The Surprising Politics of Superhero Movies

TotalFilm.com has compiled a list of 30 superhero films and the politics involved there in, ranging from Superman's "Truth, Justice and The American Way" and the X-Men's civil rights analogies to some of the more out there theories involving Unbreakable and the Spider-Man's movies. The whole list can be read here.

Wonder Woman! The Untold Story of American Superheroines Extended Trailer

The crew of  "Wonder Woman! The Untold Story of American Superheroines" have released an extended trailer for the film, which you can watch below, in anticipation of the film's public airing on PBS.
The film talks about the history of Superheroines, particularly Wonder Woman, and the parallels of the feminist movement, and you can read more about the documentary at the film's website.

Visual.ly's Infographic Roundup

 

Visual.ly has a round-up of several superhero infographics, a few of which have been featured on this blog before, with a focus on the recent superhero movies. You can check them all out here.

VH1's 10 Reasons Why Christian Bale Is A Real Life Superhero

In celebration of Christian Bale's birthday yesterday, VH1 has put out a Top 10 List of why he's a real life superhero, which includes a lot of his charity and political work. The full list can be read here.

Christian Bale Calls Young Cancer Patient to Talk About Batman

Christian Bale called a 8-year-old leukemia sufferer Zach Guillot just to talk about Zach's favorite superhero Batman.

How Hollywood views Men and Women

When Colin Stokes' 3-year-old son caught a glimpse of Star Wars, he was instantly obsessed. But what messages did he absorb from the sci-fi classic? Stokes asks for more movies that send positive messages to boys: that cooperation is heroic, and respecting women is as manly as defeating the villain. (Filmed at TEDxBeaconStreet.)

Happy New Years from Superheroes

It's Just Some Random Guy, the guy behind the popular Marvel vs DC videos, has released a series of New Years Greetings videos featuring various superheroes commenting on the upcoming year, which can be viewed below, and more of his videos can be found here.

Chinese State TV Uses Clips from Anime to Criticize Japan

 State-run Chinese Central Television (CCTV) used clips from the 2002 anime film Detective Conan: The Phantom of Baker Street in a piece criticizing what it described as Japan's move toward right-wing conservatism and political nepotism. The piece covered Sunday's national election in Japan and focused on how 75 of the 480 winners are progeny of previous generations of politicians, including Shinzo Abe, the presumptive next prime minister from the winning center-right Liberal Democratic Party. The clip used shows the character Shiho "Ai Haibara" Miyano looking at a ballroom full of children of Japan's politicians with disdain, saying that this lineage is "what led to a corrupted future. […] It's because of this politics of inheritance which led to human beings repeating its mistakes in history." After the piece CCTV aired an uncensored version of James McTeigue's live-action film adaptation of Alan Moore and David Lloyd's V for Vendetta comic book series, and both moves have led to speculation about ideological shifts in both the station’s output and also the ruling administration headed by the newly-installed Chinese Communist Party general secretary, Xi Jinping. The piece can be viewed (in Chinese) here, and move can be read here.

Concept Art Shows how Weird Fouth Live Action TMNT Movie Could Be

Recently released concept art for the fourth live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle shows just how weird some of the ideas for the film were, including a new fifth "extreme" turtle called Kirby, after legendary artist Jack Kirby. The full collection of concept art can be seen here.

Pacific Rim Trailer

The first trailer for Guillermo del Toro's new giant monsters verses giant robots film Pacific Rim has been released, which can be viewed below. io9 also has a scene by scene breakdown for the trailer, which can be scene here.

Marvel Cinematic Universe Concept Art Collection

io9 has amassed a collection of concept art from the first six Marvel Cinematic Universe Movies, aka Marvel Studio's Phase One. The whole collection can be viewed here.

New Man of Steel Trailer Released

Warner Brothers has released a new trailer for the upcoming Superman film, ``Man of Steel``, which received over 1 million view on YouTube in its first 10 hours, which you can watch below, and see a shot-for-shot breakdown here.

io9 Roundup of Superhero, Political and Futurist Articles, Part 8

Today we've got a roundup of recent, relevant, and few just really cool, articles from the science, science fiction and fantasy blog io9.com. Stay tuned for all the parts.

• Is this the Justice League’s big, bad villain?
• Man of Steel poster imprisons Superman in handcuffs and lens flare
• What would it take to be Bane? A Dark Knight Rises infographic
• Japan’s new ‘communications robot’ will prevent astronauts from getting lonely in space — by being absolutely adorable
• How to make your voice sound like Darth Vader
• The sci-fi inspired buildings that communism built
• At first glance, The CW’s Wonder Woman show seems to be getting back to Diana’s roots
• Remember that time Willie Nelson and Frank Sinatra teamed up to do a PSA for NASA?
• Your First Look at the Animated Remake of the Soviet Union’s Most Monty Python-esque Movie
• The Top 10 Claims Made by Creationists to Counter Scientific Theories

io9 Roundup of Superhero, Political and Futurist Articles, Part 6

Today we've got a roundup of recent, relevant, and few just really cool, articles from the science, science fiction and fantasy blog io9.com. Stay tuned for all the parts.

• You can now watch the 1940s Fleischer Studios Superman cartoons online
• Cosplaying gentlemen assemble in skimpy versions of male superhero costumes
• Saudi Arabia implements electronic tracking system to monitor women’s movements 
• How NASA might build its very first warp drive
• 19 science fiction movies that could change your life
• The Autobots thwart Megatron’s diabolical lunch plans in adorable new Kre-O Transformers short
• Why Smug Atheists Should Read More Science Fiction 
• College application fees are a barrier to getting an education 
• A Robot That You Can Train to Do Almost Anything
• Cosplayers go wild at Bangalore’s first-ever Comic Con
• A robot overlord’s most dangerous quality is not necessarily malevolence
• SpaceX founder unveils plan to send 80,000 people to Mars
• Terry Gilliam’s newest future dystopia is surprisingly colorful
• Captain Planet returns to kill off the rest of Earth’s human population
• The Ghostbusters finally get gender balanced

io9 Roundup of Superhero, Political and Futurist Articles, Part 4

This weekend we've got a roundup of recent, relevant, and few just really cool, articles from the science, science fiction and fantasy blog io9.com. Stay tuned for all the parts.

• Gift Guide: Graphic Novels That Even Non-Comics Fans Will Love to Read 
• Retro travel posters for the world’s top cryptozoological hot spots
• The 10 Books You Absolutely Must Read to Understand the History of Earth
• Humans can survive the harsh conditions found on Mars, scientists say
• “Heroes of Science” action figures are light on “action,” heavy on the “heroes” 
• Why Marvel’s upcoming “Age of Ultron” may actually be the event that changes everything 
• 21 Pictures that Sum Up the Whole History of Science Fiction
• Hitler’s forgotten attempt to build the world’s largest Olympic stadium
• The extremely tentative but potentially triumphant return of Rom: Spaceknight 
• Marvel’s Cinematic Universe Mega-Set returns — and a new Thor alternate ending! 
• Here are the most futuristic European cities that never existed
• Is this what students in Louisiana are learning about evolution?

Italian Politians are Wannabe Superheroes, Batman makes Kids Eat Healthier and Other Blips

An Italian political party that's holding primary elections to determine a new leader on November 25th has released a photo depicting the five candidates as the Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer, photoshopping a poster from the 2007 film "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer". The photo quickly lead to Italian Media reporting the site had been hacked before being revealed to have been created by the party. The image is still up on the party's website as of this writing.

A recent study by The Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University has found that children will make healthier food choices when asked which choice Batman would make, and that the effect works on everyone when their favorite idol was used. You can read more about the study in this article from the Huffington Post, and the study itself here.

Seattle's most famous real-life superhero Phoenix Jones has created an officially organized superhero team for the city, including monthly dues and a health plan. You can read a more about it in an interview with Phoenix Jones in this article from NPR.

Film Equals has an interesting run down of their favorite women from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which can be read here.

And finally we have some more videos from MelodySheep, whose videos I just like.