Making Sense of Amazing Spider-Man's After Credits End Scene

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SPOILERS FOLLOW FOR THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN.

DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED ON THE FILM.

The Amazing Spider-Man, Sony's reboot of the wallcrawler, just hit theaters today, but some fans are already buzzing about the planned sequel to the film. Amazing Spider-Man 2 is already being written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Transformers, Star Trek), so it would seem logical that the studio would want to tease that follow-up in some way to the many, many fans who are seeing the film this summer.

The Amazing Spider-Man Movie Review

Additionally, Chronicle director Josh Trank has been rumored to be up for a Venom solo movie. So clearly Sony wants to mine the Spider-Man universe. And let's assume they've at least taken notice -- as has the rest of the world -- of the very successful Marvel Studios movies, and in particular the resounding success of The Avengers. An Easter egg or after-credits scene of course makes sense for Amazing Spider-Man -- and we in fact do get one in the middle of the end credits of the new film. But what does it mean exactly?

Does whatever a spider can

The brief scene features Dr. Curt Connors, the once and future Lizard, who has now been imprisoned. As he sits in his cell, a shadowy figure appears from out of nowhere -- did he teleport into the cell? -- and a brief exchange takes place between the two regarding Peter Parker's father. The mysterious character asks Connors if he told Peter about his father, and then shortly thereafter he seemingly disappears once again. Actually, you can catch a glimpse of this scene in the third Spider-Man trailer:

Scrub to 1.24 to see Dr. Connors' mysterious pal.

Who is this guy? Is he Connors' boss, lurking in the dark corners of the film, but actually the real villain of the piece? We know that Connors works for Oscorp, and we know who runs Oscorp, don't we? Norman Osborn, of course! A.k.a the Green Goblin -- or at least, the guy who will become the Green Goblin one day -- Osborn is one of the big bads of the Marvel universe. He's Spidey's arch foe much as the Joker is Batman's, and let's not forget that Chris Nolan decided to save the Joker for his second Batman movie. And of course, Osborn is named-dropped throughout Amazing Spider-Man... though doesn't it seem a bit too obvious for it to actually be him?

Dr. Connors, a.k.a. the Lizard

Another possibility, though perhaps more of a long shot than Osborn, is -- wait for it -- Peter Parker's dad himself, Richard Parker! Played by Campbell Scott in flashback (along with Embeth Davidtz as Pete's mom Mary), Richard is said to be dead during this film, having been killed when Peter was still a boy -- in the grand Spider-Man tradition. But it also is clear that Richard Parker's dealings with Dr. Connors and Oscorp, of which he was also an employee before his death, tie directly into Peter's origin as Spider-Man in this film. And reportedly, the plan is to continue to flesh out this story arc in future movies. Loyal Marvel zombies will also recall that Spidey's folks did return from the dead in the comics at one point -- kinda sorta. Actually, they turned out to be Life Model Decoys. Ask Tony Stark what that is if you don't know.

One other suggestion -- and this is total fanboyism at work -- is this is a Venom tie-in. The character -- sometimes a villain, sometimes an antihero, and sometimes a hero -- remains very popular. His current incarnation in the comics is as Flash Thompson, Peter Parker's longtime frenemy, and Flash is in fact in the new movie (played by Chris Zylka). And again, Sony is still pushing for a Venom movie… So, yeah. Not sure how that shadowy guy could tie-in to Venom, but that's what retconning is for!

Fans have suggested the Easter egg character might be Electro (flash of light!) or Mysterio (magic tricks!) or any number of other Spidey villains, while others are whispering that it's Inglourious Basterds' Christoph Waltz playing the role. And the bottom line is, unlike The Avengers Thanos Easter egg, the Spidey ending is vague enough that it really could wind up being any of the above when Amazing Spider-Man 2 hits a couple of years from now.

Who do you think the shadowy figure at the end of Amazing Spider-Man is? Discuss below!

Update #1: This story has been updated since it first ran in May, with specific details from the film added.

Update #2: Ain't It Cool spoke to Rhys Ifans, who plays Dr. Connors in the film, and he said that the mystery character is not Norman Osborn. "A representative from OsCorp appears miraculously in the room," he tells the site. "How he gets in there and how he leaves, we don’t know. Maybe we will find out. But it’s not Norman Osborn. ... But it is someone who is in the employ of Norman Osborn without question."

The site followed up by asking, "[It's] someone we're familiar with, who we don’t know is employed by Osborn?" And Ifans replied, "Yeah."

So if it's not Osborn, then who the heck could it be?

Talk to Movies Editor Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottIGN, on IGN, and on Facebook.

Source : ign[dot]com

Stormwatch #11 Review

Peter Milligan has a great story for Stormwatch here, but the clunky execution has it buried beneath an unclear plot and forced dialog. The Hidden People, a group of super powered survivor Neanderthals, have hatched a plan to devolve humanity with a powerful cube device. Sounds Stormwatch-y enough for me, but between the truncated history lesson in the beginning, the confusing action sequence in the middle, and the hokey mustache-twirling end, the team has seen better days.

There are a total of nine artists on this issue, and it shows. The flashbacks are done in one penciller’s toned down realistic style, while the present day scenes are in a style fit for a Saturday morning cartoon. Neither style looks bad, per se, but meshed together like this they disrupt the flow of the book, even in its divided format. With the already jumbled story, the art only serves to make matters worse. DC should be praised for getting almost every book out on time since the New 52 began, but products like this make me wonder about how maybe we don’t always want what we complain about on message boards.

All that said, there are a few good moments to be found. The entire team wears disgusted faces as Angie vomits on the floor, but Midnighter stands apart looking amused. A short sequence reveals Angie’s origin as the Engineer that hits a note of shock and sympathy. Apollo banters with Midnighter in a cheesy way that still manages to make me smile despite myself.

Joshua is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter or IGN, where he is hell-bent on making sure you know his opinion about comic books.

Source : ign[dot]com

First Look: The Art of ParaNorman

Everybody loves a good ghost story, especially one that not only gives us a fright, but shakes the creative juices and inspires the imagination. The world of ParaNorman should do just that for audiences when the Focus Features stop-motion animated film hits theaters at the end of the summer.

So what exactly is ParaNorman? “The film is very much, intentionally, John Carpenter meets John Hughes,” director Chris Butler suggests. “It's kind of like throwing the kids from The Breakfast Club into the story of The Fog and seeing how things unfold around them.”

ParaNorman focuses primarily on a young horror-film obsessed kid named Norman. Having grown up watching horror cinema at a very young age, he's become obsessed with B-movies, sci-fi and gritty horror films, from zombies to monsters, ghosts, killer dogs – you name it. This is embodied in Norman's own bedroom. It's a place of ghoulish delight, filled with bold, vivid colors, loving homage and surprising realism.

“The biggest influence to ParaNorman is my childhood, quite sadly,” Butler remarks. “When I was a kid, I loved the sorts of movies that I wasn't supposed to watch. And I would rent these movies, probably when I really shouldn't have been allowed, and they exposed me to all kinds of things. Gory horror films, sci-fi pictures, Italian B-movies, Dario Argento or Mario Bava's films – stuff like that. Norman is sort of drawn from those films, using their imagery.”

“We even got to make one of those movies,” co-director Sam Fell adds. “The film actually opens with a snippet from a crappy old zombie movie, circa 1981 – color, with a synthesizer soundtrack. It was great fun to do that.”

But to help paint a more realistic light on what a child's sanctuary is like, directors Chris Butler and Sam Fell and production designer Nelson Lowry traveled to the most logical place they could go – real bedrooms.

“We wanted it to be a very real place, so people from the production company sent us photos of their child's rooms.” said Butler.

“We also asked them not to clean them up for us,” noted Lowry. “We wanted to capture their rooms in their natural state. And we learned that almost all of the rooms were just a mess – crap all over the place – toys, games, clothes, junk. We ended up building on that.”

“I think, even at one point, I took photos of my child's room to help create a sense of realism to Norman's environment.” adds Fell. “Everyone was always moving things around to get it just right. We wanted it to be as real as possible, like live-action.

“While the room was art directed with a focus on real world influence, there was also the sort of garish color you'd see in Italian horror cinema. There's a lot of great fanboy stuff there, too. You've got an illuminating zombie head. We even have this zombie alarm clock where a hand pops out of the grave when the alarm goes off. It's rather wild.”

Fell also noted that virtually everything in Norman's room paid homage to vintage horror cinema. “All the posters and artwork came from us sort of racing through the libraries of vintage posters, with stuff that we loved or used to watch being our influence. We ended up making that the basis for Norman's room, with zombie posters and all kinds of crazy movie posters spread throughout his room.”

But Norman's room isn't the only place of horror cinema inspiration. “At one point,” comments Butler, “we go to a bar and it's called The Bargento. A few people thought it was too obscure, but I refused to change it.”

“There's lots of little bits and homages like that,” remarks Lowry. “We reference dozens of directors and other horror films throughout. There was a fun challenge in figuring out all the pieces and fitting in as much as we could.”

Like Coraline, the previous film from stop-motion production house Laika, ParaNorman was shot in 3D, not only to take advantage of 3D's depth, but also to add some flavor to the zombie mayhem.

“With stop frame animation there's a tactile quality to it,” Butler suggested. "You can see that it's a real object, and you want to reach out and touch it. 3D just adds to that. It gives depth to those hand-made sets or hand stitched costumes and all the craftsmanship that goes into the film. With ParaNorman, the film is a bit of a roller coaster ride. We want to draw you in with lurid colors and depth, but having said that, we would have been remiss if we didn't have zombie hands sticking out of the screen. We are, after all, tipping our hat to all these really in-your-face types of movies, so sometimes we have to go there. But it's always done with a wink. It's always very knowing.”

Obviously, between the ghostly imagery and horror-inspired narrative, ParaNorman isn't your usual watered-down horror film, either. And those behind the lens wouldn't have it any other way.

“Things are pushed,” suggests Lowry, “but not in a very provocative way. We never take the film to any sort of gratuitous place, or anything like that. But it does have an edginess that attracted a lot of people to the project.”

“The best kids’ stories have always been challenging,” adds Butler. "They make children think. They introduce dark things that may present themselves during their lives.I hate the idea that kids literature and entertainment has to be dumbed-down or sanitized. It's not what we're about, and it really shouldn't be what filmmaking is about.”

ParaNorman opens on August 14, 2012 in the U.S., September 22 in the UK, and September 20 in Australia.

"Loneliness will sit over our roofs with brooding wings." Become a friend of R.L. Shaffer on Twitter, Facebook or MyIGN for quotes, rants, reviews, news and more!

Source : ign[dot]com

Arrow Star Stephen Amell Talks About Playing TV's New Oliver Queen

Coming to The CW this fall, Arrow is a dramatic new take on the Green Arrow story, starring Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen. The series begins with Queen returning home after having gone missing years before – finding himself stranded on an island in the interim, where he has mysteriously picked up some very impressive skills he soon is putting to work via his new, hooded alter ego.

At The CW’s recent Upfront event, I spoke to Amell about playing the DC Comics hero, what the tone of Arrow is, and whether we might expect to see other DC characters on the series, which also stars Katie Cassidy as Dinah Laurel Lance – known to comic book fans as Black Canary.

IGN TV: What is this show’s take on Oliver Queen?

Stephen Amell: We tried to make him as real as possible. The character doesn’t have any superpowers. Nobody on the show has any superpowers. [Arrow pilot director] David Nutter -- I think he said this when a picture of the costume was released -- when he made Smallville, he wanted to find the humanity in Clark Kent. We’re looking for the humanity in Oliver Queen too. He’s gone through a ton to get to where he is, and we’re going to explore how he got there. But we wanted to make sure that he was really properly weighted and real.

IGN: We know the series begins with him having been missing for five years. Is it safe to assume that experience fuels his desire to become a hero?

Amell: Yeah, he gets stranded on the island, and we explore that. We’re going to explore the island as we move along, but he got some really important advice before he got to the island. He’s taken that with him for five years, and comes back with business to take care of.

IGN: Will we explore the island via him going back there, or are there flashbacks?

Amell: I think the idea is to --- not all the time, and not with a set regularity -- but I think it is critical to explore how he went from the person that he was when he left the island -- which is extremely different: he’s spoiled, he’s entitled, he’s a bit of a jerk -- and he comes off it something very, very different. So we’re going to explore how he gets there.

Stephen Amell in Arrow

IGN: There’s obviously a lot of DC Comics you could draw on. Do you know how much you might use certain villains or guest stars from other DC Comics in this show?

Amell: Stay tuned. I know that the people that are working on the show, they love comics. I know that Geoff Johns from DC Comics -- he’s a great guy -- he was up there [on set]. I think that he’s going to write an episode eventually. It would be unfortunate if, being a comic book show, we didn’t draw from all the characters in the DC Universe. I hope we do.

IGN: Katie is playing a character who obviously comes with a lot of backstory from the comics herself. What’s the dynamic like between her and Oliver on the series?

Amell: It’s not good right now. I didn’t treat her very well five years prior, so she has some beef with me -- rightly so. But she is an interesting character.

IGN: People who know the comic books are going to hope that we eventually get to see Katie in fishnets - and not just because she’ll look good in them! Do you think that’s a possibility down the line?

Amell: [Laughs] I don’t know. I hope that Katie eventually -- fishnets or otherwise -- she deserves to be a superhero at some point.

IGN: What was it like for you to put on the Arrow costume?

Amell: Aw, man, it was awesome. The costume is great too. The main idea behind the costume for us was functionality. I can put the costume on by myself, and that was super important. If I can put it on by myself, I think that people will buy it. And that was our idea. That’s our world.

IGN: That is rare, because some of the actors who play superheroes talk about how it’s impossible for them to get the costume on or off without several people.

Amell: Yeah. No way, no. People help me put it on sometimes for the sake of expedience, but I can put the whole thing on by myself.



Source : http://www.ign.com

The Legend Returns: Hironobu Sakaguchi on The Last Story

The man behind the Final Fantasy series, Hironobu Sakaguchi, made his return to the director's chair with The Last Story for Wii. This epic RPG hit Japanese store shelves in early 2011, and will finally be making it's way stateside this summer.

Recently IGN had the chance to chat via e-mail with Sakaguchi-san. We talked everything from The Last Story to his directorial return to his current projects. Check out the full interview below, then be sure to sound off with your own thoughts in the comments afterward.

IGN: How did you go about creating the battle system in The Last Story? It’s decidedly less traditional than many people were probably expecting - was this intentional?

Sakaguchi: In the three years of development, we dedicated the first year to research and development, mainly as a trial and error period for the battle system. The battle system in the game is the culmination of that phase.

IGN: The Last Story marks your first return to the director’s chair in quite some time. Was it difficult getting back into the swing of things, or is directing something like riding a bicycle?

Sakaguchi: Since I was working with the same members as the Blue Dragon team, I was able to get back into it fairly smoothly. Also, from my experience, the producer and director do the same type of workload in the initial development phase, which I think is another reason why it wasn’t so difficult getting back into things as a director. I guess I’m the type of creator that wants to get involved in the grunt work.

IGN: What was the greatest challenge you encountered in your quest to make a brand new RPG adventure from the ground up? Alternately, what was the most rewarding aspect of this project?

Sakaguchi: At the initial stage our plan was completely shot down by Nintendo. To create an entirely new world view and characters again was a bit challenging, but rewarding in the end. That would probably be the answer on both accounts.

IGN: Music always seems to play a huge role in your games, if only in terms of setting a certain atmosphere and tone. What tracks stand out to you from The Last Story? What’s the overall tone you hope to invoke as readers play through the story (whether it be through music, dialogue, backgrounds, etc.)?

Sakaguchi: That would be the track called “Toberumono (The Flying One).” There’s a lot of sentimental value attached to it since I wrote the lyrics, and it also voices the “foreignness” that the game has. The song is about the world you are in not being the place where you are meant to be. The phrase “going home” is used positively as you fly towards the future.

The tone I would like players to invoke while playing this game is “warmth” and a sense of “texture.” I want players to experience the sensation of a handmade craftwork that feels natural, yet very detailed, with beautiful workmanship.

IGN: Creating a game as vast and fresh as The Last Story must have taken quite a bit of trial and error. Was there anything you tried to fit in but for whatever reason just couldn’t make it work?

Sakaguchi: That would be the “Rewind Function.” This was a feature that when a mage’s magic was successful, an icon would appear for the player to shake the remote. By shaking the controller at that moment it would rewind the battle to just before the mage unleashed their magic. From there it would show the sequence again from an overhead view.

Using this feature, players would have been able to see who used what magic, check the battle situation and then strategize on what to do next. However, the feature slowed the battle tempo too much, so unfortunately we decided to take it out. You can still see remnants of this feature in the overheard view while in command mode, or while watching the Lazulis Knights cheating in the match at the arena.

IGN: Characters play a key role in The Last Story. How did you go about creating a cast of characters that players can relate to?

Sakaguchi: We put together most of the characters’ bios while creating the plot. Then, while Fujisaka (artist of The Last Story) was finalizing the illustrations, I’d get inspiration from the art which I used to fine tune their characteristics and backgrounds.

This title also has a lot of voices. In the dungeons the characters converse with each other about random things, and this was something that was very important for me in the game. Because I wanted to convey some of their personalities through this small talk, it was crucial to include some of the voice actors’ adlibs and make small changes to the actual scripts to keep refining them and carefully mold each character.

Characters matter in The Last Story.

IGN: As an overall experience, how was working on The Last Story different from working on other RPG franchises you’ve been linked to in the past (which shall remain nameless).

Sakaguchi: The biggest difference is the battle system. I was aiming to create something that would make people say, “This is the new RPG battle style,” if possible. Additionally, we were really careful about the collision detection in the background graphics. I wanted to be careful about those small aspects because I thought they would affect the overall feel of the “texture” of the game while walking around in the world.

IGN: What’s the one thing you want players to take away from The Last Story?

Sakaguchi: To feel as though they are having an adventure together with the characters. I would be very pleased if players are able to feel truly immersed in the world and share the moments together with the characters.

IGN: Now that development on The Last Story has concluded, what are you working on next?

Sakaguchi: Currently we are developing a surfing game for the iOS. It’s called Party Wave, and is scheduled to come out this July. It’s a small development project, but the environment is very free and open which reminds me of the early Final Fantasy titles.

I’m very excited as I’m involved in creating some number fonts which I haven’t done in a while and writing the music. I’m enjoying it, and at the same time I think it’ll become another title that has that handmade warmth to it. We are also developing two more iOS titles. We’ll be able to release these shortly as well.

IGN: Lastly, what was your experience creating a sweeping RPG for the Wii? Did you enjoy the creativity yielded by having technical limitations to work within, or do you ultimately wish you had created the game on more advanced hardware?

Sakaguchi: It’s unfortunate, but the final issue that always seemed to deny certain ideas was the SD resolution limitation. However, within those parameters we aimed to create a title with beautiful graphics that can compete with modern day specs. I would be pleased if people would view our efforts to their best by switching their cables to advanced connection cables or by playing it in the best environment possible. And though the resolution may be SD, I think players will really enjoy the sophisticated world.

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/30/the-legend-returns-hironobu-sakaguchi-on-the-last-story

Community Creator Replaced as Showrunner

This is not news that will be greeted with joy by Community fans, I'm guessing (And yes, they'll be a healthy dose of editorial in this news story). Dan Harmon, the man who created Community and has served as its showrunner, is being replaced in that capacity in Season 4, reports TV Guide, along with other outlets. The new showrunners will be newcomers to the series, Moses Port and David Guarascio.

Port and Guarascio wrote for Just Shoot Me and created The CW's short-lived Aliens in America. Recently, they served as consulting producers on Happy Endings. However, the tough pill to swallow, regardless of Port and Guarascio's own accomplishments, is not having Harmon be the guiding force for the series anymore, given Community's very unique feel and vision among the sitcom landscape.

TV Guide says Harmon was only signed to a one-year deal last year. He will have a consulting producer title on Community going forward, though TV Guide stresses that doesn't mean he's be actively involved in the show. No doubt fans will ponder what it means hearing Sony (who produce the series) "had been looking to make a change at the top," according to TV Guide, which is why they hadn't made a new deal with Harmon.

Community is a rather low-rated show, but one with excellent reviews and an intensely loyal core fanbase who know much about the people who make it. That being the case, it's odd to see this dramatic change behind the scenes, as many of the key creators of Community will likely be dramatically different next season. Besides Harmon no longer running the series, executive producers Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan are leaving for a new deal at 20th Century Fox while co-executive producer Chris McKenna has a new deal at Universal TV. TV Guide says McKenna also wouldn't have taken the showrunner job if offered without Harmon's involvement in the series.

All of which begs the question, will Community: Season 4 feel like Community? TV Guide says Sony had been "looking at ways to broaden Community and attempt to extend the show's life on NBC," as they sought new showrunners. But it's pretty clear fans of the series love Community the way it's been.

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/19/community-creator-replaced-as-showrunner

Original Blade Runner Writer on Sequel

Scroll down for an update on this story!

Hampton Fancher, who co-wrote Blade Runner, is in talks to reteam with director Ridley Scott for the planned sequel to the sci-fi classic. Specifically, according to a press release from producers Alcon Entertainment, the idea is "to develop the idea for the original screenplay" for the follow-up.

Additionally, it has now been confirmed that the film will in fact be a sequel to the original tale of the Replicant-hunting, down-on-his-luck future cop played by Harrison Ford. "The filmmakers would reveal only that the new story will take place some years after the first film concluded," we're told. So does that mean Ford will be back?

Fancher worked on the original Blade Runner before Scott was even onboard, and the way the story goes, creative differences led to Scott and producer Michael Deeley dumping the scribe and hiring David Peoples to rewrite him. Obviously those creative differences have long since abated, but you can read about the whole bloody affair in the great book Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner.

Despite today's announcement, we still have no clear idea on this production's timeline, though obviously it's still very early days.

Update: In a chat with The Daily Beast, Scott revealed the following: "I started my first meetings on the Blade Runner sequel last week. We have a very good take on it. And we’ll definitely be featuring a female protagonist." Does that mean she'll be the protagonist? Time will tell.

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/18/original-blade-runner-writer-on-sequel

Disney's New Peter Pan

Disney will soon be adapting Peter and the Starcatchers, a new Peter Pan story based on the best-selling children's book by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. The studio has hired Jesse Wigutow (The Osterman Weekend) to pen the screenplay.

The book was recently adapted into a Broadway play, which has already turned out to be a huge hit -- it was nominated for nine Tony Awards earlier this month. So it's no surprise that Disney has decided to fast-track a feature film. And since Barry and Pearson are gearing up to write more books set in the same universe, it's likely the movie will have franchise potential.

No word yet on a director or production start date.

Via ComingSoon.net

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/18/disneys-new-peter-pan