Jeph Loeb

Adding to the growing presence of anime on TV screens, G4 and Marvel will premiere two original Marvel anime series, “Iron Man” and “Wolverine,”  at 11 p.m. (ET/PT) and 11:30 pm (ET/PT) July 29. Later in the year, the X-Men and Blade will join the G4 party, but these series, guided by bestselling author Warren Ellis, will have Adrian Pasdar voicing Tony Stark in “Iron Man” while his “Heroes” costar  Milo Ventimiglia will growl his way through “Wolverine.” Hero Complex contributor Jevon Phillips caught up with Pasdar and got his thoughts on giving voice to anime and the Golden Avenger. JP: How were you first introduced to Iron Man and Tony Stark? AP: I think my knowledge of the Marvel character came through my childhood and the comics, and obviously through the resurgence of the character through the [Jon] Favreau […]

It was 70 years ago that Captain America, the greatest of all the patriotic-themed superheroes, first hit newsstands with a red, white and blue shield gripped in his gloved hand. He also gets his own feature film this summer, “Captain America: The First Avenger,” and to mark the moment,  we’ll be talking to writers, artists, actors, directors and musicians about the star-spangled icon’s legacy and future. There’s plenty that’s pure about Captain America, but don’t think for a minute that makes him a Pollyana, says Jeph Loeb, the head of Marvel television and writer of many landmark comic-book arcs, including  ”Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America.” “Cap is a born leader and someone who always dreamed of being a hero,” Loeb said. “He’s an inspiration to the Marvel Universe — a standard by which every hero should try and reach. By the […]

Mary Jane on Broadway: Gossip maven Elizabeth Snead has a somewhat breathless item about Evan Rachel Wood of "The Wrestler" and "Across the Universe" taking on the role of Spider-Man babe Mary Jane Watson for the Broadway play that is shaping up as the most expensive production in the history of the Great White Way: "Evan Rachel Wood will play Mary Jane in Julie Taymor’s ‘Spider-Man’ on Broadway! ‘I start rehearsals in June and will be on Broadway for a year,’ she said Wednesday at a press junket for ‘The Wrestler.’ She’s already learned the songs, written by Bono, and did a run-through for Marvel. But that’s not why she recently colored her hair red, like Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane movie character. ‘No, I didn’t even think about it,’ she insists. ‘After I got it done, I looked in the […]

The last time I saw Jeph Loeb was when I moderated a panel he was on at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books in April. I remember I asked about his show, “Heroes,” being faced with “a crossroads” moment in both its loss of audience and urgency, and he scowled at the mere mention of such a notion. So why am I thinking of that on this November morning? Here’s the scoop from Cynthia Littleton of Variety: Big shakeup on the staff of NBC’s “Heroes” came down on Sunday with the axing of co-exec producers Jesse Alexander and Jeph Loeb. Both scribe-producers had been with the show since its first season and were known to have led the day-to-day production operation under the direction of creator/exec producer Tim Kring. “Heroes,” produced by Universal Media Studios, has struggled in the […]

Thirty years ago, the Man of Steel was flying high at theaters. But will he ever get off the ground again? Richard Donner‘s “Superman,” released in December 1978, was a box-office triumph and critics were, for the most part, cheering right along with the fans. Roger Ebert called the film “a pure delight,” while the late Jack Kroll wrote in Newsweek that Donner had pulled off “a major feat in filmmaking.” It was by nature a sunny film, sentimental and playful, never embarrassed while soaring with its John Williams score and (literally) with its special effects. But show it to a teenager today and he or she will snicker and roll their eyes. These are kids who have sat in dark theaters with Wolverine, Hellboy and Heath Ledger’s Joker. If they’re holding out for a hero, you can bet he’s […]

Viewership may have fallen, and audience support may have waned, but at Comic-Con, NBC’s "Heroes" is still as big as as it ever was. It’s also still humble.  When the cast — the entire cast — came on stage to huge applause in Hall H, many of the actors were also filming the crowd with personal cameras. Greg Grunberg was one, and he also visited with a few fans at the back of the line for the panel, many of whom weren’t getting in. And speaking of growth, one of the first things moderator and executive producer Jeph Loeb said to the assemblage was that the show was in "236 territories around the world," and that it was popular because of the Comic-Con fans. "And we came here to thank you." Loeb, being the cheerleader that he is, then led […]