“The Amazing Spider-Man” is gearing up for more cinematic adventures. Sony announced Monday that the third and fourth installments of Peter Parker, as played by Andrew Garfield, are set for release on June 10, 2016, and May 4, 2018. “Spider-Man is our most important, most successful and most beloved franchise, so we’re thrilled that we are in a position to lock in these prime release dates over the next five years,” said Jeff Blake, Sony’s chairman, worldwide marketing and distribution, in a statement. In the more immediate future, “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” the sequel to 2012′s Garfield-starring “The Amazing Spider-Man” is due out May 2, 2014, and like its predecessor, is directed by Marc Webb (“[500] Days of Summer”). Emma Stone returns as Gwen Stacy, with Shailene Woodley joining the cast as Mary Jane Watson, Chris Cooper and Dane DeHaan […]

Wonder Woman prepares to face off against antagonist the First Born in issue No. 21, by comic writer Brian Azzarello and artist Cliff Chiang. Hero Complex readers can get an exclusive first look at the first four pages of the comic, which hits stores Wednesday. Issue No. 21, “Flesh & Stone,” picks up after Wonder Woman’s battle with Artemis in No. 20 — a battle that left Diana reeling and London in ruins. Now, Wonder Woman must withstand an all-out attack from antagonist the First Born. Click through the gallery above or use the links below to preview the comic. Cover | Variant cover | Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 Wonder Woman has undergone one of the most dramatic makeovers in DC’s “New 52″ relaunched titles. Since the reboot, Diana has discovered that she was not molded from clay by Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons; instead, […]

Ubisoft’s November title “Watch Dogs” had attendees at the recently concluded Electronic Entertainment Expo lining up for an in-depth look. The Chicag0-set game explores the world through the eyes of a technologically savvy vigilante whose motivations and intentions can vary according to the player’s wishes. To learn more about “Watch Dogs” and the history behind the project, Hero Complex spoke to lead script writer Kevin Shortt (“Avatar: The Game”). HC: How did the concept for “Watch Dogs” originate? KS: We started with a small core team very early on, four years ago actually, and mostly we just talked about what we wanted. We quickly zeroed in on the idea of having a cellphone and being able to use the cellphone to basically control the city, and what that would mean. For us, that then became, OK, there’s privacy issues in […]

The just-completed Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles is an extended tease. It began early Tuesday with a promise from Nintendo, that an extremely important announcement would be coming at Nintendo’s E3 booth at 11:40 a.m. Press had been gathered before the Los Angeles Convention Center doors opened at noon for early looks at some of Nintendo’s fall slate of games. Nintendo execs walking the floor ensured the media that no one should leave before 11:40 a.m. “You won’t want to miss this,” one of them told me. Except by the time the announcement came and went, I wished I had missed it. The info-disguised-as-news was simply that the human avatar in Wii Fit would serve as a playable character in “Super Smash Bros.” for the Wii U and the recently unveiled 3DS editions of the game. Cute, but […]

It’s a strain to be Superman, even for someone with as sizable shoulders as British actor Henry Cavill. The stress of carrying the world and “Man of Steel,” the $225-million Warner Bros. reboot of the Superman franchise, is showing on Cavill’s sculpted face. He’s built up a steely reserve as the scrutiny of his public and private life becomes more intense. And it comes after mining his own awkward adolescence to play a character steeped in loneliness and confusion. The 30-year-old Cavill grew up on the small English Channel island of Jersey. The fourth of five brothers, he yearned to escape the “shackles of parenting” and followed his third eldest brother to boarding school in England. Yet a profound homesickness plagued the then-13-year-old — so much so that he found himself blubbering to his mother on the phone daily. “It […]

The already-ubiquitous Superman symbol is about to get a lot more popular. Whether or not “Man of Steel” dominates the box office this weekend, the studio can probably count on it being a cash cow for merchandising. The Warner Bros. film, opening in theaters Friday and starring Henry Cavill as the titular character, is accompanied by a host of ”Man of Steel”-inspired products, including T-shirts, baseball caps, action figures, costumes and Lego sets. “Man of Steel,” directed by Zack Snyder (“300,” “Watchmen”), is Superman’s first time on the big screen since Brandon Routh’s turn in 2006. Among Cavill’s costars are Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Russell Crowe as Jor-El, Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent, Diane Lane as Martha Kent and Michael Shannon as General Zod. PHOTOS: 50 images from ‘Man of Steel’ Toys and apparel are available featuring the Last Son […]

The latest trailer for Neill Blomkamp’s anticipated sci-fi adventure “Elysium” offers a more detailed look at the “District 9″ director’s dark vision of future Earth and sheds new light on the story surrounding Matt Damon’s Max de Costa, a man desperate to reach the titular space habitat. Set in 2154, the film takes place in a world in which the wealthy have migrated to a station in the stars run by Jodie Foster’s Secretary Delacourt. By contrast, the poor have remained on a decimated, overpopulated Earth depleted of both natural resources and hope for a better life. On the way to his job, Damon’s sarcastic reformed thief manages to find himself in trouble — his bad day includes a run-in with robot authorities and a workplace accident that leaves him terminally ill. His only hope for a cure rests in […]

“Man of Steel” began its ascent toward pop-culture immortality during fall 2010 inside a pressurized cabin in the skies between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. A fitting start for the relaunch of a comic book property inextricably linked with the exclamations “It’s a bird! It’s a plane!” Christopher Nolan, the force behind the multibillion-dollar “Dark Knight” movie franchise, and his producing partner wife, Emma Thomas, were sharing a corporate jet with Zack Snyder, the action stylist behind the 2009 sci-fi superhero drama “Watchmen,” and his producer wife, Deborah Snyder. Both couples were on the way back to L.A. from Las Vegas’ CinemaCon, where they had previewed new films. Left unspoken during the getting-to-know-you rap session at 30,000 feet: Nolan had just taken charge as producer of Warner Bros.’ splashy Superman reboot. It was his first time godfathering someone else’s movie […]

Superman is soaring into theaters this weekend with Zack Snyder’s “Man of Steel.” But fans who can’t wait for Friday can get a glimpse of the much-anticipated movie in the gallery above, which features 50 photos from “Man of Steel.” Henry Cavill is the latest in a long line of actors to wear the iconic “S” symbol on his chest, following in the footsteps of Christopher Reeve, Kirk Alyn, Tom Welling and George Reeves. “Man of Steel” marks the Last Son of Krypton’s first time on the silver screen since Brandon Routh’s turn in 2006′s “Superman Returns.” Cavill is joined on screen by Russell Crowe and Ayelet Zurer, who play Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van, Kal-El’s birth parents on Krypton; Kevin Costner and Diane Lane, who play Jonathan and Martha Kent, Clark’s adoptive parents in Smallville; Amy Adams, who plays Daily Planet reporter […]

At E3, a number of things catch your attention, but a video and a simple banner showing an ancient warrior who looks strikingly like actor Jet Li can draw any casual fighting-game fan over to the Snail Games booth for a look at “Age of Wushu”. And as it turns out, the action-film star/former Wushu (which just means “martial arts” in Chinese) champion does in fact have a little something to do with the game. “There is a character in the game that is Jet Li. He has a character name, then in parenthesis it says Jet Li next to it. I guess they really wanted to drive that point home, in case you did recognize him,” said Chris Toft, a lead QA producer for SnailUSA, the Chinese company’s stateside division. “He is a character in the Twilight Village story. […]