These guests included the director Mark Webb in Los Angeles, Peter Parker and Spider-Man himself: Andrew Garfield in New York, the very beautiful Gwen Stacy played by Emma Stone in Rio de Janero, and Dr. Curt Connors and the Lizard himself: Rhys Ifans in London. These special guests were asked several questions regarding the movie and the Spiderman franchise with very comical responses. The event concluded with a nice little souvenir T-Shirt that was given to the viewers upon exiting the theater.

Click on the clip below for the footage from this event HERE!

The Amazing Spider-Man releases in theaters this summer July 3rd, 2012.

We recently learned that Patty Jenkins, known for her film “Monster” and set to direct “Thor 2″, was released from the project last week after Marvel felt there were some creative differences that didn’t make Jenkins the best candidate for the job.

This week, Natalie Portman has voiced her displeasure with Marvel’s decision as Jenkins’ part in the film was a major reason she signed on. Portman, who wanted to take some time off after the birth of her child, is now contractually obligated to star in the film.

The Hollywood Reporter spoke with and insider who said:

Marvel became concerned that Jenkins was not moving decisively enough and feared the film might miss its November 2013 release date.

And

Jenkins lacked an overall clarity in her choices.

Marvel is working to hire a replacement that has a vision that aligns itself with the project.

Check it out and let us know what you think…

If it seems like yesterday you were getting excited about the long overdue sequel to “Marval Vs. Capcom 2″, that’s because it was only released in February of this year. But like most Capcom fighting games, an updated version is always around the corner and will probably run you around $40.

“Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3″ is no different. We were fortunate enough to get our hands on this title about a week ago and although I can never seem to get good at the MVC games, I know what’s fun and what isn’t, and sure enough “Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3″ is a blast.

Before we get into the gameplay and changes of the UMVC3, one of the things that I noticed right away (well at least after I installed the 2.25GB game file) was that my the UI has been changed and is a lot less clunky than the previous version of the game. Some of the elements of the original title are still there that I wasn’t really a fan of like the way your Player Profile updates every time you go to the main menu and it makes it a bit annoying when you’re trying to hop in for a quick match. Between the music, graphics, cheesy vocal segues and the UI, this game feels like a classic arcade game and the Japanese influence is certainly there. Some new gamers may not appreciate it but as a 28 year old, I love it.

Some of the changes that players will see in UMVC3 is the addition of 12 new characters. On the Marvel side, we see the addition of Nova, Rocket Raccoon, Iron Fist, Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider and, my personal favorite, Hawkeye. From Capcom, Frank West, Vergil, Phoenix Wright, Nemesis, Firebrand and Strider.

Speaks for itself. This simply looks amazing.

“The Avengers” hits theaters May 4th, 2012.

Are you an X-man? Or do you follow the ideals of Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants? These are the questions that, as a gamer, you must ask yourself while playing X-Men: Destiny. The only other question you must ask yourself is: “Why did I purchase this game?”

Let’s start with the story. If you are a fan of the X-Men comics, you will find the theme and story of this game familiar. That theme being: Acceptance. You get to play as one of three new mutants: Adrian Luca, the son of a hard-shelled and rigid Purifier idealist; Aimi Yoshida, a Japanese refugee sent to America to pursue a better life by her father; and Grant Alexander, the college football jock.

Another choice you are given at the beginning of the game is Mutant power selection. Your choices are: Density Control, a hard-hitting class where rock-like protrusions aid in attacks and defense; Shadow Matter, a quicker attacking class based on shadow-like daggers; or Energy Projection, ranged-based attacks through energy projectiles. As the game progresses, you are given more choices in abilities pertaining to which power-class you have chosen. Furthermore, you collect exp by defeating enemies and are given liberties on which abilities to strengthen.

As you follow the development of the character you have chosen, you are simultaneously thrown into conflict between the Purifiers, individuals devoting their lives to the eradication of Mutants, or organizations for the safety and progression of Mutant rights, such as the X-Men or the Brotherhood of Mutants.

One of the strengths of X-Men: Destiny lies in the franchise’s characters. Part of the fun of the game was waiting to see which popular comic-book-character-come-to-life (or video game life) you would run into next. The developers did not use the characters sparingly and have allowed for even some of the under-rated characters to be used.

Another strength for X-Men: Destiny are the unlockables. These include collectibles, which allow the player to access character bios, and costumes, which change the appearance of your character to classic outfits that also give stat boosts.

Unfortunately, no single game is perfect and with that comes weaknesses. In X-Men: Destiny’s case, there are plenty. Firstly, the combat. Combat is fun at first, but quickly become somewhat of a hack-n-slash, button-mashing, lack of strategy form of repetition. Secondly, character movement is slow. While fighting enemies, your movement feels as though you are weighted and fighting underwater. Thirdly, you are constantly fighting waves of enemies that follow similar character designs, with not much variation. Fourthly, environments change, but still have the same format and are very linear in nature. Lastly, many cut-scenes seem to suffer from a product of poor clipping and editing. While watching a particular cutscene, with much excitement of what will come next, the emotion and power of that scene are halted due to a rushed resolution.

In conclusion, the sole purpose for the purchase of this game was the use of the long-running X-Men franchise. Although it was fun to have the capability to play within the X-Men universe along with popular characters, shoddy game-play and a rushed polish hold this game back from being the great game it could have been for us comic book fans. Hardcore X-Men and Marvel fans like me can see past the many flaws, but gamers that are not familiar with the franchise may want to use their Mutant power of inhibition and pass on X-Men: Destiny.

Capcom has unveiled that Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 will feature reversible packaging, giving fans the choice for cover art created by a Marvel or Capcom artist. Capcom illustrator Shinkiro created the previously unveiled front cover art and the new reverse side features art by Marvel’s Mark Brooks. Mark Brooks’ new alternate cover art features all 12 of the game’s new characters in his own comic style which is representative of his experience illustrating the X-Men, Spider-Man, and Young Avengers comics. Both pieces of art will be printed on a single reversible cover for the entire first run of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 in North America.

In order to get fans geared up for the launch of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Capcom is launching a brand new Facebook app this week.  Featuring the win-quotes from every character revealed thus far, the Ultimate Trash Talk App will allow Marvel and Capcom fans to send smack talk at the click of a button.  Try it for yourself here: http://www.facebook.com/marvelvscapcom3?sk=app_139033782859615 and let the trash talk begin!

In addition, Capcom is pleased to confirm that Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 will be available on PlayStation Vita. This portable iteration will include the entire roster from its console counterpart, plus some additional bonuses. Screenshots from the PlayStation Vita version are available on the Capcom press site and more details will be revealed soon.

One of my friends is a fairly big comic and film geek. He also works with a number of minority students as part of his job and is thus involved in many diversity based programs.  And on top of that he’s Mexican-American. So the other day, after reading about Miles Morales – aka the new Ultimate Spider-Man who, if you haven’t heard, happens to be half African American and half Latino American, I decided to ask him his thoughts.  I figured with his background in both diversity rich programs and general geekdom, he’d have a pretty interesting opinion on the matter.

His response?

Something along the lines of, “I’m fine with it I guess. As long as it’s not too gimmicky and they’re not doing it just to sell more books. Like every time Jean Grey dies. Or when Superman died. Or Batman. Or anybody really. If it’s part of a greater story it’s cool.  And if they keep him out long enough to matter it’s cool.”

I was slightly taken aback at the simplicity of his response. To his credit, he did answer the question I had just asked: “How do you feel about Peter Parker dying and being replaced by a half black/half Latino new guy?”  But of course I was fishing around for a critique of the latter half of that question. 

Across the interweb, everyone has pretty much chimed in since the Miles announcement.  I’ve read reactions to the multi-ethnic new character on various websites ranging from USA Today to CNN to our very own AngryWeb.  The response has typically fallen into two distinct camps of thought: praise and criticism.

On the one hand, many are giving props to Marvel for introducing a new ethnically diverse character in a universe that is primarily made up of white heroes – particularly the mainstream heroes.  At the other end of the spectrum, there are those saying that Miles is nothing more than a poorly placed PR and PC move.  Even Miles throws out a similar thought as he questions whether or not his appearance is in poor taste when he first unmasks.

Yet despite all of the articles and forum posts I read, I didn’t really take into consideration a third opinion: the introduction of Miles Morales is as big as you want to make it.  This more or less what my friend felt.

The creation of Miles Morales was very intentional. Marvel’s editor in chief, Axel Alonso, explained “What you have is a Spider-Man for the 21st century who’s reflective of our culture and diversity…When the opportunity arose to create a new Spider-Man, we knew it had to be a character that represents the diversity — in background and experience — of the twenty-first century.”  So kudos to Marvel. The replacement of Spider-Man is a pretty big deal.  It’s not like Marvel is doing this with Iron Fist or Ghost Rider or some other B teamer.  Spider-Man is as big as it gets for Marvel and is probably the most recognizable figure in comics behind maybe only Superman and Batman.  Point being, while popular non-white characters such as Luke Cage or John Stewart have existed for decades, Marvel is trying to make a big statement with one of their big hitters.  Sure it’s the Ultimate version and not the 616, but most of the millions of people who happened to read one of various articles online probably won’t know the difference.

In terms of reaction, everyone seems to recognize what Marvel is doing, but no one seems to agree on why.  After all, Marvel is a business trying to sell a product and such wide publicity from Miles will help them do just that.  In order for Marvel to get the audience on their side – to get their intended purpose to match up with the audience’s interpretation – Marvel needs to follow up their bold introduction with bold stories.

Miles cannot simply be Peter Parker with a different skin color.  If he exists just to deliver the same quips and go through the same awkward teenage moments, then his introduction does not really have that greater impact my friend was hoping for.  But if he is developed into a fully realized character, however, full of his own complexities and quirks (something Bendis can do well), Miles may be here to stay for a while. In terms of his ethnicity, should it be a focus of some stories?  Definitely.  Should it be THE focus of his entire character?  Definitely not.

Going off of this approach, Bendis should take note of Mark Millar’s Ultimate X-Men and more specifically the Ultimate version of Colossus.  While his 616 counterpart has been in a long standing relationship with Kitty Pryde, Ultimate Colossus is gay.  Millar and subsequent writers on the book have successfully created some solid story arcs as well as tackled a major “21^st century issue.” Coming out to a homophobic best friend the way Colossus came out to Nightcrawler, for example, is a real world experience that many readers can relate to.  (The turning into metal thing and teleporting with a loud BAMF maybe not so much).

At the end of the day, good storytelling will always win out.  Yet Marvel has a responsibility to follow up their introduction with stories that recognize this opportunity. Sara Pichelli, who was integral in designing the new Spider-Man’s look, said, “Maybe sooner or later a black or gay — or both — hero will be considered something absolutely normal.”  To me, it seems my friend has already reached that point.  For the rest of us, however, it appears that we have some work to do to get there. Hopefully Miles Morales will play a significant role in bridging that gap.