signed on to direct and star, the distribution is good, then audiences will simply go. Anyway can’t wait to hear more.

Actress Emily Blunt, who is one of my favorite chics of Hollywood right now, is apparently being sought to play the femme fatale, thorn in Tony Stark’s side, The Black Widow.

According to Variety,

“Emily Blunt has emerged as the frontrunner to play Natasha Romanoff in the “Iron Man” sequel. She’s a Soviet superspy who doubles as Black Widow, a beauty in a skintight black costume enhanced by high-tech weaponry.”

This is great if it happens as she has the sensuality, look and attitude to play the character of Natasha Romanoff and with Rourke and Rockwell circling the cast as well. Iron Man 2 may perhaps be the biggest movie of 2010.

I can’t wait for Marvel to comment on this and let us know about Blunt’s involvement.

IESB has given us a new Thor rumor that sees an additional character being added to the already existing script written by Mark Protosevich. In the first draft of the Kenneth Branagh directed film, the story was originally set to take place in Thor’s native land of Asgard with nothing taking place in the modern world.

Now, according to sources of IESB, the latest updated draft of the Thor story will now include the character of Donald Blake,

“his introduction is essential in how Marvel plans to tie this film into the Iron Man and The Avengers timelines. The initial plot will focus on the ancient times of the Norse Gods. But the ending will explain how Donald Blake discovers the magical Norse hammer Mjolnir and is essentially turned into Thor.“

For those who are not aware of who Blake is, here is a brief description of him from Wikipedia.

“Thor’s father Odin decides his son needs to be taught humility and consequently places Thor (without memories of godhood) into the body and memories of an existing, partially disabled human medical student, Donald Blake. After becoming a doctor and thoroughly believing himself to be the young surgeon Blake, he later discovers Thor’s disguised hammer and learns to change back and forth into the Thunder God. The real Blake’s persona remains elsewhere until many years later, after Odin becomes satisfied of Thor’s humility and lifts the spell, thereby removing the need for a mortal alter ego. The mortal experience, however, shapes Thor into an honorable and courteous individual, who is loyal to all comrades.”

Adam and I have talked many times about this since we read the first draft by Protosevich. We always thought the Asgard stuff should be left out and the entire story revolve around Blake. I like this idea assuming that the Asgard plot is more important at least ending the story with Blake finding the Hammer and the audience seeing that he is really Thor disguised. It would be neat if the scene had Blake sitting in a Norse Mythology class at his school and then walking out of the campus, leading us to where he finds the hammer. This is an interesting rumor but a welcomed one. Lets hope this latest edition of the script is better than the Norse mythology text book I read before.

Does Donald Blake’s appearance in the film excite you?

According to the article in the Hollywood trade, Variety, Schwartz is:

“expected to inject a next-gen sensibility into the superhero series, which has earned $1.2 billion worldwide.”

Not much is being said about the details of the project but the article speculates that,

“the resulting film would likely draw from elements of the Marvel comic of the same name, launched in 2006, and enlist such characters as Iceman, Rogue, Angel, Colossus, Jubilee and Shadowcat, who have appeared prominently or made cameos in prior pics. Given Hollywood‘s penchant for reboots with new actors playing familiar roles, the pic could also reintroduce characters. The Comic book revolves around the Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Iceman, Angel and Professor X.”

X-Men 2 and 3 scribe, Zak Penn was once attached to the script and was who spurred Fox’s interest in adapting a young X-Men movie. However, Schwartz was then attached to this project last May but nothing official came from the studio, except that they did file the project’s title in July with Production Weekly.

I think that this is a cool idea and certainly Schwartz is adept at adapting material to attract the Gen-Y demographic as all 3 of his shows have been hits with the 18-49 group. As a former fan of The O.C. Schwartz’s comic book knowledge and love came out through his character of Seth Cohen. I totally could see new actors in the roles but I also interpret “First Class” to mean the first mutants to be taken in and educated by Professor X. I would assume that this film would focus on a young Jean Gray, Scott Summers, Aurora Monroe, etc. but at the same time I am aware there is a comic book of the same name that was created by Jeff Parker and Roger Cruz revolving around the Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Iceman, Angel and Professor X.

Lastly, I could see Schwartz going after some of his show’s alum such as Benjamin McKenzie or Adam Brody (Ryan and Seth in The O.C.) to star in the vehicle [I could see McKenzie playing Scott Summers]. Anyway I am sure this is just the start for Mr. Schwartz’s career in developing stuff for the big-screen.