Michael B. Jordan, Miles Teller, Kate Mara, And Jamie Bell All But Confirmed As Josh Trank's 'Fantastic Four'

Ask any of your friends if the knew that Fox had a Fantastic Four remake in the works, and they probably wouldn't even remember the original first two films. For one reason or another, the Fantastic Four is just one Marvel property that hasn't amounted to much on the big or small screen since the team first made their comic book debut. Well now up and coming director Josh Trank (Chronicle) is hoping to change that with his all new reboot, and it's definitely obvious that he wants this new version of the team to be young and fresh. Now after dozens of casting rumors, we finally know the official cast Trank has brought on board for the project. 

The casting confirmation comes courtesy of The Wrap, who revealed that Trank has now locked in long rumored candidates Miles Teller (Spectacular Now) and Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station) as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic and Johnny Storm/Human Torch, respectively. Along with that those two, Kate Mara (House of Cards)will be joining them as Sue Storm/Invisible Women, and Jamie Bell (The Adventures of Tintin) as Ben Grimm/The Thing. While we could already tell from early casting rumors that Trank was looking to go with a much younger team then in the original film and comics, these cast additions seemingly confirm that this will be the case, and Trank may be taking a few pointers from the Fantastic Four's Ultimate Comics run.

Now of course with these casting rumors bring the backlash of many comic book fanboys around the internet, and it's needless to say that these picks are a bit unorthodox. Teller's proven himself recently in dramatic efforts such as the Spectacular Now, and has begun to pull himself away from his more young adult comedy oriented film's such as Project X and 21 and Over.  Jordan's come to prove himself as a highly capable actor with great dramatic acting chops, as well as spot on comedic timing. Although many will draw conflict over Jordan's race in comparison to the blonde hair-blue eyes Johnny Storm of the comics, there's really now reason to believe Jordan doesn't embody the characteristics of the character perfectly. As him and Teller have proven the great chemistry they have in the recent film That Awkward Moment, it'll be great to seem them reunited in another collaboration. 

Kate Mara will be portraying Invisible Women, who seems to be a perfect fit for the actress both age and look wise. But similarly, Mara's casting will also raise some eyebrows, as the Sue Storm of the comics is the biological sister of Johnny Storm. After rumors of Jordan being up for the role of Johnny spread across the internet, many believed Sue would be played by and African-American actress, but this ended up not being the case. The film could of course explore the possibility of Storm's being a biracial family, or either Johnny or Sue having been adopted, but it likely won't restrain from the chemistry the two will have as brother and sister. 

While Mara seems to be a perfect fit for Sue, the same can't be said for Jamie Bell, who will be portraying Ben Grimm aka The Thing. While Bell has proven himself as a terrific actor time and time again since his child hood role in the film Billy Elliot, till his recent animated work in The Adventures of Tintin, he isn't exactly the first person who'd come to mind when you think of the rough and stocky Ben Grimm. Although I personally can't see Bell being as perfect for the role as Michael Chiklis was in the original film (One of that series' few great casting choices), I'm willing to give Trank the benefit of the doubt with this one. Bell's an outstanding actor to have as a part of this series, and he'll fit well amongst the other young cast members he's going with. Bell will likely be providing the mo-cap The Thing as well, given that the studio has elected to take the CGI route with the character's post transformation look this time around.

So what do you think of Josh Trank's cast for The Fantastic Four? Are their any picks you don't agree with, and who would you have prefered? Let us know below!

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'Guardians of the Galaxy' Poster Hits Along With Character Featurettes That Reveal How Rocket Raccoon Will Sound

If you hadn't heard of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy prior to this week, you've probably heard of it by now, after the film's first trailer managed to leave a big impression on fans and movie goers when it premiered this past Wednesday. Well it looks like Marvel has no plans on slowing down their promotional campaign for the upcoming space epic, as they have not only released the film's first poster, but they've also let out a series of videos introducing us to each of the team's core members. And  thankfully, we finally get our first listen at Bradley Cooper's voice for Rocket Raccoon.

Below is the official first poster for Guardians of the Galaxy:

This first poster for GOTG is sort of unorthodox for Marvel, given that they usually don't exactly break boundaries with their poster designs (Usually following suit with the poster cliches most blockbusters have been going with these days). But the design the studio has chosen to go with here is a nice change of pace, and it generally represents the many key traits the film has going for it, specifically it's colorful tone and unique characters. This is also the second image we get of the team in their official Guardians uniforms, which they'll likely be donning later on in the film once they're an actual organized team.

And now below are the 30-second introduction focusing on the teams four members (In order the order of the videos): Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel), Drax (Dave Bautista), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), and Star-Lord (Chris Pratt):

It's pretty evident that James Gunn has a good understanding of these characters, specifically Star-Lord who's the character that will make or break this movie for many viewers. I mentioned in the previous post that Peter Quill is going to be the guy that keeps the film grounded and relatable for average movie goers, so it's a great relief seeing how comfortable Pratt looks in the role. While Quill will of course be the film's leading man, director James Gunn has already put great emphasis on how Rocket's really the heart of the film. Although we usually have heard the character with an English or Cockney accent in past video games and cartoon, Cooper seems to be bringing a unique take on the voice (Which is basically his own) and it surprisingly suits the character well.

As for the other introductions, it's great to see Dave Baustista's Drax in action given that he was probably the riskiest casting decision made, but it seems Drax will be doing much more fighting rather than talking in the film. As for Gamora, it's really no surprise that Zoe Saldana is a perfect for the part, given her past work in both the Star Trek series and Avatar. It seem's we'll also be getting some great action scene from her, and specifically a one on one match up between her and Karen Gillan's Nebula. Groot looks great in action, and seems to have some flawless CGI work going for him. While we still haven't heard the voice Vin Diesel will be using for the character, it'll likely be akin to the one he used for the film Iron Giant.

So far things look to be going smoothly for the film that's being considered one of Marvel's biggest risk to date. The more footage we see, the more confident we get that this one turn out to be another Green Lantern type dud, and will open doors for future cosmic universe film project. We'll likely be seeing much more of the film as it nears it's August 1st release, and we may possibly even get some more footage before Captain America: The Winter Soldier. But for now the poster's tagline couldn't have summed it up better; "You're welcome". 

So what do you think of the Guardians of the Galaxy poster? Are you happy with the direction James Gunn and the cast are taking the characters in? Let us know below!

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Miami Heat's LeBron James Reportedly Set To Star As Lead In The Upcoming 'Space Jam 2' (Or Not?)

The last time we saw the Tune Squad in action was 1996, with the clock running down and the NBA legend Michael Jordan completing a half court dunk through the defense to score the winning basket and prevent an alien invasion. Since 1996, Michael Jordan has retired from the game of basketball, and new legends have arose in his wake. Currently one of the biggest stars to date is LeBron James, being fresh off a back to back title run with the Miami Heat, Space Jam fans are highly debating who should have been cast for the controversial role.

Well it looks like King James has landed the coveted role after all, or so it seemed. Deadline had brought in the report that Warner Bros. does indeed have a Space Jam sequel in the works with James attached to star. Yet soon after the news began to spread across the web, ESPN brought in reports that LeBron's representatives had denied the claim that he would star in any such film. Now while many have seen this as a means to kindle the fire lit when LBJ's involvement was first announced, most movie sites (Including Deadline) have stood by the report. And funny enough, neither Warner Bros. nor LeBron have come out and denied the report publicly. Considering LBJ's always been enthusiastic about the possibility of taking part in a Space Jam sequel, and the fact that WB has already hired Charlie Ebersol to produce and his brother Will to write the film's script, we wouldn't count this one out of the cards just yet. 

With players such as Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers), Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks), Dwight Howard (Houston Rockets), Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder), Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers), Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers), and more all having their own personal fan base, many fans question who should be the front runner for the role. Yet, due to LeBron's dominance in the game, recent championship success, humble beginnings, and of course media popularity and infamy makes him the perfect NBA individual to spear head the film.

Individuals may ask how the film may try and create a continuation of the story that preceded and became a instant classic amongst fans and pop culture. One theory that has been devised here at Turbo-Exp, is not the original extraterrestrial affair from the first film, but more towards a internal conflict between the Looney Tunes. Being that Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck's relationship shows some correlation to that of Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant and the Miami Heat's LeBron James relationship could potentially spark a feud that can only be resulted in a All-Star game of basketball of both Looney Tunes and outstanding players from the NBA.

So how do you feel about the comeback of the Tune Squad? Do you think that other dominant players such as Kevin Durant or Kobe Bryant should also be cast in the film? Comment below and let us know!

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'A Good Day To Die Hard' Star Jai Courtney Set To Play Kyle Reese In Alan Taylor's 'Terminator: Genesis'

Last year's sequel to the classic Die Hard franchise was meant to be the first blockbuster of the year, and was set to put Spartacus actor Jai Courtney on the map. Of course things didn't exactly work out the way they were originally intended to as the film was critically panned, but it seem one good thing did come from it, and that was future roles for Courtney. With upcoming roles in blockbusters such as young adult novel adaption Divergent, and the Angelina Jolie directed drama Unbroken, it doesn't come as much of a surprise that Paramount kept the actor on their radar. And sure enough, it seems his turn as John McClane's son is finally paying off as he'll be joining yet another iconic franchise as the new Kyle Reese in the upcoming sequel Terminator: Genesis.

 

The Australian actor was one of many actors being considered for the part, as we'd heard names such as Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: Days of Future Past) and Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy), the casting had initially come down to Courtney and The Host star Boyd Holbrook (How was coincidentally also on the shortlist to play Harry Osborn in The Amazing Spider-Man 2). Although it's still unknown what direction Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World) and Paramount are planning on taking the character in, given that this is a reboot of the original, it's unknown whether some elements from the original character will be changed around. Courtney's older Kyle Reese could be explained through time travel element that will likely be explained in the film's story.

Early on we'd heard that the main three characters the film would be focusing on would be Reese, an older John Connor, and a young Sarah Connor. Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) had since landed the Sarah Connor part, while Jason Clarke (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) was set as John Connor, so it seems Courtney will be the last major casting addition the film will be making. The age choices for the actors are a bit odd, given that John is the son of Sarah in the original trilogy, and Reese is John's father who's actually from the future, so it'll be interesting to see how much time travel really is in the film, and how all these related characters will end up crossing paths (Similar to X-Men: Days of Future Past).

For those who don't remember, Kyle Reese had been the original person that an adult John Connor had sent back in time to protect his mother Sarah. The T-800 Terminator played by Arnold Schwarzenegger had been sent back to assassinate Sarah in an attempt to prevent the birth of her son John, who'd eventually grow to be the leader of the resistance against the Terminator's creator; Skynet. During his time protecting Sarah, the two began a relationship which resulted in John's conception. It's unknown whether this complex timeline will be restored for Terminator: Genesis, but given that it is a reboot, we can probably expect some modifications here and there. The original Reese was played by Michael Biehn, and he later appeared as a teenager played by Anton Yelchin in Terminator: Salvation.

So what do you think of Jai Courtney playing Kyle Reese? Would you have preferred someone else in the role? Sound off below!

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First Trailer For Marvel And James Gunn's 'Guardians of the Galaxy' Drops Along With New Hi-Def Stills

Okay, so yes we've recently gotten trailers for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and TV spot for Transformers: Age of Extinction. But there's one thing all those movies (And the majority of this year's summer releases) have in common, and that's that they're all sequels. Well for all of you who are desperately waiting for Hollywood to throw out something fresh and new, look no further than Marvel's new sci-fi film Guardians of the Galaxy. Arguably the studio's riskiest film to date, these movie can go either way, it can be Marvel's equivalent to the critical and financial failure Green Lantern, or an instant cult classic that rivals Star Wars itself. Well now the first trailer from the film has finally hit, and you can finally judge for yourself.

Below is the long anticipated first trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy which premiered on Jimmy Kimmel Live! (As introduced by Chris Pratt himself):

So as you can see, Guardians of the Galaxy definitely is taking a very different approach then past Marvel films have (And really superhero movies in general). As I stated above, the last time a major studio tried to adapt an intergalactic property, which resulted in 2011's Green Lantern. GOTG seems to have learned from the many mistakes we saw take place with Green Lantern, and it seems director James Gunn has really gone out of his way with the film's impressive set pieces, effects, and overall tone. The brief glimpse we do get of the team's ship "Milano" in action like quite breath taking, and it'll be interesting to see what other ships will be included along the way. 

Now the trailer does seem to give us a heavy focus on Chris Pratt's Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, and we've known from early on that the character would really be the selling point for audiences. While the likes of Rocket Raccoon and Groot will get their fair share of much deserved fandom and publicity once the film's release rolls around, the character of Quill is really the only relatable human character in the entire context of the story, and his character's personal background back on Earth may come into play somewhere in the film. Quill will basically be the Guardians answer to Tony Stark (As in the Mr. Personality type), so with a strong supporting cast surrounding him, a lot of the film's weight will fall onto Pratt's shoulders.

Now of course, taking into account the many things the trailer DID show us from the film, there's still many questions that remain under answered. Many of the film's primary characters have yet to spurt a line of dialogue, and I think I speak on behalf of many fans when I say that I'm anxious to hear the voice Bradley Cooper has decided to go with for a character as key as Rocket Raccoon (Who's had numerous accents from New Yorker to Cockney in past incarnations). Then there's of course the anticipated depute of the film's primary villain Ronan the Accuser (Played by Lee Pace), who's reveal will likely be saved for a trailer down the line as we near the film's release date of August 18th.

Below are all 12 of the new stills from the film, not including the three shown above:

So what did you think of the Guardians of the Galaxy trailer? Are you more or less interested in seeing the movie now? Let us know below!

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Benjamin McKenzie Will Play The Lead Of A Young Jim Gordon In NBC's Batman Prequel TV Series 'Gotham'

Lets face it. With the recent delay of Batman Vs. Superman, the casting of Jesse Eisenberg as key super villain Lex Luthor, and the reveal of the long anticipated new Batsuit seeming more and more distant, DC fans are growing less and less tolerant as the days by. But thankfully, fans of the famed comic book company and it's respective characters have a few TV shows to hold them up until the iconic team-up hits theaters in 2016, and one of the shows is none other than NBC's Gotham. Now we have the first few major casting announcement for the series, including who will be playing the young Commissioner Gordon himself.

Ben McKenzie, who's previously starred in TV shows such as Southland and The O.C., will be taking on the role of Detective Jim Gordon, prior to his days as Gotham's Commissioner. The character was most recently played by Gary Oldman (Robocop), where he played a key part in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. Clearly McKenzie has big shoes to fill, but with the actors past work as a police officer on Southland, and his coincidental past involvement with the Batman mythos (He voiced Batman in the animated film Year One), it seems he's more than suitable for the job. Gordon will essentially be the primary protagonist of the show, as it'll explore his days working for the Gotham PD in that city's time before the appearance of Batman.

Not much is know about the overall plot that the show will be dealing with, but we already know that many familiar faces from Batman's rogues gallery will be making appearances down the line, with Robin Lord Taylor (The Walking Dead) already signed on to play a young Oswald Cobblepott aka The Penguin. Other key character who have been cast include Erin Richards (Being Human) as Gordon's wife Barbara Kean, Zabryna Guevara (Person of Interest) as his boss Captain Essen, and Sean Pertwee (Elementary) as famed butler of the Wayne family Alfred Pennyworth. Most recently, it was announced Donal Louge (Sons of Anarchy) would be portraying Detective Harvey Bullock, who's Gordon's tough partner in crime.

Although I wasn't necessarily to keen on the idea of a show primarily focusing on Gotham before Batman, with these casting announcements it's hard to be excited for this show. Gotham seems like the most promising of the shows DC has in the pipeline currently, which include CW's upcoming Flash spin-off and NBC's Constantine series. It doesn't seem this show will be tying in with the current DC movie universe, which might work in the shows favor so it won't have to be constricted about the characters the show runners chose to include. With Bruno Heller (Rome, The Mentalist) executive producing, and Danny Cannon (CSI) set to direct the pilot, it seems Gotham is in good hands.

It's been rumored that show's pilot will focus on the unfolding case of the murder of Wayne Enterprises CEO Thomas Wayne, and his wife Martha, best known as the parents of Bruce Wayne himself. It's on known whether those two characters will in fact be appearing or will merely be mentioned, but what we do know for a fact is that a twelve year old Bruce Wayne will be a reoccurring character in the series. There's even been speculation that the final episode of Gotham may show us Wayne donning the cape and cowl for the first time. Wayne's inclusion makes sense given the recent casting of Alfred, and while the show will focus on Gordon, it may shift every now an then to give audiences a view of the childhood of Bruce following his parents death. The role is probably going to be one of the most key casting decisions the show runners will have to make, so lets hope their able to find a young talent willing to accept the challenge.

So what do you think of McKenzie playing a young Gordon? Are you happy with show's other cast additions? Let us know below!

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All New "Enemies Unite" Trailer For 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' Debuts Along With It's Super Bowl TV Spot

The second film in the original Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy was considered to be the strongest film of that respective series, as well as being widely accepted as one of the best comic book movie films of all time. Now direct Marc Webb is hoping to bring that same good fortune to his own second installment to the rebooted Spidey franchise, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 now seeks to do the same thing in terms of being one of the greatest struggles and battles Peter Parker has ever faced. Now we have an all new sizzle reel giving us a closer look at the origins behind the film's primary villain; Electro (Jamie Foxx).

Below is the new "Enemies Unite" three and a half minute sizzle reel for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 that debuted along with the Super Bowl TV Spot (Which you can see here):

The first thing this trailer does amazingly right is that it creates sympathy for the villain, being that it also might be a strand of what connects us to the Sinister Six film announced to be in the works. We see that in the beginning of the trailer Spider-Man saves the life of Max Dillion also known as Electro played by Jamie Foxx . Spider-Man states "You're my eyes and ears out hear", giving Max the false impression that he is a sidekick or partner to Spider-Man and suddenly this spawns a obsession, and a craving in which to become something more than a nobody, but a hero.

As a result of a freak accident, Max is electrified and then falls into a tank filled with electric eels, which presumably transforms him into Electro. This seems to be following the generally accepted origins of the character, mainly drawing inspiration from the version shown in the animated series Spectacular Spider-Man. After this he has a confrontation with Spider-Man, showing us that Spidey has to be a little more careful in the promises he makes. While the idea of a super villain who was once a fan of the main hero deciding to turn against him has been done before (See Jim Carrey's Riddler in Batman Forever), it seems Webb will definitely be bringing about reasonable character development and motives for why Electro has turned against the famed wall crawler himself.

Through a series of scenes we see the Rhino (Played by Paul Giamatti) firing rockets and guns, we see Electro using his powers, and Goblin beginning preparations to fight Spider-Man. We also see that the villains are beginning to mobilize and formulate a team in which to catch Spider-Man. Speaking of catch we, also see Spider-Man pull off an "amazing" catch after Gwen takes a seemingly fatal dive towards the end of the trailer. Gwen seems to look up helplessly at Peter Parker, and a scene of Parker crying in agony. As many rumors and speculation has considered, could this film see the end of Gwen Stacy after all?

There's of course a lot riding on this movie, and Webb still has a lot to prove to many fans that weren't sold on the original reboot of the classic series. As I stated above, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2 managed to over shadow the first film giving us a film that understood the true effect being Spider-Man has on Peter Parker, and what happens to the hero when he's at the top of his game and is suddenly knocked off. While it won't be a direct adaption of that, Webb's sequel seems to be incorporating many of those fame themes, while still doing it's own thing. Well needless to say this film has many caught the interest of many with all eyes watching, and with the best Spider-Man costume to date, and comedy that fits the web slinger's persona so well, fans and critics alike are on the edge of their seats to see what this film has in store.

So what do you think of the new Spider-Man trailer? Do you wash your American flag or clean chimneys that you don't have? Let us know how you feel about this film so far!

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Will Smith Reportedly Has Declined Director Roland Emmerich's Offer To Star In 'Independence Day 2' And '3'

Although most of us remember Will Smith for his days the hysterical leading man who moved in with his Aunt Viv and Uncle Phil on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, what really cemented the actors as a blockbuster star was his role in the 1996 hit Independence Day. Well it seems Smith wasn't exactly keen about the idea of returning for the Roland Emmerich's upcoming sequel to the film (Which is set for a July 4, 2016 release date) because the actor has apparently declined an offer to appear in the film, despite the fact that original stars Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman will be reprising their respective roles.

 

The reports of Will Smith's choice not to return for the sequel has come to us courtesy of Deadline, who indicate that Smith has decided to pass on Independence Day 2. While initially it had seemed that this would be the case all along, once it was announced that Goldblum and Pullman would be returning, it seemed that there was a glimmer of hope for the return of Smith's Captain Steven Hiller. Though there was always the possibility that the actor could change his mind, director Roland Emmerich had stated himself that Smith would most likely be to costly for the film's budget, and had even revealed that there had been two drafts of the script written; one with Smith's character and one without him.

Emmerich has had the project in production for quite some time now, and has gone on the make popular critically average disaster blockbusters such as The Day After Tomorrow, 2012, and White House Down since Independence Day hit theaters. While the project had seemed to have had lost some steam in the early 2000s, it went on to land a summer 2015 release date (Which has now been moved to 2016) which all but confirmed the film was finally headed into production. While it's still unknown what the plot of the film will be, it will reportedly follow the stepson of Will Smith's character from the original film as the series' new protagonist for ID2 and 3.

There's been speculation that Michael B. Jordan (Chronicle) is being considered for the role, but it seems unlikely considering the actors upcoming busy schedule (Including a Rocky spin-off focusing on Apollo Creed's son, a  role as Human Torch in Fantastic Four, and a possible part in Star Wars: Episode VII). But with Smith out of the picture now, Emmerich will surely be looking for a new young charismatic up and coming actor to take on the film's lead, so it's likely we'll be hearing a list of actors being considered some time soon, and we'll probably learn whether Jordan really is in contention or not.

Now Deadline not only reported that Smith won't be appearing in the upcoming sequels to Independence Day, but apparently the actor also isn't interested in reprising his role as Agent J in the upcoming Men In Black 4, which is currently being penned by 22 Jump Street co-writer Oren Uziel. The site also reports that Sony plans on rebooting the franchise now, although it's still unknown whether it will just follow a new pair of MIB Agents in the already established universe, or completely remake the first film (The former is more likely). Smith disinterest in returning as J doesn't come as much of surprise considering his return for the third installment was a surprise in it's self as Smith has been quick to declare he doesn't want to become the "sequel guy".

So how do you feel about Will Smith not returning for Men In Black 4 or Independence Day 2? Would you be happy with Michael B. Jordan as the sequel's new lead? Let us know below!

 

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