With a very successful opening earnings of $80.5 million on Friday, Marvel’s The Avengers was on board to far surpass worldwide audience’s expectations. It is with much satisfaction, as an avid Marvel comics fan. that I can report the weekend box office earnings of $200.3 million nationally and $641.8 million worldwide.

With worldwide earnings such as these, it is clear that Marvel has delivered a fantastic movie that has been enjoyed by audiences of all ages and on a global level.

Let the summer superhero blockbuster movies begin! Marvel kicks off every moviegoer’s favorite season with the witty, action-packed flick that so many of us have been waiting for, The Avengers.

With 5 years of planning and 5 movies doing a pretty fantastic job of building up this movie, The Avengers has finally been released into theaters nationwide. With so much riding on the line, it’s easy for a highly anticipated movie to fall flat of many of the fan’s expectations. However, fanboys need not worry. Marvel’s The Avengers is a phenomenal movie.

So lets get to the basics. The Avengers is equal parts drama, action, and comedy and a movie that anybody can enjoy, whether you are an avid comic book reader or not.

The movie begins where all of the previous movies left off. This includes Iron Man 2, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, and, most closely, Thor. A familiar threat to the moviegoer audience, Loki, has returned with the help of an alien race all too familiar to fans of the comic books, the Chitauri. With the conniving mastermind at the helm of an army of aliens, S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury is forced to assemble a team to combat this threat. However, things do not always go so smoothly when you bring together an old-fashioned soldier from a past time, a billionaire-philanthropist and genius playboy with Narcissistic traits, the Norse God of Thunder that is always quick to rush into battle, a highly intelligent gamma radiation specialist with a dark side, and a former Russian spy with a piece of her past still haunting her.

Writer and Director Joss Whedon has done the franchise justice by giving us more of the characters we have grown to love. He allows us to see Captain America/Steve Rogers step into that leadership role. He shows us a softer side to man in the Iron Man suit, Tony Stark. He gives us more of the unfinished interaction between Thor and his mischievous brother Loki. We get to finally see a bit of Black Widow and Hawkeye’s past and watch them in action. And finally, we get to see a lighter side of the raging beast known as the Hulk.

We have seen many movies in the past crumble under the weight of combining many different big name actors. The Avengers is not one of those movies. The interaction between Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, and new comer Mark Ruffalo has you screaming for more than the already lengthy 2 hour and 22 minute running time. The combination of the constant barrage of action, the well written and witty comedy, and the character driven drama, The Avengers moves very fast and in the best way possible. Joss Whedon does a fantastic job at capturing all of the important aspects for each character from the way they were intended from the comics. The phenomenal acting of this cast coupled with a director/writer that is very familiar with the comic book industry has made Marvel’s The Avengers a tough movie to beat. The Avengers is now in theaters worldwide, and remember, stay after the credits for a look at a new threat that fans familiar to the franchise will recognize. Now if you will excuse me, I have a movie to watch. Several more times…

Another Civil War is upon us within the Marvel Universe and this time, it involves the Avengers versus the X-Men. Issue one of Marvel’s newest series was released just over a week ago and includes with it the introduction of Marvel’s latest technological innovation, Augmented Reality, or AR.

Let us start with the basics. “Avengers vs X-Men” has been out for a week and there is a reason the review is so late. It is good. It is very good and it has already been read by this reviewer several times.

*Warning* Potential Spoilers ahead for those who have not yet read the issue. *Another Warning* Potentially bad puns included.

There is a grave threat and a powerful force headed to earth. The mutant numbers are dwindling and the schism between the X-Men is still in effect. There may be only one Hope (pun intended) for the unity of the X-Men and mutant kind entirely. The preservation of the mutant power copycat by the name of Hope (now you see it?).

Upon flipping through the first few pages (and the information provided by issue #0), readers are introduced to the threat that aims to put the Marvel universe in disarray. The Phoenix force has returned along with potentially haphazard destruction. However, the Avengers do not plan on sitting by and allowing this return. The only problem? The Phoenix force has found a host, and all Hope might be lost (yes another Hope pun). Hope’s copycatting mutant power has drawn in this force along with a host of trouble and Cyclops will not stand by to allow the Avengers to detain her.

“Avengers vs X-Men” directly follow the events that take place in Marvel’s 4-part mini-series, Avengers: X-Sanction. However, Marvel’s writers have made it fairly easy to jump right in with issue #0 and #1. Who are the writers on this project you ask? A collaboration of some of Marvel’s best, including: Jason Aaron, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Jonathan Hickman, and Matt Fraction and John Romita Jr. with the pencils.

Furthermore, these writers, along with the tech geniuses at Marvel, have teamed up with Aurasma, to introduce a new software that will enhance the comic book reader’s experience. This new technology, Augmented Reality (or AR), gives the comic book a more enhanced experience. I like to think of it as Blu-Ray additional content for comics. This application is free and available for newer iPhones, iPads, and Andriod devices.

Upon reading Avengers vs X-Men issue #1, I decide to scan the panel marked “AR” with my iPhone. Sure enough, I hear Brian Michael Bendis’ voice speaking to me in a “director’s commentary-esque” fashion. Or upon scanning the opening title page, Marvel Editor in Chief Axel Alonso walks right onto my comic book, welcomes me to the new series, and introduces me to a whole new experience. The AR includes panel progression from storyboard to final draft, scene movements, and character biography.

In conclusion, Avengers vs X-Men issue #1 is an excellent read with stunning visuals. It poses interesting questions of what is to come in the series and fuels the excitement of this comic book reader’s anticipations. Where will Wolverine and Beast, both X-Men and Avengers, fit into this struggle? Will the Phoenix force destroy everything? Will Hope share the same fate as Jean Grey? How far is Cyclops willing to go to defend Hope and the mutant race? Many fans are looking forward to a lengthy, well-written series that will push the boundaries of friend and foe to answer these questions and more. Lastly, the introduction of the AR app has ushered in a new experience to reading comic books and has enhanced the overall story-telling experience.

Production of the follow-up to the popular “X-Men: First Class” film has been delayed and set to begin in January 2013 due to the popularity of “The Hunger Games”.

As most of you know, “The Hunger Games” released to huge box office numbers and production of the sequel, “Catching Fire”, will be using the talent of Jennifer Lawrence who plays Katniss in the films and Mystique in “First Class”.

Fox has decided to move production of “X-Men” back in order to allow Lawrence time to shoot the follow up to “The Hunger Games” and I’m sure giving her another movie to build her popularity will only make her that much more desirable for “X-Men: First Class 2″

Mark Ruffalo has replaced Edward Norton as Bruce Banner in the film and Joss Whedon wanted to give The Hulk a new look which is detailed below.

Everyone has been waiting for this epic battle to commence and Marvel has given us a sneak peek of whats to come with a 5 page teaser that leads into the storyline for issue #0.

Teaser pages after the jump.

The biggest comic book event in history begins in Avengers VS X-Men #1, hitting comic shops & the Marvel Comics app April, 2012! The top creators in comics—Brian Bendis, Jason Aaron, Jonathan Hickman, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, John Romita Jr, Olivier Coipel & Adam Kubert—join forces for a landmark twelve-issue story sending The Avengers and the X-Men—the two most popular franchises in comics history—to war with each other!

The world’s greatest super heroes—Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Magneto and more—enter an unforgettable battle…and only one side can emerge victorious! -Marvel

AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #0 (JAN120622)
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS & JASON AARON
Art & Cover by FRANK CHO
FOC – 3/5/12, ON SALE – 3/28/12

For more information about Avengers VS X-Men, visit AvX on Marvel

Marvel is developing a free-to-play strategy game for Facebook called Marvel: Avengers Alliance. Now, when I think of Facebook games the only thing that comes to mind is click…double click…click click..and if you’re lucky maybe even a sweet drag and drop but from what I have seen from the trailer and the still of the game play this could very well be a different kind of Facebook game. At least I hope so.

From the looks of the game you are a S.H.I.E.L.D agent and you have to assemble a team (there are many characters to choose from such as Wolverine, Kitty Pryde, War Machine, Phoenix and Human Torch) to keep New York City safe. Like any Facebook game, recruiting your friends to play boosts your power so be prepared to be bombarded with app invites!

The game is currently in closed beta and promises to let you know when it goes live if you like their page.

Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think. Do you think it will be a new type of Facebook game or are you prepared for the tedious point and click?