The Daily Zombies

WWE Royal Rumble Preview

2012-01-29T23:58:00.007+08:00

The Road to WrestleMania kicks off tonight with the 25th annual (not 25th anniversary) Royal Rumble at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

WWE kicked off its PPV year 2012 with the 25th edition of Royal Rumble, quite possibly the most interesting pay-per-view (PPV) of the year. Traditionally, one of the "Big Four" events of WWE (along with WrestleMania, Survivor Series and SummerSlam), there is without a shadow of a doubt that this is one PPV that any self-respecting pro-wrestling fans cannot afford to missed.

As per the annual tradition of Royal Rumble, the winner of the PPV's namesake match will move on to headline the subsequent WrestleMania to challenge for the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship, setting the tone for the Road to WrestleMania. But this year, the opportunity to kick-start the Road to WrestleMania gets even more harder than ever as an unprecedented forty Superstars will be involved in the Royal Rumble match, vying for the much-coveted price of performing in the main event of "The Greatest Stage Of Them All", WrestleMania.

While this month's coverage will be a snap preview, we can't help but felt compelled to complain about the disastrous promotional image featuring Santino Marella. Yes, this is undoubtedly the worst promo image for the annual Royal Rumble series, and we opine that it is almost a crime for the time-honored event.

Last month's third edition of TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs was suitably pleasant for most smark fans, especially with the image of CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and Zack Ryder being the WWE Champion, World Heavyweight Champion, and United States Champion, respectively, on the foloowing night's RAW.

Tonight, John Cena returns to his regular PPV slot in a grudge match with Kane following the destruction of Cena's friend (and former United States champion, yes, things move fast in the WWE), Zack Ryder, at the hands of the Big Red Monster, who just wanted Cena to embrace the hate of WWE Universe. Meanwhile, Daniel Bryan is now just one step away from a full heel-turn, engaging in a Triple Threat Steel Cage match with two monster, The World's Strongest Man, Mark Henry and The Biggest Athlete in The World, Big Show. On the other hand, reigning WWE Champion CM Punk will be playing a high stake game with his WWE Championship on the line against Dolph Ziggler with John Laurinaitis, Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim General Manager of Raw, as the special guest referee. And then we have the highlight of the night, the Royal Rumble itself, reverted back to the 30-man line-up following last year's 40-man match.

For those keeping the score, we scored a ho-hum four out of the announced six-match card on TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. Now on with our snap preview for the show.

30-Man Royal Rumble Match

Royal Rumble Match: Consisting of thirty men, beginning with two in the ring. At regular timed intervals, one of the remaining 38 wrestlers enters the ring, with the objective of eliminating all other opponents. When all others have been eliminated, the winner of the event will get an one-way-ticket to headline WrestleMania, being the number one contender to the title of his choosing.

This year's Royal Rumble match has in fact became even harder to predict than ever before. We used to concentrate on who will win the match. Now, we even have to predict who will actually be participating as WWE confirming that "any WWE superstar is eligible to enter".

While we maintain the same logic that only a handful of selected Superstars are actually eligible to headline the subsequent WrestleMania as we have mentioned last year, we were also the ones who posed the hypothetical question, "can you imagine Zack Ryder challenging for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXVII?" Yeah, the notion of that still seemed a stretch but the fact that Ryder has now became a start in his own right is a good indication of how things have advanced in a year.

Till now, only five participants have been confirmed. We now know that The Mix will be number 1, while R-Truth, Sheamus, Wade Barrett, and Mick Foley will also be in.

We are expecting a more-than-healthy number of return, from Christian to The Undertaker, but match-quality-wise, this is Royal Rumble, arguably the most intriguing gimmick match of all pro-wrestling.

Continuing our Royal Rumble tradition throughout the years, we will be picking five likely winners. In 2010's Royal Rumble, our fourth choice, Edge, was the winning ticket. Likewise, in a strange twist of fate, our fourth choice for last year's Royal Rumble, Alberto Del Rio, was also the winner. Hit the jump to check out our choice for this year.

Predicted Winners 1) : Randy Orton
Firstly, it's Orton's hometown. Secondly, the fact that Orton is perfectly cast as the returning killer fact back in the business. Third, a single match for the World Heavyweight Championship between Daniel Bryan and Orton is refreshing enough for all.

Predicted Winners 2) : Chris Jericho
The simple fact that Jericho declared that it will be the end of the world as we know it at the Royal Rumble is pretty much enough. And of course, the fight for the claim of being "The Best Wrestler in The World" between CM Punk and Jericho is a spectacle in itself.

Predicted Winners 3) : Sheamus
The fact that the Celtic Warrior has been on a roll for like forever without a clear direction might be indicative of a most prestigious road to WrestleMania for the former World Champion.

Predicted Winners 4) : Wade Barrett
The Barrett Barrage might just be leading to a Royal Rumble win all along.

Predicted Winners 5) : CM Punk
Just a crazy wild guess in the dark should the writers be in a push for a title unification match at this year's WrestleMania.

WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler (Special Guest Referee John Laurinaitis)

With John Laurinaitis, Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim General Manager of Raw, playing the role of a special guest referee, the card is seemingly stacked against reigning WWE Champion CM Punk. That is, if you missed last week's Raw. As we all know, Monday's post-Royal Rumble Raw will also see the return of Triple H with the results of an ongoing evaluation of Johnny Ace's performance with his job on the line.

For everything else, prepare for the match of the night. Punk and Ziggler will not disappoint.

Predicted Winner: CM Punk
While the stars are seemingly aligned for Ziggler, we foresaw a healthy WWE Championship reign defined by longevity for Punk as he head down to WrestleMania to perhaps face the new-and-improved Y2J.

World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan vs. Big Show vs. Mark Henry (Triple Threat Steel Cage Match)

While we are still feeling perturbed by Bryan's seemingly and inevitably (if not already) heel-turn as well as Mark Henry's seemingly and inevitably (if not already) face-turn, we must add that things are in good order right here.

Of course, The World's Strongest Man, Mark Henry and The Biggest Athlete in The World, Big Show, are not the best opponents for the otherwise incredibly talented Daniel Bryan, who is just great in his offense and overall in-ring capabilities, but this cage match might just be the best scenario for Bryan to take advantage of the environment and the existing feud between the two behemoths.

Predicted Winner: Daniel Bryan
This might just be the perfect place for Bryan to announced his emergence to the world title scene in an escape from the cage amidst the two behemoths' clashes.

John Cena vs. Kane

With the Royal Rumble match, the WWE Championship, and the World Heavyweight Championship matches in places respectively, the true battle for the souls (if any) of the WWE Universe lies here. Will John Cena embrace the hate that Kane promotes, and just... for Christ sake, just shut up and turn heel for crying out loud?

Predicted Winner: John Cena
While the conventional mentality is for Cena to remain face (and a cool face at that) and defeat Kane in a straight match, we opine that Cena will still win, but not after a serious out-of-character violent burst on the Big Red Machine. Thereby completing the circle of embracing the hate. We longed to see you, heel-Cena.

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The Rundown

It's the god-damn Royal Rumble. A sure-fire no-brainer for all pro-wrestling fans.

The Avengers: New Official Images & Promotional Images

2012-01-28T14:33:00.002+08:00

Another day brings us another batches of promotional images from Joss Whedon's The Avengers, Marvel Studio's superhero all-star film.

With the May 4th release date for Marvel Studio's superhero all-star film, The Avengers, looming, the promotional engine for the much-anticipated film has been firing on all cylinders.

For the past two weeks, we have seen the movie tie-in action figures, the release of official images, the Avengers Quinjet concept art, and the new promotional illustrated art. Now, Marvel has released five new official images from the film giving us a closer look at Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury, as well as the other members of the mighty cinematic Avengers.

Hit the jump to check out these cool images.

On the other hand, the latest issue of Empire Magazine featured a full-blown coverage on the film, complete with an interview with Kevin Feige, the President of Marvel Studios himself, and a Marvel Zombies-pleasing four variant covers featuring Chris Hemsworth's Thor, Robert Downey, Jr.'s Tony Stark / Iron Man, Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, and lastly, Chris Evans's Steve Rogers / Captain America.

Interestingly, Feige provided an intriguing comment on the much-talked-about mysterious army of Loki that was seen in the film's trailer:

"Who said they were aliens?… It’s not Skrulls, I’ve been clear about that. Beyond that, we want to hide it. The identity of the alien race is not impactful. It exists in the comic books, but we’re not setting up the Kree-Skrull war or anything like that."

Here’s the official synopsis for The Avengers:

Marvel Studios presents in association with Paramount Pictures “Marvel’s The Avengers”–the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Joss Whedon, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when “Marvel’s The Avengers” assemble in summer 2012. In “Marvel’s The Avengers,” superheroes team up to pull the world back from the brink of disaster when an unexpected enemy threatens global security.

Directed by Joss Whedon, The Avengers stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston and Cobie Smulders. The film is currently scheduled to be released in 3D on May 4th, 2012.

Scooby-Doo vs. The Zombie Apocalypse? - Zombie of the Week

2012-01-27T02:23:00.005+08:00

Scooby-Doo, where are you.... in the face of a Zombie Apocalypse?

Stumbled upon at The Girls' Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse, the Scooby-Doo Gang (or Mystery Incorporated if you like) is thrust into the grim-and-gritty world in the face of a Zombie Apocalypse in this nifty little image depicting a badass gun-totting Velma Dinkley and Scooby-Doo. RIP Shaggy, Fred, and Daphne.

The Grey Preview

2012-01-26T23:23:00.005+08:00

Live or die on this day. Or, you can check out director Joe Carnahan's survival thriller film, The Grey, set to be released tomorrow.

While director Joe Carnahan's survival thriller film, The Grey, is far from the first film that presented to the audience a "man vs. wild" cinematic experience, it is certainly not much of a stretch to suggest that it could just be one of the superior take on the relatively niche genre.

Reuniting Carnahan with his 2010 box office flop The A-Team co-star Liam Neeson, The Grey pits Neeson as John Ottway, the leader of a crew of oil rig roughnecks who survived a plane clash only to find themselves in the Alaskan tundra against a pack of wolves. Based on the short story "Ghost Walker" by Ian Mackenzie Jeffers, the film has garnered positive reviews and is set to be released on January 27th, 2012.

With no further ado, have a taste of the intense action and how badass Neeson can get in the recently-released red band trailer.

And here are a couple of the posters released thus far.

Here's the official synopsis for the film:

A group of oil-rig roughnecks are left stranded on the sub-arctic tundra after their plane experiences a complete mechanical failure and crashes into the remote Alaskan wilderness. The survivors, battling mortal injuries, biting cold and ravenous hunger, are relentlessly hunted and pursued by a vicious pack of rogue wolves.

The Dark Knight Rises - Statues and Busts Images

2012-01-25T23:06:00.005+08:00

Have a closer sneak peek into Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises with the unveiling of the 12 inch statues and busts from the film.

Earlier this week, we had a sneak peek at The Avengers, the much-anticipated superhero all-star film from Marvel Studio, with Hasbro's unveiling of tie-in action figures based on the film.

Now, thanks to ComingSoon.com, check out the 12 inch statues and busts from Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises. Hit the jump to check out these cool images.

Kill Bat

2012-01-24T08:37:00.000+08:00

An accidental cinematic mash-up of the highest order.

In the aptly entitled illustration, "IT’S SIMPLE. WE KILL BILL", we have a glimpse into a most intriguing alternate cinematic reality where Heath Ledger's nefarious The Joker from The Dark Knight bumped into the wrong ward and ran into Daryl Hannah's ruthless Elle Driver from Kill Bill courtesy of comic artist Dan Hipp.

WATCH Volkswagen's "The Bark Side” Trailer

2012-01-23T19:19:00.003+08:00

Volkswagen strikes again by welcoming you to the Bark Side.

Arguably one of the best TV commercial for 2011, Volkswagen unexpectedly won the heart and mind of many with their advertisement during last year Super Bowl Sunday. Aptly entitled "The Force", the advertisement featured a heart-wrenchingly cute pint-size Darth Vader in a quest to "rediscover" the Force.

With last year's success in mind, Volkswagen has once again tapped into "The Force" with a new commercial primed for the riveted Super Bowl Sunday slots. And this time, Volkswagen welcomes all back to the Dark, I mean, Bark Side, with a canine-themed commercial.

The trailer for the commercial slated to air during the third quarter of the Super Bowl on February 5th has been released. As ridiculous as how a trailer for a commercial may sound, this clip is actually quite hilarious and we are pretty certain that figuring out all the canine versions of the classic Star Wars characters is going to be quite a fun ride in itself.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.

The Avengers: Movie Tie-in Action Figures

2012-01-22T19:14:00.008+08:00

As we veer ever closer to the release of Marvel Studio's The Avengers, have a good look at the mighty cinematic Avengers with the unveiling of the action figures from the much-anticipated film.

Like almost every other major movies with potential appeal for the youth and toy-collecting crowds (for example, this one), Hasbro, the official toy-maker behind the movie tie-in action figures based on The Avengers, the much-anticipated superhero all-star epic film directed by Joss Whedon, gets to spoil the film silly with the unveiling of "Marvel Studio's The Avengers" action figures series.

Hit the jump to check out images of these figures.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Avengers:

Marvel Studios presents in association with Paramount Pictures “Marvel’s The Avengers”–the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Joss Whedon, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when “Marvel’s The Avengers” assemble in summer 2012. In “Marvel’s The Avengers,” superheroes team up to pull the world back from the brink of disaster when an unexpected enemy threatens global security.

Directed by Joss Whedon, The Avengers stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston and Cobie Smulders. The film is currently scheduled to be released in 3D on May 4th, 2012.

Source: ComicBookMovie.com and SuperHeroHype via Collider

Riddick Sequel : First Look

2012-01-21T19:20:00.002+08:00

Vin Diesel is back in arguably his badass best and we have the first look at Riddick's new garb.

We have seen our fair share of concept art from the as-yet-untitled second sequel in the The Chronicles of Riddick franchise, and now, thanks to Vin Diesel’s Facebook page, we have our first look of Diesel back in Riddick's role on set.

With no further ado, hit the jump to check Diesel in full Riddick garb.

Here’s the official synopsis for the film:

Betrayed by his own kind and left for dead on a desolate planet, Riddick (Diesel) fights for survival against alien predators and becomes more powerful and dangerous than ever before. Soon bounty hunters from throughout the galaxy descend on Riddick only to find themselves pawns in his greater scheme for revenge. With his enemies right where he wants them, Riddick unleashes a vicious attack of vengeance before returning to his home planet of Furya to save it from destruction.

Resident Evil: Retribution - First Look: Zombie of the Week

2012-01-20T19:04:00.007+08:00

Have your first look at Resident Evil: Retribution, the fifth installment in the very much undead zombie action film franchise, with the release of its first images and trailer.

Due to its tested-and-proven box-office drawing capability, Resident Evil: Retribution, the fifth installment in the very much undead zombie action film franchise that is based on the wildly popular survival horror game series from Capcom, was originally planned to be shot back-to-back with its as-yet-unnamed follow-up (why yes, Screen Gems was that confident). For some reasons (most probably, director Paul W. S. Anderson's busy schedule for making more crappy movies like The Three Musketeers). the idea did not materialized and here we are, months ahead of a September release for the latest chapter in the surprisingly enduring film series. Incidentally, the past week also marked the release of the film's first trailer, so without further ado, hit the jump to check out the star-studded zombiefest (head over to Yahoo! to watch it in HD).

Well, apart from looking like an outright advertisement for Sony products, the trailer provided us a good look at why the film has been called as Resident Evil: All-Star by long-time fans of the series. In summary, numerous characters from the film series would be making their return in the upcoming film, no matter if they were alive or not the last time you saw them. From Sienna Guillory's Jill Valentine, Oded Fehr's Carlos Olivera, to even Michelle Rodriguez's Rain Ocampo, you will get to see them along with popular new characters from the game series like Li Bingbing's Ada Wong. Kevin Durand's Barry Burton, and Johann Urb as the most-requested character, Leon S. Kennedy.

That said, despite the "All-Star" moniker, Ali Larter's Claire Redfield, Wentworth Miller's Chris Redfield and Spencer Locke's K-Mart (all three who appeared in the previous installment) will not be returning in the latest film.

Here are a couple of the first images unveiled at the film's official Facebook page.

And here’s the official synopsis for the film:

The wildly successful film franchise adaptation that has grossed nearly $700 million worldwide to the popular video game series, “Resident Evil,” returns in its highly anticipated fifth installment, “Re5ident Evil: Retribution” in state-of-the art 3D.

The Umbrella Corporation’s deadly T-virus continues to ravage the Earth, transforming the global population into legions of the flesh eating Undead. The human race’s last and only hope, Alice (Milla Jovovich), awakens in the heart of Umbrella’s most clandestine operations facility and unveils more of her mysterious past as she delves further into the complex. Without a safe haven, Alice continues to hunt those responsible for the outbreak; a chase that takes her from Tokyo to New York, Washington, D.C. and Moscow, culminating in a mind-blowing revelation that will force her to rethink everything that she once thought to be true. Aided by newfound allies and familiar friends, Alice must fight to survive long enough to escape a hostile world on the brink of oblivion. The countdown has begun.

Rugrats: Live-Action Trailer

2012-01-19T06:07:00.000+08:00

Brace yourself for the raping of your childhood, courtesy of the folks from Funny or Die.

Fans of Rugrats, the 90s orinal animated series from Nickelodeon focusing on a group of toddlers as they go about with their often oddball lives? Kiss your fond childhood memories behind as the folks from Funny or Die present a disturbing vision of what a live-action adaptation of the much-celebrated animation could look like in an unexpectedly dark trailer. Hit the jump to check out the clip and remember to check out your childhood memories prior to viewing.

Via Funny or Die.

Animal Man Anime?

2012-01-18T19:21:00.003+08:00

Has DC's all-new, all-improved Animal Man just gotten a new anime?

It is no secret that we here at The Daily Zombies aren't big fans of DC Comics' big-time gamechanging "52" relaunch initiative . Even then, we have no qualms in declaring writer Jeff Lemire and artist Travel Foreman's relaunched Animal Man as one of the best things to happen to DC Comics in a long time. Who would have thought the usually light-hearted Animal Man would work so well as a horror yarn?

Artist doubleleaf, who obviously shared our views, conjured an anime-style rendition of good ol'Buddy Baker.

Source: Animal Man by doubleleaf [deviantART]

The Dark Knight Rises Theatrical Trailer, Fully Animated

2012-01-17T00:54:00.000+08:00

Two incredible takes on the Dark Knight collides as the theatrical trailer of the much-anticipated The Dark Knight Rises are recut with scenes from the classic Batman: The Animated Series.

Earlier, we have featured several alternate takes on The Dark Knight Rises teaser trailer and one in particular caught our attention: An impressive mash-up of the animated series of Batman to the audio of the original The Dark Knight Rises teaser trailer by YouTube user xNick1718x.

Today, we turned to yet another mash-up of the critically acclaimed animated series tuned to the audio of the full theatrical trailer of the same film. And like the previous, the result is surprisingly sublime.

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter: New Poster & Images - Undead Monday

2012-01-16T06:35:00.004+08:00

We take another look at Timur Bekmambetov's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter this Undead Monday with the newly-released images and poster from the film.

Last Undead Boxing Day, we have had our first sneak peek at Timur Bekmambetov's live-action adaptation of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, the quirky mash-up novel written by Seth Grahame-Smith, well-known for The New York Times best-selling novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, with its first poster. Today, along with the release of a new poster by 20th Century Fox, we take another sneak peek at the film that boldly reimagine one of the famous historical figure in America ever as a vampire killer with the newly-released images courtesy of Entertainment Weekly.

Hit the jump to check out the cool new poster, followed by images scanned from Entertainment Weekly.

Here’s the official synopsis for the film:

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter explores the secret life of our greatest President, and the untold story that shaped our nation. Visionary filmmakers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (director of Wanted) bring a fresh and visceral voice to the blood-thirsty lore of the vampire, imagining Lincoln as history’s greatest hunter of the undead.

Starring Benjamin Walker as Abraham Lincoln, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Mary Todd Lincoln, Lincoln's wife, and Rufus Sewell, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is currently scheduled to be released in 2D and 3D on June 22nd, 2012.

The Dark Knight Gets A Sidekick

2012-01-15T06:22:00.002+08:00

Why Robin? Artist Michael Myers tries his hand on answering the eternal question.

Apart from the regular homophobic allusion, the question of why Batman, the lone Dark Knight, needs a sidekick as bright and colorful as Robin, the Boy Wonder, has been one of the most-asked questions in the hearts and minds of every Batman fans.

Here, artist Michael Myers give us one hell of a quirky attempt in answering this question with this cool t-shirt design.

In the artist's own words:

Ol’ Bats thought it was about time to share the workload of crime fighting.

The design is available as a t-shirt, hoodie as well as a sticker at RedBubble.

Avengers vs. X-Men: Round One Begins

2012-01-14T01:22:00.003+08:00

Excited over the prospects of Marvel's upcoming major event, Avengers vs. X-Men? Marvel has offered us a sneak peek into the all-out battle between their two most popular commodities.

Earlier last month, we reported on Marvel Comics's big bad major event of 2012, Avengers vs. X-Men. A bi-weekly 12-issues series set to be launched in March with a rotating roster of creators featuring Matt Fraction, Jason Aaron, Ed Brubaker, Brian Michael Bendis and Jonathan Hickman as the writers while John Romita Jr., Olivier Coipel and Adam Kubert will be providing their arts in the respectively four-issue arcs, Marvel has been calling Avengers vs. X-Men "the biggest comic book event in history."

For those keeping tab on which Avenger will be taking on which X-Men exactly, Marvel has helpfully unveiled images from their "Round One". Hit the jump to check out the battle card.

Colosus vs. The Thing

Daredevil vs. Archangel

Hawkeye vs. Cyclops

The Incredible Hulk vs. Emma Frost

Iron Man vs. Magneto

Luke Cage vs. The Beast

Black Widow vs. Psylocke

Ms. Marvel vs. Rogue

Spider-Man vs. Ice Man

Spider-Woman vs. Gambit

Storm vs. Thor
And here's the official solicitation information of the first issue:

AVENGERS VS X-MEN: ROUND 1!

The biggest superhero brawl in the history of the Marvel Universe begins this April in Avengers Vs. X-Men #1!

Which team will reign supreme? Join the conversation on Twitter with #AvX!

For more on Avengers VS X-Men, please visit http://avx.marvel.com

AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #1 (JAN120625)
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS, JASON AARON, MATT FRACTION, JONATHAN HICKMAN, ED BRUBAKER
Art by JOHN ROMITA JR.
Cover by JIM CHEUNG
FOC – 2/27/12, ON SALE – 4/3/12

Well, for those who are pondering just how exactly Marvel is going to fill the pages with all these badass epic battles around, Marvel will be releasing AVX: Versus, a six-issue spin-off (and accordingly the only spin-off title from the event) series. Each issue of the title will spotlight two one-on-one battles from the main core title in elaborate details. Just like the main series, the spin-off series will also employ rotating creative teams from issue to issue, starting from Jason Aaron & Adam Kubert's Iron Man vs. Magneto, as well as Kathryn and Stuart Immonen's Namor vs. The Thing in the kick-off issue in April.

Here are some of the highlights from the live blog conference call on the unveiling of the event, courtesy of ComicsAlliance:

- AVX: Versus will be the only newly created tie-in title to the main Avengers Vs. X-Men book, as opposed to the deluge of tie-in miniseries and one-shots typically associated with superhero publishing events of this kind. However, existing ongoing series such as the "core" Avengers and X-Men titles will tie-in to the AVX event.

- AVX: Versus is brazenly a fight comic. In the words of Tom Brevoort, "[There's] not a lot of conversation, introspection or sitting around tables. Page one has somebody punching somebody, the last page has somebody shooting somebody else."

- It would seem the 12 issues of Avengers Vs. X-Men are not enough to "do every fight justice," necessitating the tie-in book focused solely on battles. Brevoort likened the scheme to a 1960s issue of Thor that was dedicated to revisiting a Hulk fight that spanned only a few panels in an earlier issue of Avengers.

- Naturally, fights are fun to draw. "We wanted to give beautiful eye candy by rotating A-list teams," Brevoort said. "We're bringing in our big guns. If we were ever going to publish over-sized, this would be the candidate. You won't find a more straightforward title than Versus."

- "There are a tons of twists and turns in AVX where each team gets the leg up. I'm excited for those. I'm looking forward to seeing a Storm fight. I want to see Jewel get involved, she doesn't fight enough. We've got to see a Thor fight." -Nick Lowe

- "The positions of both the Avengers and the X-Men in AVX are hopefully presented effectively so that you think either side could be right. There will be moments where some Avengers break ranks and side with the X-Men and vice versa. Wolverine, Beast and Storm are conflicted. Hawkeye, Spider-Woman and Ms. Marvel might be as well." -Tom Brevoort

- "You won't see bouts in [AVX: Versus] that aren't reflected in some way in [Avengers Vs. X-Men], but they will be shown with more depth." -Tom Brevoort

- "We won't shy away from fan favorite fights like Rogue vs Ms. Marvel or Pixie vs Squirrel Girl." -Nick Lowe

- "Hopefully in the background of one fight you will see Ben Urich fighting Trish Tilby to give fans their Front Line fix." -Nick Lowe

- "At the end of the day what you get excited about is seeing your favorite character pummel your friend's favorite character so you can laugh at them." -Tom Brevoort

Warm Bodies: Zombie of the Week

2012-01-13T01:13:00.001+08:00

We take another at Warm Bodies, director Jonathan Levine‘s quirky zombie romance film with the newly-released images from by Summit Entertainment.

Last November, we have featured Warm Bodies as our Zombies of the Week. This week, we take yet another look at the quirky zombie romance film based on the debut novel of author Isaac Marion. Just when you thought this is just another zombie film, it is actually quite resonating how zombie culture has come a long way now that we have a zombie romance film in the horizon. Coupled that with director Jonathan Levine (who has earlier brought us the well-reviewed 50/50 earlier)'s involvement, and we might just have a piece of undead gold in hand.

With no further ado, hit the jump to check out these recently-released images.

Here’s the official synopsis for the film:

Zombies love people, especially their brains. But R (Nicholas Hoult) is different. He’s alive inside, unlike the hundreds of other grunting, drooling undead—all victims of a recent plague that drove the remaining survivors into a heavily guarded city. Now the Zombies roam about an airport terminal, searching for human prey and living in fear of the vicious Boneys, the next undead incarnation.

One day, R and his best friend M lumber toward the city in search of food. There, R first sets his eyes on JULIE (Teresa Palmer), a beautiful human. Determined to save her—first from the other Zombies and then from the Boneys—R hides her in his home, a cluttered 747 aircraft. Julie is terrified, and R’s grunted assurances of “Not…eat” do little to calm her. But when R begins to act more human than Zombie, coming to her defense, refusing to eat human flesh, and even speaking in full sentences, Julie realizes that R is special.

After a few close calls with the Boneys, and with her father mounting an armed search for her, Julie realizes she can’t hide forever. So she sneaks back home, leaving R broken-hearted. Desperate to see her, R decides to comb his hair, stand a little straighter, and impersonate a human long enough to get past the city guards. If only he can prove to the humans that Zombies can change, maybe R and Julie’s love might stand a chance. But with the rampaging Boneys heading toward the city and Julie’s father intent on killing R and his Zombie friends, the stage is set for an all-out battle between the living and the undead.

A genre-bending tale of love and transformation, WARM BODIES is a story about a boy who loves a girl…for more than just her body.

Warm Bodies is currently scheduled to release on August 10th, 2012.

The Dark Knight Rises - New Images

2012-01-12T00:54:00.003+08:00

Courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, take a closer look at Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises.

Thanks to this week's issue of Entertainment Weekly, we take a closer look at The Dark Knight Rises, our most anticipated film of 2012 (sorry Avengers).

We have earlier seen the awe-inspiring full theatrical trailer of Christopher Nolan's swan song to his epic trilogy of arguably the greatest superhero ever. Now sink into more details of the film with as we bring you the scanned images and quotes from Entertainment Weekly.

On inspirations for the film:

Christopher Nolan: In seeking to craft “a portrayal of a city and the different strata of people living in it,” Nolan and his brother were inspired by Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities and the silent cinema of Fritz Lang, arguably best known for the sci-fi landmark Metropolis.

On the film's connection to Occupy Wall Street:

Nolan denies reports that he wanted to shoot the protesters who encamped in Zuccotti Park last fall for the film. He and his collaborators conceived Rises more than three years ago, he notes, and obtained their New York shooting permits “nine months before Occupy Wall Street even existed.” Still, he’s not shying away from the implications. “The truth is, we wanted to shoot on Wall Street for the same iconic reasons that the Occupy movement chose that location: It is a symbol of American wealth and capitalism,” says Nolan, who hasjust begun editing the movie and cautions that the question of relevancy is premature. “In trying to tell as story of a self-made hero who is a multibillionaire, it raises certain issues that I do think are important in the world today, about the use and abuse of wat is Bruce Wayne’s only superpower” extraordinary wealth.”

On the Batcave:

The set-which occupies most of a massive L.A. soundstage-is extraordinary for being exactly what it needs to be. Just a big old cave. One with a working waterfall that feeds a subterranena lake, as well as a concrete platform that rises up from the watery deep and hides secret plastic cabinetry that can pop up from the floor with the press of a button.

On dealing the immense presence that comes with making the film:

“I can tell you the truth because I’m done with it: I felt immense pressure. And I think it’s a good pressure, because you owe it to the films — and the people’s expectations — to make great work.”

On how Gotham has changed since the events of The Dark Knight:

Jonathan Nolan:
“If Batman’s plan was to stamp out crime the new movie asks: What if the plan actually worked?”

Christopher Nolan: “At least superficially. The movie deals with the idea that if you’ve papered over the cracks, then you’re just solving problems in a way that may not hold for the future.”

Christian Bale on his last day in full Batman garb:

Christian Bale: “My last day in the suit was also the last day of shooting for me. I was in New York, on top of a downtown skyscraper. The day began with Morgan Freeman and then ended with Anee Hathaway. I got to say goodbye from within the batcowl. it was very quiet, just a couple people there. But in the midst of it, I said, ‘Hold on a sec. Let me take a moment. This is it. I’m never going to have this claustrophobia again!’ So I had to pause. I had to.”

“It’s a fascintating thing, that suit, don’t you think? And since I am generally within it, I actually don’t get to see it that often. Not the way that other people do.”

“I can tell you the truth because I’m done with it: I felt immense pressure. And I think it’s a good pressure because you owe it to the films-and the people’s expectations-to make greatwork.”

Here's the official synopsis of the film:

Warner Bros. Pictures' and Legendary Pictures' "The Dark Knight Rises" is the epic conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, Leading an all-star international cast, Oscar(R) winner Christian Bale ("The Fighter") again plays the dual role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. The film also stars Anne Hathaway, as Selina Kyle; Tom Hardy, as Bane; Oscar(R) winner Marion Cotillard ("La Vie en Rose"), as Miranda Tate; and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as John Blake. Returning to the main cast, Oscar(R) winner Michael Caine ("The Cider House Rules") plays Alfred; Gary Oldman is Commissioner Gordon; and Oscar(R) winner Morgan Freeman ("Million Dollar Baby") reprises the role of Lucius Fox. The screenplay is written by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan, story by Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer. The film is produced by Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Charles Roven, who previously teamed on "Batman Begins" and the record-breaking blockbuster "The Dark Knight." The executive producers are Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan, Kevin De La Noy and Thomas Tull, with Jordan Goldberg serving as co-producer. The film is based upon characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by Bob Kane.

The Dark Knight Rises is currently scheduled to open on July 20th, 2012.

Days of Future Pixar

2012-01-11T02:46:00.002+08:00

The beloved characters of Pixar take on one hell of a dark dystopian alternate future.

While Marvel's merry mutants are admittedly not as big as they used to back in the nineties, there is no doubt that one of the storylines that popularized the X-Men would be Chris Claremont and John Byrne's dark 1981 classic arc, "Days of Future Past", where mutant-kind faces a dark dystopic future.

In this cool mash-up conjured by Mike Henderson and Adam Guzowski, the popular characters of Pixar Animation Studio were placed into the role of the misfortunate future mutants as we see Mike and "Boo" take a dramatic last stand.

And here's the original classic cover to X-Men #141.

The Avengers: New Official Images

2012-01-10T01:18:00.003+08:00

The marketing engine of Marvel Studio's The Avengers continues its relentless pace as we take a sneak peek with these recently-released images from the much-anticipated film.

We are less than five months away from the release of what is surely among most movie buffs (not to mentioned Marvel Zombies)'s most anticipated films of the year, Marvel Studio's The Avengers. With the as-yet-unconfirmed leaked art of the Avengers Quinjet days ago, we now have three new awesome images from the film, courtesy of Marvel.

Hit the jump to check out these new images.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Avengers:

Marvel Studios presents in association with Paramount Pictures “Marvel’s The Avengers”–the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Joss Whedon, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when “Marvel’s The Avengers” assemble in summer 2012. In “Marvel’s The Avengers,” superheroes team up to pull the world back from the brink of disaster when an unexpected enemy threatens global security.

Directed by Joss Whedon, The Avengers stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston and Cobie Smulders. The film is currently scheduled to be released in 3D on May 4th, 2012.

Underworld: Awakening - New Trailers, Posters & Set Stills - Undead Monday

2012-01-09T23:32:00.017+08:00

We revisit Underworld: Awakening, the latest installment of the vampire/werewolf war supernatural action film franchise, this Undead Monday with the release of new trailers and posters from the film ahead of its release next week.

Underworld: Awakening , the fourth installment of the Underworld film series, will be hitting the silver screens next week and we take a look at the surprising long-running vampire/werewolf war supernatural action film franchise with some new trailers, posters, and set images released by Screen Gems.

First up, check out this new trailer entitled "Underworld: Legacy" that served to recap the story thus far in the series.

And here's the third trailer from the film that does a nice job in getting fans enticed. The trailer was recently premiered before the screening of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

The posters released thus far.

And here are some of the new set stills from the film recently released by Screen Gems.

Here's the official synopsis of the film:

UNDERWORLD 4 brings a stunning new dimension to the epic battle between Vampires and Lycans, as the first film in the franchise to shoot in 3D.

Kate Beckinsale, star of the first two films, returns in her lead role as the vampire warrioress Selene, who escapes imprisonment to find herself in a world where humans have discovered the existence of both Vampire and Lycan clans, and are conducting an all-out war to eradicate both immortal species.

An alternate synopsis of the film:

The vampire warrioress Selene, escapes imprisonment to find herself in a world where humans have discovered the existence of both Vampire and Lycan clans and are conducting an all-out war to eradicate both immortal species.

Underworld: Awakening is scheduled to be released in 3D on January 20th 2012.

The Avengers: Quinjet Concept Art

2012-01-08T00:31:00.001+08:00

With the new year ringing in, a new promotional art of Marvel Studio's The Avengers has been released online.

Since the ringing in of the new year, Marvel Studios has been working its marketing engine for its upcoming superhero epic film, The Avengers, what with the earlier-released promotional art (courtesy of The Daily Blam), and now the concept art of the Quinjet, the Avengers's preferred choice of transport, courtesy of Russian website, Spidermedia.ru.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Avengers:

Marvel Studios presents in association with Paramount Pictures “Marvel’s The Avengers”–the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Joss Whedon, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when “Marvel’s The Avengers” assemble in summer 2012. In “Marvel’s The Avengers,” superheroes team up to pull the world back from the brink of disaster when an unexpected enemy threatens global security.

Directed by Joss Whedon, The Avengers stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston and Cobie Smulders. The film is currently scheduled to be released in 3D on May 4th, 2012.

Stephanie Pena's Amélie

2012-01-07T02:42:00.003+08:00

Amélie is, for lack of a better description, brought to life by artist Stephanie Pena.

In this stunning artistic rendition of a scene from Amélie, the 2001 romantic comedy that is also one of the acclaimed French films of all time, artist Stephanie Pena AKA Kippery tapped into the film's whimsical yet endlessly amiable energy to conjured an image that instantly brought us back into the unreal yet immense exhilarating world of the film.

Source: Amélie by Kippery[deviantART]

The Walking Dead Prequel - Zombie of the Week

2012-01-06T01:31:00.003+08:00

Before you get all caught in undead euphoria, behold The Walking Dead Prequel... that you will never see!

The first half of the season two of AMC's The Walking Dead has been unfortunately lackluster. And now with original showrunner Frank Darabont stepping down for the second half, will successor Glen Mazzara be able to deliver the undead goods? We would certainly have to wait to find that out, but here's a little something to make you feel a little more down as we take a look at an awesome concept for a cool prequel for the series that was originally in the plans by Darabont.

And yes, the sad thing is... We will most likely never see it made.

Nevertheless, thanks to Sam Witwer, the actor formerly best-known for giving his likeness to Galen Marek/Starkiller, the protagonist in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video games but now most associated with Ian Daniel "Aidan" McCollin, the vampire role from the North American remake of BBC's Being Human, the amazing plot of the originally planned prequel finally saw the light in an interview with Parnormal Pop Culture:

[Darabont said to me], "Look, I think it would be really cool to tell a prequel story about how Atlanta fell. Do Black Hawk Down, but with zombies. And have a few main characters pass through, like a Twilight Zone episode [and] the lead will be you. And your character will go through and you're a soldier and all these horrible things happen, the chain of command breaks down, and eventually you have to take out your superior officer to save a bunch of people. Then, eventually in the end, you get bit."

And [Darabont is] pitching me this, "You're crawling and you crawl into this tank and you have this grenade and you're going to blow yourself up. But you set the grenade next to you and you die. Then, we reprise the scene from the pilot, where Rick crawls in the tank and there's a zombie there."

And if you look closely, I played that zombie because we were setting up this prequel we were going to do. If you watch the pilot of Walking Dead, that's me in the tank as the zombie. And then Rick blasts him and he gets deafened, and he gets that grenade which saves him at the end of the season. Well, we were going to tell the history of the grenade. We were going to tell, also, how another character who is being introduced in the second season how he comes to a certain thing. They were going to do all this cool stuff. Not doing it now. Why? Because AMC wanted to save a few bucks. That's just one example of the king of cool, awesome forethought that this guy put into the show that is now absolutely for naught.

And here's the video with the interview in its entirety.

Now that's one hell of a brilliant way to make that otherwise somewhat ludicrous grenade at the end endlessly more resonating. And to top all that up, after reading all these would-have-beens, for the first time, we are having our own doubts about the prospect of the series. Only time will tell if The Walking Dead does indeed live up to its expectation.

Mike Allred's Akira Kurosawa Tribute

2012-01-05T01:17:00.003+08:00

Mike Allred pays tribute to Akira Kurosawa.

One of our favorite indie comic book artists takes on the works and legacy of one of the greatest masters in cinemas!

Mike Allred, the indie comic book creator well-known for his creation, Madman, and the recent comic book sensation from DC Comics's Vertigo imprint, iZOMBIE, stretches his uncanny talent to conjure an amazing illustration of cross culture awesomeness! From Toshirō Mifune's Kuwabatake Sanjuro in Yojimbo (用心棒), the 1961 black-and-white jidaigeki (period drama) epic directed by Akira Kurosawa, to Clint Eastwood's the Man with No Name in 1964's A Fistful of Dollars, a spaghetti western remake of Kurosawa's original directed by Sergio Leone, to Bruce Willis's John Smith in 1996's Last Man Standing, an officially authorized remake of Kurosawa's original set in the vein of Prohibition-era gangster thriller that was directed by Walter Hill, Allred's pop art-esque graphic provided a cool vibe to the cinematic legends (and the lesser by-product).

In the artist's own words:

One of the nifty events at TR!CKSTER
was a CRITERION sponsored gallery/auction
tribute to the great AKIRA KUROSAWA.
My contribution was YOJIMBO where I
depicted the Italian (FISTFUL OF DOLLARS
via Sergio Leone) and American (LAST
MAN STANDING via Walter Hill) remakes
standing behind the legendary original,
TOSHIRO MIFUNE.

Source: Allred Art!: CRITERION AKIRA KUROSAWA TRIBUTE!

The Avengers: New Promotional Art

2012-01-04T02:50:00.004+08:00

With the new year ringing in, a new promotional art of Marvel Studio's The Avengers has been released online.

Following more in line with the early promotional art of Marvel Studio's superhero epic film of 2012, The Avengers, as opposed to the earlier-released banners for the film (which we have deemed a good case study in Photoshop Disaster), a new promotional image for The Avengers has appeared online, courtesy of The Daily Blam.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Avengers:

Marvel Studios presents in association with Paramount Pictures “Marvel’s The Avengers”–the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Joss Whedon, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when “Marvel’s The Avengers” assemble in summer 2012. In “Marvel’s The Avengers,” superheroes team up to pull the world back from the brink of disaster when an unexpected enemy threatens global security.

Directed by Joss Whedon, The Avengers stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston and Cobie Smulders. The film is currently scheduled to be released in 3D on May 4th, 2012.

Skyrim Nord Helm

2012-01-03T17:18:00.004+08:00

Enjoy your time taking an arrow in the knee with this badass Skyrim Nord Helm.

Can't get enough of Bethesda Game Studios's monster hit action/RPG video game, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim? Try on this badass Skyrim Nord Helm for size.

Created by Steampunk artist Rawr Bomb, the helmet is perfectly wearable and judging from the photos, it looked pretty durable too. Just don't go counting on it to prevent taking an arrow in the knee.

Head on to Rawr Bomb's Flickr page to check out the creation process of the helmet.

In the meantime, hit the jump to check out photos of the helmet.

Dark Knight Fashion Spread

2012-01-02T02:53:00.002+08:00

Batman and The Joker dance the dance in this stylistic fashion spread conjured by artist Ryuuka.

Immediately reminiscent of the tragic Joker depicted in Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso's brilliant Flashpoint: Batman Knight of Vengeance (and without a shadow of a doubt, the single best read of the whole Flashpoint fiasco), artist Ryuuka recreated the classic feud between Batman and the Clown Prince (or in this case, Princess) of Crime in this stylistic fashion spread.

In the artist's own words:

For this project we had to dress a female model in clothing inspired by a movie that had not been released. I got assigned The Dark Knight! (YES) I based her outfit on the joker because of heath ledger and all. SO all in all it was fun. Then i hated it. Then it was kinda fun again....but my teacher liked it alright, so its okay i guess.

Source: Dark Knight Fashion Spread by *Ryuuka [deviantART]

Bleach 2012 Calendar

2012-01-01T13:55:00.006+08:00

With the apocalyptic new year ringing in, we bring you scans of the official 2012 calendar of Bleach.

As the world rings in 2012, The Daily Zombies continues our round-up of scans for cool calendars for the apocalyptic new year with Bleach to kick off 2012. Do note that our usual year-ending special feature - Top 13 of the Year will be published on a later date due to unforeseen circumstances.

Click on the respective images to download the higher resolution version of the picture.

The Skeletal Side of Darth Vader

2011-12-31T08:24:00.006+08:00

Kode Logic asks "Who's Your Daddy" with this badass rendition of Lord Vader himself.

We have earlier featured Kode Logic's awesome TRON / Street Fighter collection in both regular wallpaper size and the recently-released iPhone wallpaper size. Today we take a look at his rendition of the ultimate badass evil overlord, Lord Darth Vader himself. A warm-up work of the artist, the illustration is a brilliant exercise of manipulation of lights and shadows for the iconic villain.

Source: Who's your Daddy by BossLogic [deviantART]

Naruto Shippuden 2012 Calendar

2011-12-30T16:56:00.000+08:00

Scans of the official 2012 calendar of Naruto Shippuden have arrived here at The Daily Zombies.

We have earlier brought you scans of the official 2012 calendar of One Piece, and now, like the year before us, we bring you scans of the official 2012 calendar of Naruto Shippuden. While it certainly is not as dazzling like that of One Piece, it will definitely suffice in its role as a cool wallpaper for fans of the popular anime/manga series.

Click on the respective images to download the higher resolution version of the picture.

Pokevil Dead

2011-12-29T16:50:00.001+08:00

Two of the most famous Ash of pop culture collide in this insidious mash-up.

"Chainsaw, I choose you!"

Previously available as a t-shirt for only $11 (until 12/16. sorry folks), Ash Williams from Sam Raimi's cult hit, The Evil Dead franchise merges with Ash Ketchum from Nintendo's very own phenomenon, Pokémon, in this unlikely crossover courtesy of artists Matt Parsons & Chris McVeigh.

The Hunger Games: New Poster & Promotional Image

2011-12-28T01:23:00.004+08:00

The live-action adaptation of the first chapter in Suzanne Collins’ best-selling novel series The Hunger Games trilogy gets a new poster as well as some unexpected cross-promotion with a nail polish.

Last month, we took an in-depth look at Gary Ross'live-action adaptation of The Hunger Games, the first chapter in Suzanne Collins’ best-selling young-adult science fiction adventure novel series The Hunger Games trilogy with the first theatrical trailer, character poster sets as well as some propaganda-style posters for the twelve districts and the Capital in the film.

Earlier this month, in commemoration of the release date of the much-anticipated film being 100 days away, Lionsgate kicked off an extensive poster unveiling campaign by pulling off the #HUNGERGAMES100 Poster Puzzle Hunt, where 100 sites were given 100 different puzzle pieces of said poster. And after some back-and-forth over the campaign, the official poster were finally unveiled and available right after the jump.

Apart from the unveiling of the poster for the peculiar "100 days" occasion, the film studio will also be rolling out "Colors from the Capitol", a collection of China Glaze nail polish based on the film. A first image of the even more peculiar cross-promotion has been unveiled, featuring Elizabeth Banks in her flamboyantly pink Effie Trinket get-up. You can check out the image right after the jump.

Here’s the official synopsis for the film:

Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the evil Capitol of the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. A twisted punishment for a past uprising and an ongoing government intimidation tactic, The Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains.

Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy. If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

THE HUNGER GAMES is directed by Gary Ross, and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. Suzanne Collins’ best-selling novel, the first in a trilogy published by Scholastic that has over 16 million copies in print in the United States alone, has developed a massive global following.

The Hunger Games stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, as well as Donald Sutherland, and is set to be released on March 23rd, 2012, with a film adaptation of Catching Fire, the second novel in The Hunger Games trilogy scheduled to be released on November 22nd, 2013.

Bat Family, Animated Style

2011-12-27T07:17:00.001+08:00

Continuing his vision of a new Batman animated series based on Grant Morrison's Batman and Robin run, here's artist Javier aka Maggotx9's take on the Bat Family.

The Bat Family, affectionately coined by fans of DC Comic's iconic Batman, is the extended collision of crime-fighter either directed supported by the Dark Knight or are those inspired by the exploits of the Caped Crusaders in Gotham City.

With DC Comics restarting the entire DC Universe with "The New 52" initiative, the extended family of Batman is however as packed as ever but with some significant change (with the most notable being the fact that Barbara Gordon is no longer as Oracle but as an active Batgirl).

We have earlier covered on artist Javier aka Maggotx9's vision of an animated series of Batman that is based on Grant Morrison's Batman and Robin run with Dick Grayson as Batman. Here, we take yet another look at his alternate animated vision of Batman with his take on the Bat Family.

In the artist's own words:

The Bat Family.
So here we have the members from the bat family. (The ones that wear costumes)

from Left to right

Jason Todd - Red Hood
Cassandra Cain - Black Bat
Tim Drake - Red Robin
Bruce Wayne - Batman
Selina Kyle - Catwoman
Dick Grayson - Batman
Kate Kane - Batwoman
Damian Wayne - Robin
Stephanie Brown - Batgirl
Barbara Gordon - Oracle
Helena Bertinelli - Huntress

Would not it be great if DC actually made an animated series based on the comics. I did this by imagining a series based on the events that occurred when Bruce "dies."

Source: Bat Family by ~Maggotx9 [deviantART]

The Dark Knight Rises: Sweded Trailer

2011-12-27T04:04:00.002+08:00

We knew this is inevitable. Brace yourself for the trailer for Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises... now in sweded form.

Yes, with the cynical world we lived these days, you knew it had to happen. Continuing their "sweded" work on trailers for popular films following their invigoratingly low-budget shot-by-shot attempt to "swede" the action-packed trailer of Marvel Studios's The Avengers, the folks from Dumb Drum are back to haunt filmgoers with their "sweded" take on the trailer for Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises.

Hit the jump to check out their hilarious effort.

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter: First Posters - Undead Monday

2011-12-26T01:00:00.003+08:00

This Undead Boxing Monday, we take a look at the first posters from Timur Bekmambetov's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

It has been some time since we last mentioned Timur Bekmambetov's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter when Mr. Nine Inch Nail himself, Trent Reznor, was reportedly involved in the filming and scoring of the film based on the relatively well-received mash-up novel written by Seth Grahame-Smith. Of course, we all knew how that turned out with Reznor later confirming that he will not be involved in the film in any capacity.

That said, the film remained to be a peculiar one to watch out for in our undead and unhumble opinion. With two films on Abraham Lincoln coming next year, this is unabashedly the one we are more interested about given the heavy fantasy and supernatural elements as well as the visionary style of Russian director, producer and screenwriter, Timur Bekmambetov. Nevertheless, we are not taking anything away from Steven Spielberg and his biopic, Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln and based on Doris Kearns Goodwin‘s acclaimed non-fiction book "Team of Rivals". We are pretty sure it's gonna be historical accurate and acclaimed but we really like to see how an ass-kicking, vampire-hunting Abraham Lincoln looked like.

20th Century Fox has released a lenticular poster for the film via IGN. With no further ado, hit the jump to check out these posters.

Here’s the official synopsis for the film:

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter explores the secret life of our greatest President, and the untold story that shaped our nation. Visionary filmmakers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (director of Wanted) bring a fresh and visceral voice to the blood-thirsty lore of the vampire, imagining Lincoln as history’s greatest hunter of the undead.

Starring Benjamin Walker as Abraham Lincoln, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Mary Todd Lincoln, Lincoln's wife, and Rufus Sewell, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is currently scheduled to be released in 2D and 3D on June 22nd, 2012.

One Piece 2012 Calendar

2011-12-26T00:02:00.007+08:00

Boxing Day is here as we bring you scans of the official 2012 calendar of One Piece.

With the apocalyptic 2012 mere days away from us, we here at The Daily Zombies continue our undead tradition of sharing some awe-inspiring calendars that we found online right here.

First up, like last year, we have the ultra-popular One Piece with their very own official calendar for 2012.

Click on the respective images to download the higher resolution version of the picture.

The Avengers: Parody Art & New Character Posters

2011-12-25T03:46:00.001+08:00

The cinematic Avengers are parodied and dissembled respectively in these fan art and new character posters.

With screen siren Scarlett Johansson's turn as Black Widow in the upcoming superhero epic film, The Avengers, there is certainly no doubt in her role as the sex symbol to appeal to the fan boys, Marvel Zombies or not. And that is immediately evident in an early promotional art where every members of the team roll out their best superheroic pose and Johansson's posture being of the most expectedly stereotypical sexy femme fatale.

Noticing the perceived sexist statement, artist Kevin Bolk conjured his own take on the aforementioned piece of promotional art by reimagining every single Avengers in the erotic pose of Johansson's Black Widow. Sexist discrimination or feminist notes aside, the result is hilarious.

In the artist's own words:

This is a parody of this promo art for the Avengers movie. I couldn't help but notice that in most of the ad material, the guys are all in heroic stances but Black Widow is almost always in an impractical, curved-spine "booty shot" pose. Figured I'd flip it around for my lady friends out there. Seemed only fair.

Them's some strong male characters, amirite?

And in a not-quite-related news on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel has disassembled the earlier-released banners for the film which we have deemed a good case study in Photoshop Disaster into individual character posters.

Hit the jump if you like them better individually.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Avengers:

Marvel Studios presents in association with Paramount Pictures “Marvel’s The Avengers”–the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Joss Whedon, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when “Marvel’s The Avengers” assemble in summer 2012. In “Marvel’s The Avengers,” superheroes team up to pull the world back from the brink of disaster when an unexpected enemy threatens global security.

Directed by Joss Whedon, The Avengers stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston and Cobie Smulders. The film is currently scheduled to be released in 3D on May 4th, 2012.

WATCH A Very Arkham City Christmas

2011-12-25T02:56:00.000+08:00

We wish you a Merry Arkham City Christmas with this little fan film based in the Batman: Arkham City universe.

Does the small-time crooks and henchmen alike get to have a Merry Christmas in the Batman: Arkham City universe?

It's not like the ever-relentless Dark Knight get to have a break.

In this short fan film made by the folks from Blue Goggles Films, let no criminals be unaware that crime just plain doesn't pay in Gotham City. Not even when it's Christmas.

Brad McGinty 's Crazy Christmas Cards from 1955!

2011-12-24T23:38:00.000+08:00

Behold quite possibly one of the creepiest Christmas Cards ever.

Remember the viscerally intriguing "Anatomical Guide to the Xenomorph" by Minnesota-based comic book artist Brad McGinty that provided us a most interesting anatomical analysis to the H. R. Giger's infamous creation in Ridley Scott's classic 1979 sci-fi horror film?

McGinty is back again with yet another grisly rendition of icons. And being Christmas, we all know who's in line this time round. Interestingly, the piece, which is available as a print at McGinty's website, is "reportedly" created by McGinty's grandfather, one Bradwick McGinty, in 1955.

Head over to McGinty's website to learn more of the vintage card's "tragic" origins. In the meantime, hit the jump to check them out.

Merry Christmas, Batman!

2011-12-24T21:17:00.005+08:00

The DC Universe (Both superheroes and supervillains alike) wishes the Dark Knight a Merry Christmas at the Batcave, courtesy of Ulises Farinas.

Just in time for the festive season, Ulises Farinas's "Batman inspects a Gift" featured a stellar ensemble of superheroes and supervillains alike presenting their Christmas gifts to Batman at the Batcave. As ludicrous as the idea might sound, the execution is typically awesome of the artist.

From the artist's own words:

I frequently think of superheroes, in their own little private universe in my head, in my own particular way. The way Superman talks, the way Batman thinks, and occasionally I like to draw my interpretations of them. One of my favorite pieces of mine, is the Batman is a Hoarder, mostly because it’s the most clear representation of everything i love about Batman. He’s lonely, obsessive, and a bit crazy, but he is more importantly noble and determined. So i decided to make a sister piece for the Hoarder drawing. It is sort of a thank you for Batman, a thank you to Batman, and a thank you to my friends and family this year for the constant love and support. Anywho, enough babbling, here’s the drawing:

Prints of the piece are available at $25 at Ulises Farinas's site.

WATCH Left 4 Dead: Impulse 76 - Zombie of the Week

2011-12-23T19:38:00.000+08:00

Left 4 Dead meets Gears of War meets Halo and a few other popular video game properties in this cool short film.

When it comes to fan films, it certainly seems that mash-ups and cross-overs are the thing to do given the madcap creative freedom unbound by license issues. We have earlier seen the well-received fan film G.I. Joe - Operation: Red Retrieval and its very own surprise cross-over. In Left 4 Dead: Impulse 76, a recently-released short film for Valve's popular survival horror video game series Left 4 Dead made by Airsoft GI and Northern Five Productions, expect an overdrive of awesome mash-ups and cross-overs.

And here's a making-of clip of the short film.

Prometheus: First Trailer

2011-12-23T07:13:00.002+08:00

The ever-so-mysterious Ridley Scott’s upcoming probable prequel to the Alien film franchise is finally unveiled to us with the release of the first trailer by 20th Century Fox.

We have been circling around Prometheus, Ridley Scott's much-touted return to the sci-fi horror genre, for some time. Today, with the release of the first trailer of the film, we get another hint of the actual relation to the director's 1979 seminal classic film, Alien.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.

Just check out how the title is eventually unveiled in the trailer and take a look at the original trailer of 1979's Alien right below for some intriguing comparison.

And here's a new image from the film featuring Michael Fassbender himself.

Here's the updated official synopsis of the film:

Visionary filmmaker Ridley Scott returns to the genre he helped define, creating an original science fiction epic set in the most dangerous corners of the universe. The film takes a team of scientists and explorers on a thrilling journey that will test their physical and mental limits and strand them on a distant world, where they will discover the answers to our most profound questions and to life’s ultimate mystery.

Prometheus is currently scheduled to be release in the USA on June 8th, 2012.

A Santa Claus Most Maniacally Awesome

2011-12-23T02:50:00.009+08:00

This Christmas, behold these bat-shit crazy clips featuring quite possibly the most maniacal Santa Claus of all time. And yes, he is awesome.

In the unsuspecting image of a reindeer below, something awesome is about to happen.

Stumbled upon at ComicsAlliance, the GIF was originally a video clip made by the folks from Treat Studios for a series of unconventional Christmas-themed shorts.

Hit the jump to check all five equally maniacal yet awesome clips.

Reindeer from Treat on Vimeo.

Christmas Trees from Treat on Vimeo.

Workshop from Treat on Vimeo.

Pole Dance from Treat on Vimeo.

Carol Singers from Treat on Vimeo.

Source: Treat via ComicsAlliance

Gotham City Impostors Presents: Nowhere To Hide

2011-12-22T06:56:00.001+08:00

We take a look at yet another of the awesome animated shorts of Monolith Productions and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment's Gotham City Impostors.

The animated short films for Gotham City Impostors, a multiplayer mode-only First-Person Shooter (FPS) game developed by Monolith Productions and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, has been consistently brilliant throughout its series. We have earlier featured "Neighbors" and "Running Late". Today, check out another one of the surprisingly awesome vision of the animated short, giving us a look at the how the never-ending rivalry between the Dark Knight and the Prince of Crime has inspired a maniacal war.

Hit the jump to check out this new cool animated clip entitled "Nowhere To Hide".

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - First Trailer & Poster

2011-12-22T05:54:00.003+08:00

An Unexpected Journey awaits come December 14th, 2012, and here we have our first sneak peek at The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey with the release of the first trailer by Warner Bros.

We have earlier had a brief glimpse into the director Peter Jackson's vision of an earlier Middle-earth described in The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien's prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy with the unveiling of the thirteen dwarves that will be accompanying protagonist Bilbo Baggins in his legendary quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug.

Continuing this epic week of unveiling of trailers, Warner Bros. has released the trailer of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first of the two-part "The Hobbit". With no further ado, hit the jump to check out the trailer for a glorious return to the cinematic Middle-earth.

Here’s the official synopsis for the film:

"The Hobbit" follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakensheild. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers.

Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever … Gollum.

Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities … A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.

And here are the first two posters from the film.

The Hobbit will be released in two parts, with "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" scheduled to be released on December 14th, 2012, and "The Hobbit: There and Back Again" on December 13, 2013.

The Avengers in 'Who Is The Secret Santa?!

2011-12-22T02:51:00.002+08:00

Earth's Mightiest Heroes will not get to enjoy the Merriest Christmas thanks to Kerry Callen and ComicsAlliance.

We have earlier featured the work of Kerry Callen, a regular ComicsAlliance contributor and artist of his own webcomic Halo & Sprocket. Working with fellow ComicsAlliance colleague, Chris Sims, here's a mock cover to an Avengers story we would love to see published.

From the artist's own words:

Just finished some art for Comics Alliance this last weekend. It's a fake cover concepted and written by Chris Simms. Below is my B&W work. Can you find what I consider an error? (Well, aside from the fact I forgot to sign my name, and I made the swastikas backwards. [I did that because I really didn't want to draw real ones.]) I fixed it before it posted on CA. I'll tell you the answer in the comments section.

For those interested to know the error Callen is talking about, do head over to his site to find out.

Jim Lee's Free Comic Book Day T-shirts Design

2011-12-21T06:45:00.000+08:00

DC Universe's The Source blog has unveiled Jim Lee's t-shirt design for 2012’s Free Comic Book Day.

First announced in October by DC Comics, we were all informed ahead of time that the Free Comic Book Day t-shirt will be designed by Jim Lee, the Co-Publisher of DC Comics with Dan DiDio and incidentally one of the most popular comic book artists of all time.

Last week, DC Universe's The Source blog unveiled the design, which is a nifty homage to a classic illustration by José Luis García-López.

Hit the jump to check out the cool t-shirt and bear in mind that they will be made available for order in January’s Diamond PREVIEWS catalog with all proceeds going to support the FCBD.

And here's the original piece that inspire the homage by Lee.

Source: DC Universe's The Source via Robot 6

Wrath of the Titans: First Trailer & Posters

2011-12-21T05:06:00.004+08:00

Can't get enough of Hollywood's recent obsession with Greek fables? Hitting theaters next March, Wrath of the Titans is here to help.

With the release of the full theatrical trailer of The Dark Knight Rises yesterday, it is indeed a most inopportune moment for Legendary Pictures
and Warner Bros. Pictures to release the first trailer of Wrath of the Titans, the sequel to 2010's lackluster blockbuster, Clash of the Titans. With Jonathan Liebesman (who recently brought Battle: Los Angeles) taking over the directing reigns from Louis Leterrier, the film featured returning actors Sam Worthington, Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson, and Danny Huston reprising their roles with Bill Nighy and Rosamund Pike joining the cast. If you are immune to Hollywood's recent Greek fable film fatigue (after the madcap Immortals directed by Tarsem Singh, just remember NOT to watch this one in 3D, given our experience with its predecessor. Yes, the 3D process has been reported to be a post-conversion yet again.

Nevertheless, hit the jump to check out Sam Worthington's new Grunge hairdo in the trailer.

Here are the first wave of posters for the film.

And here's the official synopsis of the film:

A decade after his heroic defeat of the monstrous Kraken, Perseus (Worthington) –the demigod son of Zeus (Neeson)–is attempting to live a quieter life as a village fisherman and the sole parent to his 10-year old son, Helius. Meanwhile, a struggle for supremacy rages between the gods and the Titans. Dangerously weakened by humanity’s lack of devotion, the gods are losing control of the imprisoned Titans and their ferocious leader, Kronos, father of the long-ruling brothers Zeus, Hades (Fiennes) and Poseidon (Danny Huston). The triumvirate had overthrown their powerful father long ago, leaving him to rot in the gloomy abyss of Tartarus, a dungeon that lies deep within the cavernous underworld. Perseus cannot ignore his true calling when Hades, along with Zeus’ godly son, Ares (Edgar Ramirez), switch loyalties and make a deal with Kronos to capture Zeus. The Titans’ strength grows stronger as Zeus’ remaining godly powers are siphoned, and hell is unleashed on earth. Enlisting the help of the warrior Queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike), Poseidon’s demigod son, Argenor (Toby Kebbell), and fallen god Hephaestus (Bill Nighy), Perseus bravely embarks on a treacherous quest into the underworld to rescue Zeus, overthrow the Titans and save mankind.

Wrath of the Titans is currently scheduled to be release on March 30th, 2012 in 3D and IMAX 3D.

Geof Darrow's Awe-inspiring Cover to Wolverine #300

2011-12-20T05:21:00.003+08:00

It's Big Trouble in Little Tokyo when Logan's in town, as expertly demonstrated by the impeccable Geof Darrow.

Fans of Hard Boiled, Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, and Shaolin Cowboy will not be unfamiliar to the ultra-realistic, hyper-detailed and high-octane art of Geof Darrow.

With the regular ongoing series of Wolverine hitting its big #300 issue anniversary and Logan taking a grudge trip back to Tokyo for an encounter with the new-and-improved Silver Samurai and his daughter, Darrow was called upon by Marvel to deliver a wraparound cover for the variant edition of the extra-sized issue. And as expected from Darrow, he turned up with an astonishing rendition of Logan kicking the collective asses of Yakuzas and Ninjas. Courtesy of ComicsAlliance, hit the jump to check out the amazing cover.

And here's the official solicitation information for the title:

WOLVERINE #300
JASON AARON (W) • ADAM KUBERT (A/C)
VARIANT COVER BY JIM CHEUNG
WRAPAROUND VARIANT COVER BY GEOF DARROW
BLANK VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLE
• EXTRA-SIZED 300th ISSUE EVENT!
• An all-new, soon-to-be-classic Wolverine story starts here!
• Wolverine travels to Tokyo to confront his most dangerous enemy yet.
• And a new Silver Samurai rises to take his place…along with Wolverine’s daughter!
56 PGS./Parental Advisory …$4.99

In parting, here's the other variant cover as well as the cover for the main edition.

The Dark Knight Rises - Full Theatrical Trailer

2011-12-20T03:50:00.006+08:00

Finally, it is here! Brace yourself for the full theatrical trailer of our most anticipated film of 2012... Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises!

Back in July, when we show you the first teaser trailer of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, we called the single most anticipated movie trailer of the year. Now exactly five months later, we stand humbly corrected with the release of the official full theatrical trailer of the film. With no further ado, ladies and gentlemen, hit the jump to check out the incredibly awesome trailer that will certainly induce goosebumps galore (head over to Apple to see the trailer in HD).

"When Gotham is ashes, you will have my permission to die."

Here are some of the screen captures from the astounding clip.

Along with the new trailer, an official synopsis of the film was also released, courtesy of Apple:

Warner Bros. Pictures' and Legendary Pictures' "The Dark Knight Rises" is the epic conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, Leading an all-star international cast, Oscar(R) winner Christian Bale ("The Fighter") again plays the dual role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. The film also stars Anne Hathaway, as Selina Kyle; Tom Hardy, as Bane; Oscar(R) winner Marion Cotillard ("La Vie en Rose"), as Miranda Tate; and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as John Blake. Returning to the main cast, Oscar(R) winner Michael Caine ("The Cider House Rules") plays Alfred; Gary Oldman is Commissioner Gordon; and Oscar(R) winner Morgan Freeman ("Million Dollar Baby") reprises the role of Lucius Fox. The screenplay is written by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan, story by Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer. The film is produced by Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Charles Roven, who previously teamed on "Batman Begins" and the record-breaking blockbuster "The Dark Knight." The executive producers are Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan, Kevin De La Noy and Thomas Tull, with Jordan Goldberg serving as co-producer. The film is based upon characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by Bob Kane.

The Dark Knight Rises is currently scheduled to open on July 20th, 2012.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance - New Trailer & Poster - Undead Monday

2011-12-19T10:41:00.001+08:00

This Undead Monday, we take another look at Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance with the newly-released trailer and poster from the film.

The Spirit of Vengeance rides again next February courtesy of co-directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor.

In our earlier coverage on first trailer, we like what we have gathered from the upcoming superhero action-thriller Here, a new cut of the trailer shows us a new, more solemn side to the film. With no further ado, do hit the jump and check out the clip.

We have earlier featured a gallery of awesome poster sets of skull-themed posters from the film. Along with the release of the new trailer, a new poster for the film has also been released.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Nicolas Cage returns as Johnny Blaze in Columbia Pictures’ and Hyde Park Entertainment’s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. In the successor to the worldwide hit Ghost Rider, Johnny – still struggling with his curse as the devil’s bounty hunter – is hiding out in a remote part of Eastern Europe when he is recruited by a secret sect of the church to save a young boy (Fergus Riordan) from the devil (Ciaran Hinds). At first, Johnny is reluctant to embrace the power of the Ghost Rider, but it is the only way to protect the boy – and possibly rid himself of his curse forever. Directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. Screenplay by Scott M. Gimple & Seth Hoffman and David S. Goyer. Story by David S. Goyer. Based on the Marvel Comic. Produced by Steven Paul, Ashok Amritraj, Michael De Luca, Avi Arad, and Ari Arad.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is currently scheduled to open in 3D on February 17th, 2012.

Breaking Bart

2011-12-19T06:12:00.000+08:00

Here's an awesome TV mash-up no one saw coming.

Undoubtedly one of the very best television drama currently on air now, AMC's Breaking Bad is a gripping drama that explores the dark side of the human heart. Just like The Simpsons. As evident from this cool mash-up video that seamlessly merges the audio track from Breaking Bad to The Simpsons to incredible effect. And with impeccable casting of Ned Flanders as Walter and Bart as Jesse, you know you are in for one hell of a hilarious time with this one.

Hit the jump to check out the clip.

WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs Preview

2011-12-18T23:59:00.010+08:00

The final WWE Pay-Per-View (PPV) event of the year will be taking place tonight at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. Let The Daily Zombies prepare you for the third edition of TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs.

Fresh off the disastrous Slammy Awards from last Monday's Raw, TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, incidentally the final WWE Pay-Per-View (PPV) event of the year will be taking place tonight at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.

While last month's Survivor Series were mildly disappointing given the strong tease of a much-anticipated heel turn by John Cena, we were greatly excited by The Rock's in-ring form. The Great One definitely still has it. Coupled that with a feel-good moment when CM Punk defeated Alberto Del Rio for the WWE Championship and we have a quite a show that lived up to its reputation among one of the "Big Four" events of WWE (along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble and SummerSlam).

With the third edition of TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs happening tonight, we are witnessing something of a striking oddity in the booking here: John Cena, well-known for not missing any WWE shows except in the face of a genuine injury, is not booked in the show. While not being advertise in a match does not necessarily meant that he will not be showing up tonight, Cena has took to his Twitter account to address his absence.

Not that I have a problem with that fact, but it is intriguing to note that WWE seem to be conducting a little "social experiment" of their own with tonight's show given how Punk's "Best of the World" t-shirt has outsold Cena's usual "Fruity Pebble" gears. Is WWE trying out Punk's appeal in garnering PPV buy-rates by totally leaving Cena out of the equation?

Back to the show on hand. A well-stacked undercard is on hand with Intercontinental champion Cody Rhodes putting his title on the line against the former 5-times, 5-times, 5-times, 5-times, 5-times WCW Champion, Booker T, who is returning to the ring for this one. Internet sensation (and self-proclaimed champion) Zack Ryder will finally get another shot at Dolph Ziggler's United States title.

In keeping with the annual TLC event's tradition, four matches befitting the theme of the gimmick will be in place: Continuing where their feud left off, SmackDown's number-one guy, Randy Orton takes on Wade Barrett, who is currently on a roll with his "Barrett Barrage", in a Tables Match. Triple H and his former best friend Kevin Nash will clash in an unlikely Sledgehammer Ladder Match. In a likely last chapter to their surprisingly enduring feud, the World's Strongest Man, Mark Henry, will once again put his World Heavyweight Championship on the line against Big Show in a Chairs Match. The reigning WWE Champion, CM Punk takes on incredible odds by squaring off with both The Miz and Alberto Del Rio in a Triple Threat TLC Match.

For those keeping the score, we scored a mediocre four out of the announced six-match card on Survivor Series. With WWE kicking off the Road to WrestleMania come next PPV, will tonight's event be set in holding patterns before Royal Rumble? We shall see. On with the show.

WWE Championship Triple Threat TLC Match

The current reigning WWE Champion CM Punk will be taking on Alberto Del Rio and The Miz in the main event: A Triple Threat Tables, Ladders & Chairs Match for the WWE Title.

Ad mentioned earlier, Punk won the title from Del Rio during last month's Survivor Series in one of the best encounters both Superstars ever had. With The Miz in the mix, coupled with the "extreme" stipulation, this match is easily in the running for best match of the evening.

Predicted Winner: CM Punk
While we are not exactly certain the duration of Punk as the WWE Champion given Cena's commitment in putting the WWE Championship on the line against The Rock at WrestleMania XXVIII, we are all for a long title run for the Second City Saint. And tonight is definitely not a night for a major title change.

Being both loudmouths armed with pipe-bombs of their own, Punk and The Miz have potential chemistry working together in a feud and is likely to continue their rivalry over the title.

World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry vs. Big Show (Chairs Match)

Despite being the third edition of TLC, I just feel that I would never get use to the concept of a "Chairs Match". A match where only chairs are legal? How lame could that get? I have been grumbling about this for the past two years so let's cut this out right now.

That said, The World's Strongest Man, Mark Henry and The Biggest Athlete in The World does have some legitimate claim to the stipulation, with the chair being a key component in their feud. We saw Big Show delivering a cool flying elbow last month, and the imploding of the ring the month before when these two clash. Being likely the final encounter between the two in this extended series of match-ups, expect this one to be one of the best big man matches around.

Predicted Winner: Mark Henry
The Hall of Pain has to continue until WrestleMania XXVIII. Kane made a good choice picking up on Cena instead of Henry. The spectacular of the eventual defeat of the monster champion has to happen at the Grandest Stage of them all.

Triple H vs. Kevin Nash (Sledgehammer Ladder Match)

A ladder match for both veterans with known knee problems? Is WWE trying to deliver us with the slowest ladder match in pro-wrestling history?

While Triple H is still capable to pulling off decent-to-great matches, we all knew deep down how a Kevin Nash match will go down. Will a train-wreck waiting to happen turned out to be a lesson in dishing out the unexpected? Perhaps we can see some of the most innovative way to retrieve the MacGuffin (in this case, a hammer) without actually climbing the ladder. Apart from that, there's one more thing that puzzles us: How does this match actually end? Retrieving the sledgehammer does not mean victory unlike the normal ladder matches. The match still go by the usual pinfall or submission rule. If one can take the time to retrieve the sledgehammer while the other is rendered out of action long enough for that to be achieved, why not just pin the opponent without retrieving the sledgehammer in the first place? Do you smell a screw-job somewhere?

Predicted Winner: Kevin Nash
The simple truth: If Triple H wins, the feud is over. All the texting, brotherly rivalry will amount to nothing. While an anticlimax in a feud does occur from time to time more often than we wish to remember, we got a feeling this ain't it. Yet.

Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett (Tables Match)

The feud between Wade Barrett and Randy Orton have been surprisingly thoughtful, thus making Barrett's "Barrett Barrage" rather effective. Perhaps it is due to us being desensitized to WWE's inept booking, but with a strong set-up and the refreshing scenario of Orton in peril, this Tables Match is one that I would be watching out for.

Predicted Winners: Randy Orton
While we definitely agree that Barrett needs this victory more so than Orton, the Viper has been outplayed at every move for the past few weeks (even losing at the Survivor Series, something unprecedented for the Apex Predator) that we are getting the vibe of a reverse of fortune for him here. Either way, the unique thing about a TLC, Tables, Chairs, or Ladder Match is that one is never truly defeated in them except for the abysmal stipulation for Triple H and Nash's bout) having not submitted or pinned by anybody. The Barrett Barrage can continue even stronger after the rub from Orton.

United States Champion Dolph Ziggler vs. Zack Ryder

Ok, here's where we are going to insert an additional prediction: Cena, being the ever-lovable, hulking cheerleader that he is, will turn up to be at Ryder's side to mitigate Vickie Guerrero's cheating ways. And even get some ass-whooping by the returning Big Red Machine along the way.

As for the actual match-up between Ryder and Ziggler, the match should be something to watch out for given Ziggler's recent consistency of dishing out great matches.

Predicted Winner: Zack Ryder
The reign of Perfection is over. Long live the reign of Perfection. With Ziggler now poised for the main event limelight, it is only right for him to drop the lesser title to the up-and-coming Ryder, both to please the rabid fans of Ryder and to also award Ryder for his long-standing service as well.

Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes vs. Booker T

Interestingly, both reigning midcard champions have been great of late, cementing their inevitable push to the uppercard. Here, we have Cody Rhodes who continue to shine in both his in-ring ability and on the mic. On the other hand, Booker T is someone who has the reputation and capability to further launch Rhodes's career.

Match quality-wise, this should be just fine. But do remember that when Booker is in
the ring, that means he can't be at the announcer table. That's what I am talking about.

Predicted Winner: Cody Rhodes
Rhodes may be not as near to the main event limelight as Ziggler but rubbing shoulder to a veteran like Booker will definitely be a plus for the Superstar. Losing to the former 5-times, 5-times, 5-times, 5-times, 5-times WCW Champion would however be unlikely though.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Rundown

We were actually quite happy to learn that CM Punk was honored the Superstar of the Year at the Slammys. And now we have a PPV that is setting directly on Punk's shoulder. With the TLC main event, the Tables Match, and because we are interested to witness the train-wreck (as well as the storyline fallout) of Triple H vs. Kevin Nash, we will checking out this one.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation - First Trailer

2011-12-18T14:17:00.002+08:00

Armed yourself with the first trailer to Paramount Pictures's G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

With 2011 coming to an end, we get more glimpses at next year's blockbuster films this week with an influx of new trailers hitting the internet. With no further ado, hit the jump for the first trailer for Columbia Pictures's G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

Evidently, while the film will be taking a depart from its predecessor, 2009's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (a film that we called a soul-sucking train-wreck that made Trey Parker and Matt Stone's 2004 action film satire, Team America: World Police, a true blue epic)) being written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, writers of Zombieland, G.I. Joe: Retaliation seems to be sticking pretty close to where we left off with the silly plot of Zartan (Arnold Vosloo) masquerading as the President of the United States (Jonathan Pryce). Nevertheless, the action sequences looked promising and as with any other films, the addition of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is an automatic plus in our book.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation stars Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis as General Joseph Colton, the original G.I. Joe, with Channing Tatum, Arnold Vosloo, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce and Lee Byung-hun reprising their roles from the first film. The film is currently scheduled to be released on June 29th, 2012.

Diablo III - Opening Cinematic

2011-12-17T23:59:00.001+08:00

At last Sunday's Spike Video Game Awards (VGA), Blizzard Entertainment unveiled the expectedly mind-blowing opening cinematic for the much-anticipated Diablo III.

We have earlier seen "The Dark Soulstone", the awesome trailer of the much-anticipated Diablo III at Blizzard Entertainment's very own BlizzCon back in October. At last Sunday's Spike Video Game Awards (VGA), Blizzard took the occasion to unveiled the awe-inspiring opening cinematic clip of the title.

Hit the jump to check out the beautifully rendered clip that also set up the stage for the upcoming adventures.

The Avengers: New Banners

2011-12-17T22:49:00.001+08:00

The Mighty Cinematic Avengers assemble for yet another group photo shoot with Photoshop Disaster written all over.

We have seen our fair share of abysmally bad movie posters for cool movies here at The Daily Zombies. In this new series of banners in the line of the previously-released character banners where four individuals were featured in each, we have ourselves yet another case study for Photoshop Disaster.

While the gigantic A was removed from every character's mugshot, most of the Mighty Avengers' necks went missing in a impressive display of plain bad marketing.

Nevertheless, hit the jump to check out these new banners, you Marvel Zombies.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Avengers:

Marvel Studios presents in association with Paramount Pictures “Marvel’s The Avengers”–the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Joss Whedon, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when “Marvel’s The Avengers” assemble in summer 2012. In “Marvel’s The Avengers,” superheroes team up to pull the world back from the brink of disaster when an unexpected enemy threatens global security.

Directed by Joss Whedon, The Avengers stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston and Cobie Smulders. The film is currently scheduled to be released in 3D on May 4th, 2012.

るろうに剣心 Rurouni Kenshin: First Trailer

2011-12-17T17:45:00.001+08:00

Behold! We bring you the first trailer of the live-action adaptation of るろうに剣心 Rurouni Kenshin.

We have earlier had our first glimpse at the live-action adaptation of Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story (るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚- Rurōni Kenshin Meiji Kenkaku Rōmantan) with the recently-released set images from the film and have to admit that we are impressed with what we have seen thus far.

While we expect the trailer from the film to be released pretty soon, we just did not expect it to be this soon. With no further ado, hit the jump to check out the awesome trailer to Rurouni Kenshin, incidentally our most anticipated manga-to-big screen film ever.

With that, we can very gather a good guess on how the plot of the film would be like. With fan-favorite anti-hero Shinomori Aoshi (四乃森蒼紫) nowhere to be seen despite the presence of Takeda Kanryū (武田観柳), the unscrupulous industrialist, Udō Jin-e (鵜堂刃衛, Udō Jin'e) logically took the centrestage of the main antagonist. While the choice of Yōsuke Eguchi (江口洋介) as fan-favorite anti-hero Saitō Hajime (斎藤一) seemed inspired on paper, his look certainly does not impressed me. That said, the overall look and feel of the film felt just nice.

Rurouni Kenshin is currently slated to release in Japan on August 25th, 2012. However, the US release date has not been announced as yet.

The Last of Us - VGA Trailer: Zombie of the Week

2011-12-16T23:08:00.000+08:00

First unveiled at last Sunday's Spike Video Game Awards (VGA), Naughty Dog's upcoming Survival Horror Action-Adventure video game exclusively for Sony PlayStation 3 is without a shadow of a doubt our Zombie of the Week.

First teased before last Sunday's Spike Video Game Awards (VGA) on a billboard in Times Square of "a PS3 exclusive you won't believe", The Last of Us is perhaps everything we can reasonably ask for of a Sony PlayStation 3 exclusive: Zombies meet Naughty Dog, the Santa Monica-based video game developer that brought us the awe-inspiring Uncharted series.

Are we far from a Survival Horror video game nirvana complete with a post-apocalyptic wasteland filled with unique zombie-like creatures with a gameplay narrative heavy with characterization for its protagonists?

Based on the eerily impressive trailer, we just might be in for one hell of a ride with this one. With no further ado, hit the jump to check out the clip.

Here's what Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells has to say about the title, courtesy of the
PlayStation Blog:

The Last of Us is a genre-defining experience that blends survival and action elements to tell a character driven tale about a modern plague decimating mankind. Nature encroaches upon civilization, forcing remaining survivors to kill for food, weapons and whatever they can find. Joel, a ruthless survivor, and Ellie, a brave young teenage girl who is wise beyond her years, must work together to survive their journey across what remains of the United States.

With an unique design complete with horrifying fungal growth on their appearance, the infected zombie-like creatures in this title are definitely giving the usual zombie apocalypse video games a run of their money. And with the trailer evoking a doom-and-gloom sense of urgency and sadness not unlike that of the live-action adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road, we are quite hopeful with the prospect of this one.

Here are some of the images from the title, followed by a collection of concept art courtesy of Kotaku.

Prometheus: First Poster

2011-12-16T02:20:00.000+08:00

Following the unveiling of set pictures from Prometheus, the ever-so-mysterious Ridley Scott’s upcoming probable prequel to the Alien film franchise, 20th Century Fox has released the first teaser poster for the film.

Though still clouded in mystery, Ridley Scott's much-touted return to the sci-fi horror genre (and probably to the Alien film franchise started by his 1979 classic film, Alien, has now joined in the fray of next year's blockbuster films' publicity slugfest this week.

Wit the tagline "The search for our beginning could lead to our end", the film's publicity continues to play into our curiosity on the prequel status of the film in relation to the Alien franchise. With no further ado, hit the jump to check out the poster that is somewhat reminiscent of the original poster of 1979's Alien.

Here's the official synopsis of the film:

Ridley Scott, director of “Alien” and “Blade Runner,” returns to the genre he helped define. With PROMETHEUS, he creates a groundbreaking mythology, in which a team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a thrilling journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.

http://collider.com/prometheus-teaser-poster-photo/132294/

Daniel Bryan's WWE Gear Art, As Designed by Jill Thompson

2011-12-15T23:42:00.000+08:00

Noticed WWE's Daniel Bryan's new-found intensity on Smackdown? The wrestler affectionately known to fans as the American Dragon might have found his indie mojo back thanks to renowned comic book creator Jill Thompson.

In an intriguing and unprecedented marriage of two of the most thriving geek culture, namely comics scene and professional wrestling, Jill Thompson, well-known for her work on Scary Godmother series and the amazing Beasts of Burden, summoned her inner professional wrestler to conjure some pretty awesome gear designs for one of the most promising rising stars of today's wrestling scene, Daniel Bryan.

Perhaps better known to the indie wrestling scene as the American Dragon Bryan Danielson, Daniel Bryan's career prospect has recently picked up (after a disturbing long and tumultuous jobbing run), having won the SmackDown Money in the Bank to have the opportunity to cash out his title opportunity anytime, anywhere. Notably, the quality of his wrestling gear has also picked up tremendously. And it is only when the WWE Superstar shared the artist's design art for the jersey/T-shirt at his website that we learn of the awesome collaboration.

A sweet jersey and/or t-shirt. You can also see her cool artists notes and thoughts on the design!

Over at Newsarama, Lan Pitts interviewed Jill Thompson on the unprecedented connection between the wrestling world and the comics scene. Below are some of the excerpt from the article. Do head over to check out the entire interview.

Blog@: Who approached who on designing Bryan’s ring gear?

Jill Thompson: Bryan approached me. I would have never thought to do it if he hadn’t contacted me. I ‘armchair design’ some gear during shows, you know…you see someone who could use some pizazz or some color….everyone ‘s got black trunks because they are a tough guy…which gets a bit boring for me as a viewer… However I’ve never sought out anyone to ask them if I could redesign their gear.

Blog@: Bryan has a history of pretty simplistic attire, Jill what was your artistic approach to his designs?

JT: He asked me to design something cool, but to continue to use his colors of maroon and white. He said “Make me look like a superhero.” and, as far as superhero gear goes, I’m a fan of stuff that looks wearable. I like to make things that look fashionable and functional, based on real world clothing. So, I took my cue from Bryan’s name, “The American Dragon”. I thought to myself, what’s an American Dragon? A mythic powerful beast? Yeah, but taken to another more symbolic level? It’s a Hot Rod. A Muscle Car. Something that has great power and is uniquely American that the rest of the world still looks at and goes, “Aww Yeah! That is awesome!”

And Bryan has a classic American guy look. Like a Paul Newman. He’d look just fine sitting behind the wheel of a ’67 mustang or something. White t-shirt and jeans kinda timeless American style. I wanted to mix all of those elements up with a little bit of Evel Knieval thrown in for good measure. The first gear I designed for him was the boxer style hoodie jacket with the white stripes and flames. Just like the hood of a Mustang. The Dragon logo is an homage to the Mustang grill ornament and the lettering style is based on the Ford Mustang logo. I added hot rod style flames into it because I love how those things look and I thought it added another subtle Dragon-y element to it. I also design with the idea that these jackets (not the trunks or kick pads) could be worn outside the ring. I want Bryan to look at it as something he could wear as civilian clothing.

Yeah, I know it’s got his name on it…but it has to. I’ve also sent him a few tshirt designs based on his gear. I want fans to see his gear and think, “Damn, I want a jacket like that!” That first jacket, in my notes, I was suggesting a soft fabric, like a really light hoodie material, lined with a jersey knit t shirt type fabric with no cuffs on the sleeve. But the gear maker chose another material. Leather or something. Which looked cool as well…it’s odd. You picture something in your head, but you don’t really know if the type of fabric you see in your head exists. Or if the gear maker has access to a a huge variety of fabric. Not everyone lives in the Garment District of NYC. How do designers get textiles made? Thats what I need! Access to a textile factory! And all of the subsequent gear I’ve designed since then, I’ve based on that first concept as well, just tweaked it in different ways. I’m trying to keep his closet full of a wide variety of outfits!

And here are the design art for the recent attire Bryan is sporting on Smackdown.

Source: bryandanielson.net via Robot 6

Men in Black III: First Trailer

2011-12-15T14:22:00.006+08:00

The first trailer for Columbia Pictures's Men in Black III is now online.

Following the unveiling of the first posters of Men in Black III earlier this month, our first look at the third chapter a decade in the making is now completed with Columbia Pictures releasing the first trailer online.

Hit the jump to check out Josh Brolin pulling off an almost-perfect Tommy Lee Jones as a young Agent K.

Here’s the synopsis for the film:

In Men in Black 3, Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) are back… in time. J has seen some inexplicable things in his 15 years with the Men in Black, but nothing, not even aliens, perplexes him as much as his wry, reticent partner. But when K’s life and the fate of the planet are put at stake, Agent J will have to travel back in time to put things right. J discovers that there are secrets to the universe that K never told him — secrets that will reveal themselves as he teams up with the young Agent K (Josh Brolin) to save his partner, the agency, and the future of humankind.

Directed by returning director Barry Sonnenfeld and stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, the film also stars Alice Eve, Emma Thompson, Rip Torn, and Johnny Knoxville. Men in Black III is currently scheduled to release in 3D, 2D and IMAX 3D theaters on May 25th, 2012.

Batman: Arkham City - Skins Pack Trailer

2011-12-14T02:48:00.000+08:00

Watch your favorite version of the Dark Knight in action in the recently-released Skins Pack Trailer for Batman: Arkham City.

Back in August, we have featured the pre-order skins for Batman: Arkham City that was previously available only via "exclusive" pre-orders. And now, all of these cool skins, ranging from Neal Adam's stylish portrait of Batman, Frank Miller's unforgettable rendition in The Dark Knight Returns, Batman Beyond's Terry McGinnis, to the Batman in Sinestro Corps outfit (in Blackest Night arc), are now available at PlayStation Network and Xbox Live.

Containing a total of seven bonus Batman skins: 1970s Batman, Year One Batman, The Dark Knight Returns, Earth One, Batman Beyond, Animated Batman and Sinestro Corps Batman, the seven Batman skins included in the Arkham City Skins Pack can be used in storyline mode upon completion of main story and all challenge maps.

Hit the jump to watch the different iteration of the Dark Knight in action in this latest trailer focusing on the skin packs.

Kerry Callen's Call for Coexistence

2011-12-14T00:44:00.001+08:00

Kerry Callen's modern day "Make Love, Not War" call for coexistence in the comics world.

In this innovative and humorous bumper sticker design conjured by artist Kerry Callen (known for his work on the webcomic Halo & Sprocket and his parody pieces that are usually featured at ComicsAlliance), a call for truce for all sides (be it mutants, mankind, superheroes, supervillains, or even publishers themselves) involved in the never-ending war in the comic book world was made.

In the artist's own words:

The parody below occurred to me, so I had to make it...

BioShock Infinite - VGA Trailer

2011-12-13T23:01:00.000+08:00

With Sunday's Spike Video Game Awards (VGA), we have yet another glimpse at Irrational Games's BioShock Infinite.

The last time we covered Irrational Games's BioShock Infinite, we took a sneak peek at the dark steampunk fantasy world of the much-anticipated title with the propaganda-esque promotional art as well as some amazing gameplay sequences with the E3 trailer.

At last Sunday's Spike Video Game Awards, Irrational Games gave us yet another impressive look at the title. Hit the jump to check out the cool clip.

Batman: An Alternate Animated Series

2011-12-13T06:32:00.001+08:00

Another vision of a new animated take on the Dark Knight courtesy of artist Javier aka Maggotx9.

Over at deviantART, Javier aka Maggotx9 usually work around the idea of an animated series based on the vision of Christopher Nolan's critically acclaimed Batman trilogy. Here, he imagined a new animated take on the Dark Knight mythos, basing the concept on the recently ended Batman storyline where Dick Grayson is the Batman when Bruce Wayne was "killed" by Darkseid.

In the artist's own words:

i´ve been working on this for some time now, since I dont have a lot of free time. I worked on an especific character one day..and then some time later I continued with another one.

So yeah most of my work are based on the idea of \"what if warner made an animated series based on the Nolan movies\".

Well this piece right here is diferent from my other work cuz this time, it came from the idea of \" What is Warner made an animated series based on the current Comics of batman\" you know with dick grayson as gotham´s protector. Red Robin, BlackBat. I think it would be awesome.

So on the left side we have the \"bat-family\":

-Robin (Damian Wayne)
-Batgirl (Stephanie Brown)
-Dick Grayson (Batman)
- Red Robin (Tim Drake)
- Oracle (Barbara Gordon)
-The Huntress (Helena Bertinelli)
-Batwoman (Kate Kane)
-Blackbat (Cassandra Cain)
-Catwoman (Selyna Kyle)

Bruce Wayne (Batman)

on the left side we have some villains
-The Riddler
-The Joker
-Hugo Strange
-Killer Croc
-Bane (yeah I was influenced by Tom Hardy´s mask, BUT IT IS NOT THE SAME MASK!)
-Pinguin
-Black Mask
-DeathStroke
-Poison Ivy
-Two face
Harley Quinn

all of these characters belong to DC!

Source: Batman by ~Maggotx9 [daviantART]

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - VGA Trailer & Images

2011-12-12T02:11:00.002+08:00

It's official. Say goodbye to Metal Gear Solid: Rising and former producer Shigenobu Matsuyama. Say hello to Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, now developed by Platinum Games and complete with an awesome new trailer.

It has been ages since we last talked about Metal Gear Solid: Rising, the supposed next chapter in the phenomenal stealth action game series, Metal Gear Solid. Needless to say, the lack of reported development does not bode well for the much-anticipated title.

And with tonight's Spike Video Game Awards's big update on the status of the title, we finally have an idea of what exactly is up with Metal Gear Solid: Rising. Or rather, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Remember the much-touted gameplay feature known as zan-datsu (斬奪), which is Japanese for "cut and take" literally) that we mentioned in our coverage on the E3 trailer? It is rather apparent that the none-too-smooth development process has left creative producer Shigenobu Matsuyama "zan-datsu" from the project. Originally developed by Kojima Productions as Metal Gear Solid: Rising, the stealth action game that was initially set between the events of Sons of Liberty and Guns of the Patriots will now be taking place after Metal Gear Solid 4 with a new title: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, complete with a new developing studio, Platinum Games (who have earlier brought Bayonetta).

With no further ado, check out the exhilaratingly awesome new trailer of the title right after the jump.

Discounting the somewhat silly new title with embarrassingly bad English, the game seemed to have taken a turn for the more flamboyantly adventurous, which might just be exactly what the usually solemn series need. Hit the jump to check out the recently-released concept art, game screens, and logos released by Konami.

Game screens from the title.

Both the black and white logo for the newly-renamed title.

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron - VGA Trailer & Art

2011-12-12T00:55:00.000+08:00

The first trailer of High Moon Studios and Activision's Transformers: Fall of Cybertron just got transformed and rolled out at last night's Spike Video Game Awards (VGA).

Developed by High Moon Studios and published by Activision, last year's Transformers: War for Cybertron was a pleasant surprise to fans of the long-tanding Transformers franchise, garnering generally positive response. With Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, the sequel set to be released in Fall 2012 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the bar is expected to be raised once again.

While we can't be certain with how the actual game would fared, the cinematic trailer of the upcoming title had us floored all over with the grandeur and blockbusting action sequences that dwarfed even Michael Bay's live-action attempts. Yes, all three of them. In fact, the cinematic trailer was so awesome that we were reminded of that pure adrenaline rush imagining how the Hollywood live-action adaptation would be like following the official announcement of the film.

Hit the jump to check out the awe-inspiring clip.

Yes, we noticed Grimlock in the clip too and totally understand why it made zero sense for him to appear that way given the game's setting but we have to admit: He looked pretty darn cool in it. And perhaps that's all that mattered.

Actually, we knew earlier that Grimlock will be in the game thanks to Game Informer's November issue. For those who missed out on the issue, we have embedded all four version of the cover to the special Transformers: Fall of Cybertron-centric issue right after the jump.

Source: November Cover Revealed: Transformers: Fall Of Cybertron - News - www.GameInformer.com

The New Deadwardians: Undead Monday

2011-12-12T00:01:00.001+08:00

The New Deadwardians, an eight-issue miniseries with an innovative take on the now run-of-the-mill genres of zombies and vampires is set to be released by Vertigo Comics come next March.

This Undead Monday, we take a look at Vertigo Comics's newly-announced eight-issue miniseries, The New Deadwardians.

Written by Dan Abnett (whose massive body of work includes Resurrection Man and Marvel's Annilation saga as well as its numerous follow-ups) with art by up-and-coming artist I.N.J. Culbard whose adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness won this year's British Fantasy Award, The New Deadwardians is set in an alternate post-Victorian England where the entire lower class have became zombies and the upper class, in an effort to escape the former, voluntarily becomes vampires. And just when you thought the storyline couldn't get any more intriguing, the plot will revolving around Chief Inspector George Suttle, a detective investigating murders in a world where nobody is alive in the truest sense of the word.

A synopsis of the series courtesy of DC Comics's blog, The Source:

Set in post-Victorian England, nearly everyone in the upper class has voluntarily become a vampire to escape the lower classes who are all zombies.

Thrust into this mayhem is Chief Inspector George Suttle, a lonely detective who’s got the slowest beat in London: investigating murders in a world where everyone is already dead!

But when the body of a young aristocrat washes up on the banks of the Thames, Suttle’s quest for the truth will take him from the darkest sewers to the gleaming halls of power, and reveal the rotten heart at the center of this strange world.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2: VGA Trailer

2011-12-11T20:02:00.005+08:00

Set to be released later tonight at the Spike Video Game Awards (VGA), Namco's new Tekken Tag Tournament 2 trailer is available for viewing right here.

It has certainly been some time since we last talked about Namco's decade-in-the-making Tekken Tag Tournament 2. With tonight's Spike Video Game Awards (VGA), a new trailer for the much-anticipated title will be shown during the show. however, the clip has been made available online moments ago.

Hit the jump to check out the cool seemingly-live-action clip that somehow managed to integrate the signature vibe of the series.

The Amazing Spider-Man: New Poster

2011-12-11T17:53:00.004+08:00

Columbia Pictures has released a new poster of The Amazing Spider-Man, promising audiences "The Untold Story" of Peter Parker.

Amid the whirlwind of The Dark Knight Rises-related news (manic coverage over the six-minute IMAX prologue attached to Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and the release of the new poster) this weekend, Columbia Pictures braved on to release a cool new poster for their very own upcoming live-action adaptation of an iconic comic book superhero, The Amazing Spider-Man.

A decidedly brooding piece which is a much-needed depart from Sam Raimi's colorful original trilogy, the poster cleverly featured Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker scaling a wall while casting a silhouette forming the iconic eight-legged Spider-Man logo.

Hit the jump to check out the cool poster that was released exclusively via SuperHeroHype.

And here's one with a lower resolution but without the watermark of SuperHeroHype.

(Updated December 14th 2011) Sony has released the high-resolution, un-water-marked version of the poster.

Directed by Marc Webb and starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, and Rhys Ifans, The Amazing Spider-Man opens in 3D on July 3rd, 2012.

Street Fighter X TRON Returns on iPhone

2011-12-11T16:42:00.005+08:00

The battles at The Grid for Capcom's Street Fighters continues... now on your iPhones.

Back in January, we featured Kode Logic's awesome TRON / Street Fighter collection, a set of astonishing mash-up of the aesthetics where Capcom's wildly popular characters from its signature Street Fighter series are retouched up in the striking luminous visual style of Disney's Tron: Legacy.

And now some kind folk that surely shared our sentiments on this cool mash-up arts have resized these illustrations into your friendly neighborhood iPhone wallpapers. You can check out the entire set of images at Shadowloo's Flickr page, or hit the jump for the newly resized greatness.

The Dark Knight Rises: New Poster

2011-12-11T05:30:00.004+08:00

How will the legend of Dark Knight end? We have a final glimpse at Christopher Nolan's magnum opus for next year's The Dark Knight Rise with the latest one-sheet poster for the much-anticipated film.

We all knew how Bane ended the legend of Batman when he literally the Dark Knight in the now quintessential Batman story arc "Knightfall". Now, the question on everybody's mind would be: Will the conclusion of Christopher Nolan's critically acclaimed cinematic saga of the Dark Knight end with a broken Batman?

With the much-anticipated magnum opus of Christopher Nolan's cinematic epic, we can only be certain that The Dark Knight Rises is going to be one hell of a ride come July 20th next year. With the hype over the third film in Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Knight trilogy hitting unprecedented fever pitch due to the six-minute IMAX prologue attached to Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Warner Bros. has decided to add more fire into the burning sensation by releasing a new one-sheet poster of the film.

Hit the jump to check out the awesome poster.

Ilias Kyriazis's Awesome 52 Inches Art of Top 30 DC characters

2011-12-10T20:01:00.004+08:00

In this awesome piece of art measuring at a stunning yet familiar figure of 52 inches, Greek comic artist Ilias Kyriazis brings us an astounding countdown of his favorite 30 characters from DC Comics.

Known for his work on Greek comic series Blood Opera and his web comic series, Melody, in Zuda, Greek comic artist Ilias Kyriazis gets our undead spotlight with his impeccable rendition of his favorite 30 DC Comics characters.

Just when you thought the countdown will be like any other adorable renditions of DC Comics characters, Kyriazis slips in more than a few cool stuffs that will surely appeal to fans of DC Comics. Things like #26 Lobo groping #25 Big Barda, #23 Bizarro running in the opposite direction, #10 Alfred Pennyworth dishing out a plate of Oreos, and most interestingly, #19 Guy Gardner's sneak attack on... Well, you check it out yourself.

Click on the image below to view it in its full grandeur or better yet, head over to Kyriazis's site to check it out.

Source: DC top 30 : ilias kyriazis via Robot 6

金陵十三釵 The Flowers of War: First Look

2011-12-10T18:32:00.001+08:00

The Daily Zombies takes a first look at China's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards and reportedly its most expensive film ever, The Flowers of War (金陵十三釵).

Formerly known as "Nanjing Heroes and 13 Flowers of Nanjing", The Flowers of War has had its fair share of publicity due to its reputation as China's most expensive film in history with an estimated production budget of $94 million, and perhaps more importantly for being the first-ever collaboration between Academy Award winning actor Christian Bale and renowned Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou (张艺谋).

Based on the novel The 13 Women of Nanjing (金陵十三釵) by Chinese writer Geling Yan (嚴歌苓), The Flowers of War is a period epic war drama set in 1937 in Nanjing, China, during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Those familiar with history of World War II would know exactly what a hellish time that would be, being the setting for Nanking Massacre. With the capital city being ran over by the invading Japanese Imperial Army, a motley crew of desperate civilians including thirteen courtesans and a group of innocent school girls hid behind the walls of a church run by John Miller, a Jesuit priest played by Christian Bale.

With Zhang Yimou at helm and Bale, fresh off his Academy Award winning turn in The Fighter, on board, we can certainly understand the strong vote of confidence the Chinese investors have with this one.

Hit the jump to check out the US trailer, followed by the first trailer for the film.

Here’s the synopsis for the film:

In 1937, Nanking stands at the forefront of a war between China and Japan. As the invading Japanese Imperial Army overruns China’s capital city, desperate civilians seek refuge behind the nominally protective walls of a western cathedral. Here, John Miller (CHRISTIAN BALE), an American trapped amidst the chaos of battle and the ensuing occupation takes shelter, joined by a group of innocent schoolgirls and thirteen courtesans, equally determined to escape the horrors taking place outside the church walls. Struggling to survive the violence and persecution wrought by the Japanese army, it is an act of heroism which eventually leads the seemingly disparate group to fight back, risking their lives for the sake of everyone. Through treacherous surroundings and facing unimaginable evil, THE FLOWERS OF WAR, inspired by true life events, manages to tell a genuine story of hope, love and sacrifice. With nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, fate always has a way of bringing the most unlikely heroes together.

Set for a limited release in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco sometime in late December after its worldwide premiere in China on December 16th, the film's North American distribution rights have been acquired by Wrekin Hill Entertainment, in association with Row 1 Productions. Here's the official press release behind the acquisition.

ZHANG YIMOU’S THE FLOWERS OF WAR – CHINA’S OSCAR ENTRY – GOES TO WREKIN HILL IN ASSOCIATION WITH ROW 1 PRODUCTIONS

Epic Starring Christian Bale Will Open In Late December 2011 Following Its Wide Release on Dec. 16 in China

Los Angeles, CA (November 7, 2011) — Chris Ball, President and CEO of LA-based film production and distribution company Wrekin Hill Entertainment, announced today that his company, in association with Row 1 Productions, have acquired the North American distribution rights to award-winning Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s (Raise the Red Lantern, Hero) and producer Zhang Weiping’s THE FLOWERS OF WAR starring Academy Award® winning actor Christian Bale (The Fighter, The Dark Knight). The film has been selected as this year’s official foreign language entry for China at the Academy Awards. Wrekin Hill, in association with Row 1, will open the film in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco in late December 2011 and the film will then expand through early 2012.

THE FLOWERS OF WAR will have a wide release in China on December 16th following three premiere events in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Chris Ball, President and CEO of Wrekin Hill said, “FLOWERS OF WAR just blew me away. Not only is it incredibly powerful but the artistry is absolutely sensational. We are really excited to be bringing this wonderful film to North American audiences. It follows in the tradition of some of the classic films we have had the privilege of releasing over the past decade. I am also thrilled that Row 1 shares our passion for the film.”

Producer Zhang Weiping said: “We were very impressed by the passion that Wrekin Hill and Row 1 showed for the film. Their aggressive release strategy coupled with their desire to focus on an effective awards campaign for THE FLOWERS OF WAR immediately captured our attention. We are thrilled to be in their very capable hands and in bringing this powerful and emotionally engaging film to North American audiences.”

Based on a screenplay by Heng Liu (The Story of Qiu Ju), THE FLOWERS OF WAR is adapted from Geling Yan’s historical novel 13 Flowers of Nanjing. The film is a work of historical fiction set against the backdrop of the Rape of Nanking, a brutal chapter in the Sino-Japanese War, which was a significant event in Chinese history. Produced and fully financed by Zhang Weiping under his New Pictures Film banner, THE FLOWERS OF WAR is inspired by true life events, and tells a genuine story of hope, love and sacrifice.

Set in 1937, Nanking stands at the forefront of a war between China and Japan. As the invading Japanese Imperial Army overruns China’s capital city, desperate civilians seek refuge behind the nominally protective walls of a western cathedral. Here, John Miller (Bale), an American trapped amidst the chaos of battle, and the ensuing occupation, takes shelter, joined by a group of innocent schoolgirls and thirteen courtesans, equally determined to escape the horrors taking place outside the church walls.

THE FLOWERS OF WAR is executive produced by David Linde, Chaoying Deng, and Bill Kong. International sales are handled by FilmNation Entertainment. The deal was negotiated by executive producers Linde and Deng along with attorney Stephen Saltzman of Loeb & Loeb on behalf of the filmmaker, Zhang Weiping, by Chris Ball and Rene Cogan on behalf of Wrekin Hill and Brandt Andersen on behalf of Row 1.

And here are some of the posters for the film, followed by some of the set images released thus far.

DC Nation Trailer

2011-12-09T20:01:00.002+08:00

Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network's DC Nation is coming and here's a sneak peek at the much-anticipated project.

During the one-hour sneak peek premiere of Bruce Timm's Green Lantern: The Animated Series last month, a teaser trailer for DC Nation was released. A joint project between both Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network, DC Nation is a television block of Cartoon Network programming with contents that are based on DC properties like the aforementioned Green Lantern: The Animated Series as well as Young Justice. Also included in the programming are a series of original animated short films including a stop-motion animated Batman by the talented folks from Aardman Animation, Lego Batman, the previously-posted animated shorts for Gotham City Impostors, and the long-awaited return of Teen Titans, continuing the fan-favorite Teen Titans television series with the original cast reprising their roles.

Hit the jump to have a sneak glimpses at these cool animations from the upcoming DC Nation.

Zombie Propaganda Poster: Zombie of the Week

2011-12-09T18:18:00.001+08:00

This week, we continue our trend of highlighting the unlikely combo of zombie and propaganda.

Following "Zombama's Revenge" late last month, we continue our feature on the niche combination of the undead and politics.

Conjured by Aaron Wood (AKA Skullx), the artist who previously brought us the poster series fusing social networking and propaganda, prints of this poster are available at Etsy.

What should you do if you see a zombie? This poster tells you the important facts!

WATCH Page 23, an Intriguing Short Film on the (im)Perfect Lives in an IKEA Catalogue

2011-12-08T06:32:00.000+08:00

Ever wonder how life in an IKEA catalogue is like?

In Page 23, a quietly bizarre short film directed by filmmakers Jeroen Houben, Tim Arts, and Stefan van den Boogaard, we have a glimpse into the seemingly perfect world of the glamorous photogenic world of life inside an IKEA catalogue. A four-minute short film that has went on to win the jury prize and audience award at the 48 Hour Film Project in Utrecht, Netherlands, Page 23 is at once creepy and arresting.

Here's the official synopsis of the short film:

Advertisements usually display unruffled domestic happiness. But, as we will see in Page 23, this world looks too good to be true. Behind the beaming smile of fashion models loom adultery and the stifling daily routine.

Hit the jump to check out the brilliant short film.

Source: Page 23 via iO9