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MTV Movie Awards: Vote Iron Man For Best Hero

Posted 4/11/13 8:00 am EST by in Commentary, Humor, Marvel, MTV Movie Awards

Iron Man

The 2013 MTV Movie Awards are this Sunday, April 14th. The fate of one category, Best Hero, rests in your social-media-savvy hands. In this heartfelt opinion piece, Splash Page writer Terri Schwartz passionately explains why Iron Man deserves your vote.

When it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it's no secret who the most popular Avenger is. Let's give you some hints: his third standalone movie is coming out in less than a month, his two films made more money than the rest of the standalone Marvel movies combined and he's got a sweet collection of armored suits. If you guessed we were talking about Iron Man, than you would be correct.

Of course, Iron Man's coolness comes from more than just the fact he rakes in the big bucks for his mother studio. Tony Stark's also hilarious, has great taste in cars, and what's that phrase he likes to say? Oh yeah, he's a "genius billionaire playboy philanthropist." With that being said, is there really a question about who you should vote to win the MTV Movie Awards Best Hero award?

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MTV Movie Awards: Vote Hulk For Best Hero

Posted 4/10/13 8:00 am EST by in Commentary, Humor, Marvel, MTV Movie Awards

Hulk

The 2013 MTV Movie Awards are this Sunday, April 14th. The fate of one category, Best Hero, rests in your social-media-savvy hands. In this rousing opinion piece, Splash Page writer Eddie Wright passionately explains why Hulk deserves your vote.

Hulk smash. Two words, yet so much meaning. What did the those two words mean for movie-goers in 2012? What exactly did Hulk smash? Why did he smash it? And will he smash it again? Let's take a look at why 2012 was the year of the most deserving nominee for Best Hero at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards, "Marvel's The Avengers'" Hulk.

Last year, Hulk was the black sheep of the Marvel movie universe. Sure, there had been bigger Marvel-based clunkers like "Fantastic Four," "The Punisher," "Ghost Rider," and "Daredevil," but Hulk was part of something bigger. The Hulk was part of the newly streamlined Marvel Studios movie universe. He was a character fully licensed and produced by the very comic company that created him. The Marvel Studios movie universe (or MSMU as no one calls it) was something special after "Iron Man" in 2008. The second Nick Fury showed up after the end credits and told Tony Stark that he was part of a larger world full of super-powered nutbars and costumed weirdos, the Marvel movies began to form into a cohesive whole, structured similarly to their comic book counterparts. And after "Iron Man" set the table by netting nearly $600 million, it was up to the big green guy to smash it to bits with "The Incredible Hulk," the second theatrical Hulk outing following Ang Lee's Freudian freakfest (which I kind of love) "Hulk."

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Captain America And S.H.I.E.L.D.: A Comic Book History

Posted 4/9/13 3:30 pm EST by in Commentary, Marvel

Captain America SHIELD

by Brett White

As evidenced by the film's first image and official synopsis, Captain America will be working very closely with the global peace-keeping unit S.H.I.E.L.D. in next year's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." This makes sense given that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been pulling the strings behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe ever since Nick Fury made a surprise cameo after "Iron Man's" credits. It was S.H.I.E.L.D. that kept tabs on the burgeoning world of super heroes and it was Nick Fury's goal to make them all play nice with each other. He even added two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Hawkeye and Black Widow, to the roster to round out their ranks.

Captain America forged an even more personal connection to the organization after they resuscitated him after a nearly seventy year nap in "Captain America: The First Avenger." With no home or anyone to turn to, S.H.I.E.L.D. became Steve Rogers' lone connection to the wider world until he met those other Earthly champions and found a purpose. "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" seems to follow Captain America as he gets to work in the here and now as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. This angle will tap into a totally new side of Captain America's comic book legacy. His relationship with S.H.I.E.L.D. in the Marvel comics goes back a long way.

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MTV Movie Awards: Vote Catwoman For Best Hero

Posted 4/9/13 8:00 am EST by in Commentary, DC Comics, Humor, MTV Movie Awards

Catwoman

The 2013 MTV Movie Awards are this Sunday, April 14th. The fate of one category, Best Hero, rests in your social-media-savvy hands. In this rousing opinion piece, Splash Page writer Ryan Rigley passionately explains why Catwoman deserves your vote.

With the 2013 MTV Movie Awards just on the horizon, we here at MTV Splash Page have been completely divided on the subject of who should win the award for Best Hero. Sure, candidates like Iron Man, Batman or even the Hulk seem like the obvious choice to make, thanks to their own feature films and TV shows. But what about the underdog? Or rather... the undercat. Yes, that's right. My vote is for Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle a.k.a. Catwoman.

In "The Dark Knight Rises," Catwoman only steps up to the plate when it counts the most by saving both Gotham City and Batman from a fate worse than death. She doesn't ever pretend to be something that she's not, which is a quality that ever hero should have. While Selina may steal priceless diamonds and act in her own interest, she still proves herself to be a good person, managing to pull through and make the right choice despite her own questionable morality.

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Sneak Peek Week: 5 Superhero Actors To Side With At 'The End'

Posted 4/8/13 2:00 pm EST by in Commentary, Humor

This is the End

MTV's third annual Sneak Peek Week kicks off tonight with an early look at this summer's all-star comedy "This Is the End." Seth Rogen, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson and Evan Goldberg will be on hand tonight to debut new footage from the film before its release on June 12th. The exclusive clip airs on MTV at 11 p.m. ET. Following the debut, MTV's Josh Horowitz will chat with the cast live, exclusively on MTV.com.

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2013 MTV Movie Awards, Latest Movie News

Unlike pretty much every other feature film, the actors in this movie all portray themselves as they struggle to survive Los Angeles after its upended by a series of apocalypse-level events. Watching these comedians deal with food rationing and cabin fever will be insanely funny, sure, but what would actors from superhero films be like in the event of the end? These actors have regularly faced horrific (albeit CGI) events and most of them have had to go through some physical training.

Here are the five actors we want on our side when things go down.

Robert Downey Jr.
While Downey Jr. probably doesn't possess Tony Stark's technological genius (no suits of armor being built in this scenario), he has pretty much every other quality. The guy is incredibly charismatic and quick-witted; he'd be a dream to have in bargaining situations with other roving groups of survivors. Plus he's already traveled all over the world and lived through his fair share of trials. He'll keep a cool head.

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Dwayne Johnson As Luke Cage Fan Made Poster Is Awesome

Posted 4/8/13 8:00 am EST by in Commentary, Marvel

Luke Cage

by Brett White

First, I have to mention that this is definitely a fan-made poster from April Fool's Day. But secondly, I have to share it because it's an awesome Photoshop job that really taps into the absolute fan-pleasing joy essential to the Marvel movies. Whether or not this would really happen (especially considering the crazy theory I came up with on Friday after it was announced that J. August Richards will be appearing on "S.H.I.E.L.D.") doesn't matter. This poster for a fake "Luke Cage" movie with action movie superstar Dwayne Johnson made up to appear like the Hero for Hire is simply awesome.

Check out the full poster below.

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'Justice League Dark': 5 Supernatural Heroes For Consideration

Posted 4/5/13 8:00 am EST by in Commentary, DC Comics

Justice League Dark

by Ryan Rigley

While nothing further has been revealed about the in-development "Justice League" film, Guillermo Del Toro's "Justice League Dark" adaptation is coming together more and more each day. Earlier this week, while promoting "Pacific Rim" at WonderCon, Del Toro had this to say on the project: "The route we’re going is Constantine is our lead. Constantine is the guy who leads us in and out of the plot. We have Swamp Thing, Etrigan, we have Zatanna, we have the Floronic Man. We have stuff that those who love the darker side of the DC Universe are going to appreciate, and we’re trying to be true to the origins of the characters."

So the confirmed lineup for "Justice League Dark" (or "Dark Universe") thus far is Constantine, Deadman, Swamp Thing, the Spectre, Etrigan, Zatana, and, apparently, the Floronic Man. However, as DC fans know, there are still plenty of untapped supernatural characters within the DC Universe for Del Toro to utilize. That being said, we've taken the liberty of compiling a list of five more supernatural superheroes that could potentially pop up in the film.

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'Guardians Of The Galaxy': Zoe Saldana Is The Perfect Gamora

Posted 4/4/13 11:32 am EST by in Commentary, Humor, Marvel

Gamora Saldana

by Brett White

Yesterday the Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Zoe Saldana is in talks to play Gamora in 2014's "Guardians of the Galaxy." I want this to happen so badly that my fingers are still crossed, making it vry harz to typoi. Zoe Saldana would be the perfect Gamora, a green-skinned extraterrestrial character whose nickname is "the deadliest woman in the whole galaxy." If you don't know why she'd kill it in this role (puns super intended), check out the evidence below.

She knows how to work alongside aliens
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

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5 Marvel Comics Changes Influenced By The Movies

Posted 4/3/13 11:15 am EST by in Commentary, Marvel

Secret Avengers

by Brett White

Not to knock the source material, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe has accomplished the unthinkable. They've created versions of characters previously deemed too complicated or unfamiliar and made them connect with audiences in a big way. Iron Man became an A-List hero after spending decades in Spider-Man's shadow. Thor, a riff on Norse mythology tied to an impenetrable and retconned to death origin, was turned into a charismatic warrior with a surprising knack for comedy. "Marvel's the Avengers" was the franchise's crowning achievement, proving that the Hulk can be done right outside of comics in addition to creating what could go down as one of the best Avengers stories told in any medium.

With all of the success the Marvel films have had, it's no wonder the comic books have slowly started incorporating these changes, either as a reaction to or in anticipation of their big screen counterparts. Marvel Comics followed up a post-credits cameo by galactic bad guy Thanos in "Marvel's the Avengers" with two Thanos-led mini-series. Here are five more examples of Marvel's attempt to make their films and comics more simpatico.

Nick Fury Jr. and "Cheese" Coulson
Samuel L. Jackson and Clark Gregg act as the glue holding the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe together. Initially, both of those characters had no counterparts in the main Marvel universe. The film version of Nick Fury was based on a parallel universe's iteration of the character, who rose to prominence in Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's series "The Ultimates." The character's look was modeled after Jackson, so the casting worked out quite well there. As for Agent Phil Coulson, he was first seen in "Iron Man" as a generic S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

Fast forward to 2012 and the average person aware of the Marvel movies thinks Nick Fury looks like Samuel L. Jackson and considers Agent Coulson to be a top agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Thus the mini-series "Battle Scars" was born, which introduced Marcus Johnson (a.k.a. Nick Fury Jr.) in its first issue and Agent Phil "Cheese" Coulson in its sixth and final issue. The duo currently star alongside Hawkeye and Black Widow in the series "Secret Avengers."

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'The Wolverine': Required Reading

Posted 3/29/13 10:44 am EST by in Commentary, Marvel

Frank Miller Wolverine

by Brett White

Now that the first two trailers for "The Wolverine" have been released, we all have a better idea about just what specific type of trouble Logan will be getting up to during his stay in Japan. The film's plot seems to center around Wolverine's desire to give up on life after the loss of Jean Grey, a desire that leads him straight into the clutches of Shingen Yashida, Viper and the Silver Samurai. These characters have become mainstays of Wolverine's solo exploits in the Marvel Comics, and the glimpses we got of each character makes me think the film will adhere close to their comic book counterparts. With that in mind, Splash Page has compiled a list of the comic book story lines that seem to provide inspiration for this summer's film.

"Uncanny X-Men" #118-119 (1979)
Wolverine's ties to Japan originated in this two-part story, by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, that finds the X-Men in the midst of an epic journey from Antarctica back to New York City. Wolverine first meets Mariko Yashida, falling in love with her almost immediately. Storm even notes how much calmer he's become since meeting her. All the love stuff is interrupted by an earthquake caused by the super villain Moses Magnum, who wants to sink Japan unless he's named absolute ruler of the country. The battle is well fought and leaves the X-Men with one fewer member.

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Cover Artist

Splash Page welcomes Ed Tadem to our cover artist family (our custom-designed theme up top). Currently working on the forthcoming "Avengers" animated series, Tadem's work can also be seen in the "Jackie Karma" issues of Image's "'76," and in "Pop Gun, Volume 1." Ed Tadem can be found online at EdTadem.com.
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