The Week In Geek: Prometheus, Man Of Steel Casting Rumors, And Dwayne McDuffie R.I.P.

Much sad news to report this week, so let us get the bad stuff out the way first….

R.I.P. Dwayne McDuffie 

As most of you must know by now, esteemed comic book and animation writer Dwayne McDuffie shockingly passed away this week at age 49, due to complications from surgery. Many online have already written of his accomplishments, first at Marvel and then with the creation of Milestone Media in the early 90’s. On a personal level, for me McDuffie was one of the very few people in the movie/tv side of things who understood on an intrinsic level just what makes the DC Comics Universe special, and just what makes it tick. Chris Nolan might understand Batman for example, but does he get Booster Gold? (Hell, Nolan doesn’t even “get” Robin) Richard Donner might “get” Superman, but could he do a Krypto the Super Dog movie? Probably not. Aside from Bruce Timm, I can’t think of anyone in the area of filmed entertainment who gets the DC Universe as a whole better than Dwayne McDuffie did.

In my opinion, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited remains one the best examples of super heroes on television ever produced. Bruce Timm gets a lot of the credit (and as exec. producer, he should) but it was Dwayne McDuffie who was Timm’s right hand man. Most of the best episodes of the series were written by McDuffie (he produced and/or wrote 69 of JLU’s 91 episodes) His direct to DVD animated Justice League movie, Crisis on 2 Earths, remains one of the best of DC’s animated films, as does his adaptation of Grant Morrison’s All Star Superman, which was released on the day of his death.  He had two more DC Universe scripts written for future DTV movies, and I hope as a tribute to him they see the light of day. He was a hugely talented man, and I will miss his work tremendously.

R.I.P. Perry Moore

Sadly, Dwayne McDuffie was not the only creator taken from us too soon. Also gone long before his time was author/film producer Perry Moore, who died this past week at age 39 from an apparent drug overdose. Moore was a producer on the Chronicles of Narnia movie series, but he is also known for being the author of the young adult novel Hero, about a young teenager who is coming to terms with both his emerging super powers AND his own sexual identity as a gay man. He was also known for a somewhat infamous article he wrote on his website a few years back, detailing the “fridging” of so many of the LGBT comic book characters in comics. The article made such waves that many have suggested that it forced Marvel to not only resurrect gay hero Northstar and give him a more prominent role in the X-Men, but also to out Rictor and Shatterstar as a gay couple once and for all in the pages of X-Factor.

My first exposure to Perry Moor in person was back at Comic Con 2008. He was at a gay related panel early one day,  and I recall it was in one of the smaller rooms. No one seemed to know who the secret guest was going to be. Perry Moore was there to announce that his novel Hero was to become a Showtime television series, and his producing partner would be none other than Stan Lee. When Stan Lee came in the room and threw his weight not only behind this project, but also the idea of gay super heroes in general, I’ll admit I got a little misty eyed.  It was the pretty much like having your Grandpa tell you that not only does he accept you being gay, but he is a member of PFLAG too.  And let’s face it, as Geeks, in a way Stan Lee is like all of ours’ Grandpa.

Cut to a year later at Comic Con, I saw a slightly different side to Perry Moore.  He was at the annual Gays in Comics panel, along with many other esteemed LGBT and LGBT friendly creators. He pretty much used every opportunity to pimp his novel Hero, even when it wasn’t really appropriate to do so. It was clearly annoying to the other panelists and the audience, but we gave him a pass because he seemed pretty drunk and/or high.  Mostly I know I just felt bad and somewhat embarrassed for him. I guess when I heard of his untimely death, I wasn’t that shocked he had a drug problem, based on what I had seen that day up on the podium, but I was still just as sad. His tv version of Hero never happened (apparently, the Starz network is still interested, his death will either totally derail this show or get it moving faster, one of the two) I hope it happens and that Perry Moore’s dream for a highly visible teen gay super hero is one that comes to fruition. There would be no better legacy for him to leave behind than that.

Ok, ok, enough with the obits….on to lighter fare.

Kevin Costner’s Field of Dreams Might Be Found In Smallville, Kansas

I usually don’t rejoice at the thought of casting Kevin Costner in anything. To me, his is the very image of generic blandness. I never understood how he became a huge star, much less how he got totally miscast in things like Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. He’s been in several good movies, but never once have I seen him in something where I can’t imagine just about anyone else in the part and probably being better at it than he was.

Having said all that…if ever there was a part that Costner was born to play, it seems he is about to be the one to get it. Zack Snyder is keen on getting him for the role of Jonathan “Pa” Kent in The Man of Steel. Even though he is from California, Costner just exudes wholesome mid west Americana, and at 56 he is the perfect age for the role now.  Now I can only hope that Snyder finds someone just as suitable for Jor-El. Maybe THAT is who Jon Hamm should play? Now how cool would that be?

Clash of the Titans 2 To Get Same Shitty 3D Conversion As The First Movie

One of the first examples that the 3D cinema revolution as predicted by James Cameron might collapse like a house of cards was last year’s Clash of the Titans. Not only was it a shitty movie, but the last minute “hey, lets cash in on Avatar!”  3D up conversion was amongst the worst ever, with The Last Airbender right behind as a close second. Moviegoers were asked to shell out up to four more dollars to see a movie that looked worse than it did in traditional 2D. Well, not only is Clash getting a sequel called “Wrath of the Titans” (no, really…that is what it will be called) but instead of listening to the criticism about the crappy 2D up convert for the last flick, the new movie will still not be shot in 3D, but also converted after the fact. Director Jonathan Liebesman says that because they know ahead of time they are going to be doing this, the movie won’t look like a rush job like the first one did, but so far not a single 3D upconversion has looked good to me.  Will moviegoers still be that easy to fool a year from now when this comes out in theaters? Only time will tell….

Prometheus, Alien…What’s In A Name Anyway?

More and more, reports are indicating that Ridley Scott’s new sci-fi flick Prometheus is firmly tied into the Alien series after all, despite what Twentieth Century Fox has been saying to the contrary. Apparently, according to online reports, the “Space Jockey” from the first Alien is indeed in the movie as we reported before, only this time it will be an 8 foot tall animatronic. And the xenomorphs will factor into the movie, but won’t look like we’re used to, or even be the main thrust of the story. Due to this fact, I could see why Fox would choose to not have the world “Alien” in the title; we’ve come to expect a certain creature when we think of Alien in that sense, and we may not get what we’re used to with this movie. Better to present it as something new entirely to the masses. But it seems very clear now that if Prometheus is not a prequel to Alien, it is at the very least a tie-in somehow. Those of us in the know will of course know, and those who don’t won’t have any disappointment based on pre-conceived notions. Everybody wins.