WonderCon News of Note-Worthiness!

So perhaps you've had a chance to watch some of the Green Lantern footage premiered at this years Wondercon over in the US, if not here it is again for your consideration:



Fan bait. That's my first reaction to that. It's awesome fan bait yes, but fan bait all the same.
The tone is so noticeably different to the first trailer and there's barely Blake Lively in sight, which naturally makes me suspicious. Wasn't Tim Robbins meant to be in this movie?

While I am eating up this trailer and also loving the fact that I can recognise Green Lanterns Salaak, Stel and Hannu amongst the rest of the squid/eyeball/whatever aliens, I'm a bit cautious because to me this WonderCon footage is an obvious reaction from the studio to all the negative criticism the first trailer received, and is by design a WonderCon crowd-pleaser. The studio has admitted they had to hold VFX shots from the first trailer as they weren't completed in time, but bottom line is I'm still wary.

Now on the other hand, the 'other' GL film coming out this year which made it's premiere at the same convention is another story. The animated Anthology film Green Lantern: Emerald Knights received great acclaim from Con attendees, but considering the amount of Green Lantern mania at WonderCon it's probably to be expected. The reports I've been reading since the premiere have made me more and more keen to see this film for several reasons, which I'll rattle off a couple here:

• None other than Nathan Fillion is Hal Jordan, Henry Rollins as the voice of Kilowog and Jason Isaacs, Lucious Malfoy himself, will be the voice of Sinestro - how's that for casting?
• Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons classic 'Mogo doesn't socialize' story has been adapted - it's a cute and beloved GL story and I can't wait to see it in animated form.
• Another Moore GL story 'Tygers' has also been animated.
• Current Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps writers Geoff Johns and Peter J Tomasi have featured stories - if there's anyone who can do the Corps justice, it's these two.
• Red Lantern Atrocitus appears, although possibly not in Red Lantern form.

There were also a couple of fun things from the Premiere Panel that I'll share for the hell of it:

• Fillion apparently won the crowd over with his recitation of the Green Lantern oath, "In brightest day, in blackest night," before segueing into, "I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight." - Someone please cast this guy in an on-going genre TV series already!!
• Bruce Timm announced the next DC Animated Movie to be Justice League: Doom, written by the late Dwayne McDuffie and should be a loose adaptation of Mark Waid's JLA: Tower of Babel storyline.
• Geoff Johns had Mark Strong's voice in mind when writing Sinestro for his segment.
• During recording sessions Nathan Fillion was sitting with a television in front of him playing the movie, when he took out his iPhone and took a picture of Hal Jordan. Apparently Ryan Reynolds whom Fillion worked with way back on "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place," had sent him a text message: "We've stolen your makeup girl from Castle, and I'm going to keep her." Nathan replied with his picture of Hal Jordan and a microphone, saying "We've stolen your Green Lantern, and I'm going to keep him."

The anthology follows rookie Lantern Arisia as her and other Lanterns prepare for battle while they regale her with stories of Lanterns past, and from what I've read serves up a diverse cross-section of GL history to the viewer. DC's animated movies have all been generally spot-on getting the DC character's right so I have high hopes Green Lantern: Emerald Knights will deliver the goods for this GL fan.

Finally the only other news of note was the reveal of the first trailer for the rebooted Thundercats which I've included below.

After seeing the Animation by Japanese animation Studio 4°C I have to say I'm more than intrigued - it doesn't look too bad and they've also tapped original Lion-O voice actor Larry Kenny as Claudius - Lion-O's father - for bonus fan points.

Voice actor Will Friedle (Terry McGinnis of Batman Beyond) takes on Lion-O this time around, as Larry Kenny passes on the torch also sounding his last 'Thundercats, hoooooo' with fans at a Thundercats Panel at WonderCon, so here's hoping this new and thoroughly emasculated-looking Lion-O can still kick some wrinkly Mumm-Ra ass!