Fourth MCU ‘Spider-Man’ Film Gets a Title, Release Date

 

If you saw the news Tuesday morning you might have thought it was a bizarre April Fool’s joke, but Sony Pictures wasn’t foolin’ when they revealed that their anticipated follow-up to smash-hit Spider-Man: No Way Home would be called Spider-Man: Brand New Day and that it would be hitting theaters on July 31, 2026.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day 🕷️ July 31, 2026. pic.twitter.com/R6OY8tAHOb

— Spider-Man Movie (@SpiderManMovie) April 1, 2025

The Brand New Day subtitle might be slightly triggering for longtime Spidey fans, as it references a mostly maligned story arc that began in 2008. You see, in the comics, Peter Parker’s beloved Aunt May was shot, and Peter made a pact with the actual Marvel devil – Mephisto if you’re nasty – in order to keep her alive. In exchange for May’s life, Peter sacrificed his marriage to Mary Jane Watson. To this day, Peter and MJ’s marriage has yet to be restored. So, yeah, it’s a bit of a sore spot.

The ”Brand New Day” storyline served as the hardest of soft reboots for the comic book Web-Slinger, introducing new romances, characters and villains in a reset continuity. Given the events of No Way Home, during which Tom Holland’s Peter sacrificed his non-Spidey life to save his universe, it seems like the MCU could be pushing the character in a similar clean-slate direction: low-tech suit, street-level storytelling and new relationships. And this could be a fantastic change of pace, since Holland’s Peter has unfortunately been often overshadowed by other Avengers and other Spider-Men in his prior MCU outings. With the promise of a more Spidey-centric narrative I’m excited to see what’s “Brand New” for my favorite superhero  in 2026.

In other Wall-Crawler news, Sony’s animated Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, is officially hitting theaters on June 4, 2027.

Chris Evans to Reunite with Robert Downey Jr. in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

We’ve known for months that Robert Downey Jr. would be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Avengers: Doomsday – but as Dr. Doom and not Tony Stark – but it seems like he won’t be the only OG Avengers actor to return in the 2026 film. The Wrap reports that Chris Evans, who we recently saw as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch in Deadpool & Wolverine, will appear in Avengers: Doomsday, but whether he will don the stars and stripes as Steve Rogers’ Captain America remains to be seen.

This news comes just months before the release of Captain America: Brave New World, in which Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson carries the Cap franchise forward for the first time since the 2021 Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. With that film’s Feb. 14 release date fast approaching, though, rumors of poor test screenings and last-minute reshoots have dampened expectations to a certain extent. Does this casting news shed light on a nostalgia-driven desperation play, or is Evans – like Downey – playing another character entirely?

To read The Wrap’s full story, click here. 

Disney and Epic Games Collaborate on New Universe Connected to Fortnite

As a 40-year-old man with far too many hobbies, I’ll warily admit that I dabble in Fortnite from time to time. Whether popping in to spend way too much money on a new Star Wars skin or killing time while another game downloads, Fortnite serves as an easy-to-pick-up palate cleanser that’s a lot more fun and immersive than a lot of people my age assume it is. I’m also pretty terrible at it.

Well, I might be spending a lot more time getting one-shotted by buff Peter Griffins following news that Disney and Fortnite makers Epic Games are teaming up to bring us “an all-new gams and entertainment universe that will further expand the reach of beloved Disney stories and experiences.”

According to the press release, which you can read in full here, the new experience will connect to Fortnite, and “the new persistent universe will offer a multitude of opportunities for consumers to play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and more. Players, gamers and fans will be able to create their own stories and experiences, express their fandom in a distinctly Disney way, and share content with each other in ways that they love. This will all be powered by Unreal Engine.”

Disney is also investing $1.5 billion to acquire an equity stake in Epic Games as part of this multiyear project.

So might we soon see Lightning McQueen do the griddy through Pandora as Babu Frik wields a Keyblade against Goofy in Iron Man armor? God, I hope so.

Watch the announcement video below!

Why ‘Spider-Verse’ Might Become One of Our Greatest Trilogies

 

I have a confession to make: I wasn’t all that excited about 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in the lead-up to its release. At the time, Marvel fans were still reeling from Avengers: Infinity War, and with Tom Holland’s Spidey claiming his rightful place as one of the central figures in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, an animated multiverse movie about Miles Morales felt like a side dish. Ancillary. Unimportant. Kids’ stuff.

Then, of course, I saw the movie, which not only changed what I thought a Spider-Man film could be, but what animated films were capable of in general. Much like Spider-Ham eating a hot dog, I was wrong. Way wrong.

Meanwhile, the MCU’s Spidey story would continue beyond Endgame with Far from Home and No Way Home, the latter of which brought classic Peter Parkers Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield back into the tights – alongside some familiar villains – in what became the most crowd-pleasing Spider-Man story ever brought to film … until this past Friday when Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse premiered.

I’m clearly not alone in loving the film, directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson. In fact, in what is a statistical near-impossibility, social media seems united in their praise for the sequel, which somehow distills a multiverse-spanning narrative into a rich character study for main characters Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) and Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac). Marrying swaggering bombast with careful craftsmanship, this film honors 80 years of Spider-Man canon across media while telling an all-new story about heroism, found family, identity and – since this is a Spidey flick after all – great power and the responsibility that comes with it.

But of course, that story is far from over. In a move that knocked us all back from the edge of our seats, Across the Spider-Verse ends with a big ol’ “To Be Continued,” forcing us to wait until the next issue sequel arrives next March in the form of Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. And without getting into spoiler territory (because even a few days after release, that would be criminal), Miles and friends find themselves in a precarious spot (ha!) before the credits roll, so the next few months are going to be excruciating as we wait to see what happens next. But until that point, I plan on watching Across the Spider-Verse many, many more times. From the wide variety of animation styles on display to the sheer volume of activity and characters filling the frame at times, this film demands repeat viewing.

It's admittedly rare these days to find myself truly compelled to watch a Marvel film more than once. The aforementioned No Way Home aside, the post-Endgame MCU stories have felt more like DLC than bonafide superhero epics – secondary to the already-completed main quest that reached its logical conclusion four years ago. Fortunately, the outstanding Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 changed all that by bringing us one of the best MCU films ever last month (thank you, James Gunn!) and the non-MCU-but-very-much-still-connected-to-the-MCU Across the Spider-Verse kept that momentum going in a major way. And if Miles sticks the landing next March, we might be considering the Spider-Verse trilogy not only one of the best superhero trilogies of all time, but one of the greatest movie trilogies PERIOD.

So yeah, about Spider-Verse being a side dish? There’s been a change to the menu. Now, True Believers, we feast.

No, I Didn’t Buy the $30 Ant-Man Popcorn Helmet

While strolling into my local AMC Theatre bright and early on a Saturday morning (10:30 a.m.) to take in an IMAX screening of Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, I turned my eyes to the concession stand for something even remotely appropriate for the relatively early hour. Sadly, they were all sold out of breakfast nachos and bacon, egg and cheese dogs (my favorite), so I went with a large popcorn and a Diet Coke. After all, butter goes on toast just fine and corn is the base for just about every cereal known to man, so I was able to justify the chronologically questionable dietary decision. And Diet Coke is the third cousin of coffee (once removed), so I think we can all give me a pass on that one.

But there was something else that gave me pause at the snack counter as the theater employee slowly blinked at the 39-year-old man in a Baby Groot T-shirt: no less than seven Ant-Man helmets staring out at the lobby from a dimly lit display.

Ant-Man helmets with light-up features.

Ant-Man helmets that open from the top to hold popcorn.

ANT-MAN HELMETS THAT LET YOU EAT SNACKS OUT OF PAUL RUDD’S HEAD.

The price? $29.99. The value? Infinite.

I’ve bought a lot of popcorn buckets in my time. Yes, that’s a sentence I typed in earnest. I have a Ghostbusters: Afterlife bucket shaped like the rusted Ecto-1 from the film. I have a tin Star Wars: The Force Awakens BB-8 bucket, which has taken up residence in our laundry room as a dryer lint repository. So, yeah, I’m kind of a bucket head. No big deal. But THIS? This was perhaps the finest licensed popcorn bucket I had ever seen. The image above simply doesn’t do it justice.

So it is with great pain that I inform you that I did not purchase AMC’s Ant-Man helmet popcorn bucket. Perhaps it was the $30 price tag that ultimately dissuaded me. Maybe it was the realization that I have to somehow make ROOM in my collection for things like this. At the time, though, my public response was far more practical as I slid away from the counter with my absolutely insane first meal of the day. “Aw, man,” I said with a sigh. “Maybe if you could actually wear it … “

Yep. That’s what clinched it for me, at least in the eyes of AMC Theatres. 

Anyway, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a really fun movie that I liked but did not love. Jonathan Majors is a phenomenal Kang who I look forward to seeing much more of in the future, and Rudd and the rest of the cast brought a charming “let’s just go with it” vibe to what is, at times, a very silly movie that hints at higher stakes later in Phase 5. If you liked Peyton Reed’s prior Ant-Man flicks, you’ll probably like this one, which steers very close to the tried-and-true Marvel formula – especially in the third act. There’s not a ton of meat on the bone from a narrative perspective, but it’s a fun time at the movies that gets weird with it. And that’s fine by me.

To reiterate, I liked Quantumania. Perhaps I would have loved it if I bought that Ant-Man popcorn bucket, but I guess I’ll never know in this reality. But somewhere out there in the infinite Multiverse exists a James Wortman proudly displaying that bucket on his shelf (but not on his head). If you meet that guy before I do, ask him what he thinks.

‘Thunderbolts’ Movie Roster Confirmed at D23

 Thunder … THUNder … THUNDER … THUNDERBOLTS! HOOOOOOO!

Wait, sorry. Wrong IP.

As an apparent response to all the knuckleheads saying that Marvel Studios wasn’t building up to anything in Phase Four, the studio revealed the lineup for its 2024 Thunderbolts movie during its D23 presentation. Thunderbolts is based on Marvel’s team of supervillains-turned-good, so it stands to reason that the lineup is full of reformed baddies.

Here’s the lineup as we now know it:

• Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh)
• Winter Soldier/James “Bucky” Barnes (Sebastian Stan)
• John Walker/U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell)
• Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour)
• Valentina Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus)
• Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko)
• Ava Starr/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen)

I would absolutely LOVE to say that Yelena is the new Black Widow, but I don’t think we’re there yet narratively.

Marvel Studios’ Phase Five film Thunderbolts – directed by Jake Schreier – is set for theatrical release on July 26, 2024.

On ‘She-Hulk,’ ‘The Rings of Power’ and the Toxicity of Modern Fandom

 

“the MCU was already finished but now it's officially dead”

“seeing she-hulk twerk just might be the worst thing i have ever seen in a minute”

“with three episodes, I feel like it’s safe to say She-Hulk is BAD”

These are tweets from actual, human, and presumably adult people who are ABSOLUTELY LOSING THEIR MINDS over the recent episode of Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk on Disney+. In the B-story of the episode, attorney Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk (Tatiana Maslany) gets involved in a court case involving a former colleague and a Megan Thee Stallion “impersonator” (actually a New Asgardian light elf in disguise, but we don’t need to get into all that). The real Megan makes a cameo appearance, the episode ends in a brief scuffle with The Wrecking Crew, credits roll.

Then there’s a mid-credits scene. THE mid-credits scene. The light-hearted stinger that has passionate MCU “fans” frothing at the mouth in the worst ways possible.

In it, a hulked-up Jennifer signs Megan as a client and the two twerk to “Body.” Booties are popped, fun is had, and the MCU breathes its last breath … or that’s what some (and overwhelmingly male) YouTubers and bad-faith Tweeters would have you believe.

Now, I will go on record and state that I don’t necessarily love everything that Marvel Studios has done in terms of their Disney+ Originals, and I’m of the mind that I’d rather have fewer quality stories as opposed to the absolute glut of content we’ve been getting. But as a comic book reader, I also don’t care for every title that Marvel title that comes out. And I daresay there are few who do. But you pick and choose your favorites characters and stories, you drop titles that no longer interest you, and – pay attention to this important part – you IGNORE THE STUFF YOU DON’T LIKE.

But in a digital media economy fueled by impressions, views and subscribers, the irate contrarian is king. Why would anyone simply come to terms with the fact that She-Hulk isn’t for them when there is attention (and revenue) to be gained? Fury is a cottage industry, and these grifters are entrepreneurs.

And that anger is evidently contagious and passed down to the followers of these petulance peddlers. Twitter accounts with under 50 followers are among the fastest to label new shows as “awful,” with “bad writing,” yet they simply cannot stop talking about the things they can’t stand (perhaps in an effort to gain a furious following themselves). And the fact that most of these accounts – both big and small – seem to harp on issues of “wokeness” and “SJW propaganda” tells you all you need to know about what kinds of people they are.

Star Wars and Marvel have suffered the brunt of this toxic behavior for the past few years (DC has been a close third) but The Lord of The Rings is the latest target with the release of the Prime Video series The Rings of Power, which features people of color in Middle-Earth and – shocker of shockers – features Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) and other female characters in prominent roles. Tolkien “purists” are up in arms at what is an apparent affront to J.R.R. Tolkien’s writing and is something we should all be very, very angry about as well. As someone who has read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings multiple times throughout my lifetime dating back to elementary school, I didn’t realize that I wasn’t a “true fan,” because I’m actually enjoying the show.

In fact, I’ve been a massive fan of The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Marvel for more than three decades, and I’m pretty happy with the fact that we’re getting new stories in these universes – even if some of them don’t necessarily land with me. Maybe I’m just a shill. Or maybe – and hear me out on this – it’s healthier to find enjoyment in these things than to look for reasons to fly off the handle online. If your chief concerns in life are that She-Hulk twerks, there are Black elves in Middle-Earth or that there are powerful women and LGBTQ+ people in a galaxy far, far, away, then it might be time to log off and get better acquainted with the world and the diverse, wonderful people who live in it. And maybe learn to twerk a bit yourself. It might make you feel better.

Watch: Marvel Universe Series 3 Trading Card Unpacking

It’s been seven years since I’ve posted anything on The Wort Report’s YouTube channel – my sole post was a Guardians of the Galaxy Hasbro Marvel Legends Groot Build-A-Figure video that garnered a whopping 59 views – but when you stumble upon sealed packs of vintage Marvel Universe trading cards during a chance trip to Rhinebeck, New York, you simply can’t resist the urge to create content out of the situation. 

Thanks to an impulse purchase from the fine folks at Megabrain Comics & Arcade, I obtained a small collection of Marvel Universe Series 3 from Skybox. And with powerful pulls like The Watcher, Galactus and the Infinity Gauntlet itself, that Thanos chump’s got nothing on James Wortman. Check out the video above! 

Hugh Jackman Takes Final Bow as Wolverine in Phenomenal 'Logan'

Let's be honest with ourselves: The X-Men movie franchise is a disaster. Yes, individually, it does contain some great films (X2: X-Men United and the hilarious Deadpool, for example), but by and large, it serves as an excellent example of how not to do a sprawling superhero series. Continuity is all over the place, the timelines (pick one) don't add up and the less said about how certain characters are treated, the better. I'm so, so sorry, Jubilee.

But that said, we love these movies in the grand scheme of things, and so when we learned that Logan would be Hugh Jackman and Sir Patrick Stewart's last outing as Wolverine and Professor Charles Xavier, respectively, we couldn't help but be invested.

But man, does that investment pay off.

With a hard-R rating and the kind of wanton violence that would make Wade Wilson blush beneath his crimson mask, Logan is not only one of the best superhero movies released in recent years, but it's a damn fine film. Period.

Following Deadpool's surprise success as a blood-drenched comic book romp early last year, director James Mangold (who also directed 2013's The Wolverine) lets the iconic Canuck use his claws. A lot. The violence during the title character's berserker barrages during Logan  makes the action sequences in the previous X-Men films seem downright childish by comparison.

But Wolverine isn't the only one doing the bloodletting in this film. As Logan serves as protector of an aged, ill Professor X (played marvelously by Stewart, who made me feel every possible emotion during this movie), he encounters a young girl named Laura (Dafne Keen), who displays some traits and, well, claws, that are curiously similar to his own. Of course, comic book readers figured out who she is during the first trailer, but since her identity is a bit of a spoiler for the uninitiated, I'll simply state that she's a big deal in this movie, and she kicks just as much ass as Wolverine.

Logan's not just about ass-kicking, however, even though it excels at it. Jackman, Stewart and Keen bring to life an off-kilter road trip film that bears more similarities to No Country for Old Men or Mad Max: Fury Road than it does to. say, X-Men: Apocalypse. Heck, there's even some Little Miss Sunshine thrown in there. Not necessarily beholden to the messy continuity of the previous films or engineered to produce sequels, Logan has the creative freedom to slow things down and truly get into the minds of these characters, who find themselves incredibly vulnerable and cast aside in a world where mutants have all but vanished. I'm not certain whether this film  is a follow-up to Days of Future Past or if it exists in some as-yet-unseen alternate timeline, but this standalone story is so engrossing and the characters are so richly drawn that you won't worry about any of those things. Logan is simply a great movie. Superhero or otherwise.

You'll squirm, you'll cheer, you'll laugh and you'll cry. Boy, will you cry. Logan has a lot of competition from other comic book flicks this year, including Spider-Man: Homecoming, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,  Thor: Ragnarok, Wonder Woman and Justice League, but all of those films will be hard-pressed to match the emotional journey this movie provides. See it, bub.

What Exactly is 'The Avengers Project'?

Confession time: I'm not particularly into mobile gaming. Yes, I understand its popularity and I can get into games like Super Mario Run and Pokemon Go as fleeting distractions, but it's hard for me to devote the kind of time to them as I would console titles. I also spend enough time playing around on my phone as it is.

With the rise in popularity of mobile games in recent years has also come the pop-culture dominance of Marvel's mighty stable of superheroes under the stewardship of Disney. This convergence has resulted in no shortage of Marvel mobile experiences, such as Contest of Champions and Future Fight, but for anyone looking for a substantial, quality story-based game on a console or PC has been mostly out of luck. This year's Spider-Man PlayStation 4 exclusive is a glimmer of hope, but we want much more than we've been getting.

Square-Enix and Marvel are seemingly aiming to remedy that issue with The Avengers Project, a large-scale video game undertaking developed by Crystal Dynamics and Eidos-Montreal, the folks behind the current Tomb Raider games. The project kicks off a multi-game deal between Square-Enix and Marvel. But what kind of game or games will we be getting with The Avengers Project? RPG? Action-adventure? Platformer? Will it take place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? If so, when?

Until more info is released about this exciting new partnership, salivate over this announcement trailer for The Avengers Project below.

‘Fantastic Four’ Cast Hasn’t Seen the Movie

This can’t be a good sign for Marvel’s First Family.

BBC Newsbeat reports that the leads in Fox’s Fantastic Four reboot hasn’t even seen the finished movie yet, even though it’s set for release on Friday.

The film hasn’t been screened for critics either. When Newsbeat asked Miles Teller, the new Reed Richards, whether the film will prove the doubters wrong, he said, “Rarely are films of this size critically well received. This is not a movie we're going to go on Rotten Tomatoes and it's going to be at 80 or 90 percent.”

Wortman’s Note: Marvel Studios’ Captain America: The Winter Soldier received a Rotten Tomatoes score of 89 percent last year, while Guardians of the Galaxy is sitting pretty at 91 percent. The Avengers got a score of 92 percent in 2012, and Iron Man got a 94 percent wayyyy back in 2008. Rare indeed. 

Marisa Tomei is the New Aunt May

Imagine you're a mutated spider. You're crawlin' along, you get hungry, you spot a nerdy, little teenager. You put your little spider lips down to his cool, soft skin ... BAM!

Sorry, but the latest Spider-Man casting news required at least one My Cousin Vinny joke on my part. Variety reports that Oscar-winning actress Marisa Tomei will play Aunt May in Marvel Studios and Sony's forthcoming Spider-Man reboot. Tomei will star alongside 19-year-old Tom Holland, who was recently announced as Marvel's new Peter Parker. Obviously, with Tomei just entering her 50s, we're skewing younger all around, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

You can next see Tomei in Amy Schumer's Trainwreck, which hits theaters next week. For the full story on this Spider-Man casting, head over to Variety by clicking here.

A Perfect Storm of Marvel Promo Images

Wow, and here I thought it was a slow week. Just today we got first looks at how four Marvel characters will look in live-action in the very near future.

First up, Marvel Entertainment has posted Daredevil's red suit in his Netflix-exclusive series, which drops tomorrow:



But that's not all! We've only gotten glimpses of Paul Bettany's Vision in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but today we got a full-on poster of the avenging android, sparking much speculation about his role in the film as its May 1 release date approaches:

Meanwhile, the folks at Fox are keen on reminding us that they, too, have Marvel franchises, releasing this image of The Thing from this summer's Fantastic Four reboot:

Finally, Fox has also released, via Empire.com, this concept art showing Ben Hardy as Archangel in next summer's X-Men: Apocalypse:

Not a bad day to geek out, eh?

Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool Sure Looks Like Deadpool

Earlier today, Ryan Reynolds tweeted the following photo, giving us an early glimpse at how The Merc with a Mouth's mask will look in Fox's forthcoming Deadpool film, due to hit theaters one year from now. Break out the chimichangas, guys. So far, so good.

Sepia tone disguises the fact the mask is ballerina pink. It's early. 365 sleeps early. #deadpool #prototypes pic.twitter.com/PekFa2KS7S
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) February 12, 2015

Netflix 'Daredevil' Series Looks Pretty Fantastic

Showcasing the dark and gritty corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Daredevil will hit Netflix on April 10, but you can get your first look at the anticipated series with its first teaser trailer below. The brief promo features narration by Matt Murdock himself, Charlie Cox, with some interesting action shots of the character in an early version of the Daredevil costume. We only get brief glimpses of the rest of the cast in their respective roles, but if a teaser is about generating conversation and establishing a mood, this trailer pretty much nails it. What do you think?

Reboots and Retcons: Are Mainstream Comics Pointless Right Now?

It seems odd to ask the question, since heroes from Marvel and DC are among entertainment's hottest intellectual properties right now, but with Marvel getting ready to revamp its continuity with this summer's Secret Wars crossover and DC looking to do the same with its Convergence event, we've reached a bizarre crossroads with "The Big Two." If everything happening in mainstream comics is about to be erased, does it even make sense for us to keep buying titles that will be rendered obsolete in a few months?

DC readers are all too familiar with the ennui that precedes a new status quo, after 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths and 2011's mostly mishandled introduction of "The New 52." Marvel, though, has mostly maintained the same continuity (Earth-616) since Timely Comics' Captain America socked Hitler in the mouth back in 1940. Timelines have been muddied to keep characters from qualifying  for AARP membership, but by and large, The House of Ideas' canon has stretched back more than half a century — and that history is about to be erased.

I'm totally on-board with the idea of freshening up continuity for all the new readers that are hopefully migrating to comics after seeing these characters on film and on television, but I'm also having a hard time investing time and money into stories that will have no longer "happened" in less than a year. But maybe that's just me. 

'Star Wars' Returns to Marvel in Blockbuster Fashion

Arriving with much fanfare and more variant covers than you can shake a lightsaber at, Marvel's Star Wars #1 hit shelves this week, written by Jason Aaron with art by John Cassaday. Set not long after Luke Skywalker destroyed the Galactic Empire's first Death Star, the issue features Luke, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Princess Leia, C-3PO and R2-D2 infiltrating an Imperial weapons factory, a plan that starts to unravel once Darth Vader shows up. The issue is Marvel's first Star Wars comic book in nearly 30 years, and it's clear that The House of Ideas is excited about getting to play in George Lucas' sandbox once again.

One thing that immediately jumped out at me was how much this book captures the feel of the original Star Wars trilogy, from Han's wisecracks to Threepio's nonstop fretting. There's even an amputation via lightsaber in this inaugural issue, which is a weird thing to get excited about but a Star Wars necessity as far as I'm concerned.

Marvel's clearly taking full advantage of Disney's 2012 Lucasfilm acquisition, with Darth Vader and Princess Leia titles arriving later this year, but it's also putting forward the best resources possible to tell compelling stories in this universe. Marvel's Star Wars is already looking like a top-tier book that's bound to remind geeks everywhere why they fell in love with this franchise in the first place.

The Hulk Gets Busted in New 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' Trailer

Last week's teaser trailer for Ant-Man was pretty cool, but let's be realistic: The Marvel movie we're all really waiting for this summer is Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron. A new trailer for the superhero team-up sequel was released Monday night, giving us new glimpses at the Avengers team coming apart at the seams, legions of murderous robots and, most spectacularly, Tony Stark in his Hulkbuster armor beating the hell out of The Hulk. Does bustin' make Iron Man feel good? Watch the trailer below and see for yourself.

Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron hits theaters May 1.

How to Say 'I Am Groot' in 15 Languages

You guys, not only is Guardians of the Galaxy now available on Digital HD (it hits Blu-ray Dec. 9), but Marvel has released a video teaching us all how to say the best catchphrase of the year in 15 different languages. It's slick and, like the movie itself, it's a lot of fun. Enjoy Groot going all international on your ears for nearly two minutes straight. Io sono Groot!

On Wars, Both Secret and Civil

We're just days removed from New York Comic Con, and geeks are all abuzz about several developments coming out of Marvel, namely that The House of Ideas is not only bringing us an all-new Secret Wars event next summer, but that 2015 will also see the release of another Civil War series. Whether the two events will occur simultaneously remains to be seen.

I was mere months old when Marvel launched its first Secret Wars crossover in 1984, so the announcement didn't necessarily bring about any pangs of nostalgia (even though I do thumb through my softcover trade paperback of that campy "all the good guys vs. all the bad guys" yarn every now and then), but the Civil War revelation is another story entirely.

Civil War, Marvel's politically-charged tale about a rift in its superhero community, kicked off in July 2006, a time when the idea of an Iron Man film seemed laughable while Spider-Man 3 was poised to be the biggest comic book movie of all time. I started working in Manhattan that fall, and my office was right between Midtown Comics' Lexington Ave. and Times Square locations. I hadn't been a regular consumer at a comic book store since the mid-1990s, when locales like The Dragon's Den in Greenwich, Conn., and The Spider's Web in downtown Port Chester, N.Y., served as nerdy refuges before superheroes were "in." With so many comic book stores in my area shuttering in the wake of the industry's 1990s boom period, I wound up getting my fix from the limited selection of new titles at bookstores like Barnes & Noble and Borders before my interest in the medium reached a low point in my teens. A chance lunch hour visit to Midtown Comics changed all that. I immediately gravitated toward Civil War and its numerous spin-offs. I was hooked again.

Although the bleak tone of the Civil War miniseries wasn't for everybody, the tight narrative by Mark Millar and the striking artwork by Steve McNiven kept me enthralled during my Metro-North commutes, and I was genuinely heartbroken when Captain America was assassinated after the series' conclusion the following year. My fandom only grew from there, and I went on to amass countless single issues and trades from Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image and just about anything else that I could get my hands on. Now, I'm a weekly regular at my local comic book store (A Timeless Journey in Stamford, Conn.) and my collection of current series and back-issues getting out of hand, to put it lightly. And it's all because of Civil War, for better or for worse.

Eight years later, Marvel is revisiting Civil War, with a teaser image that's evocative of the original. With rumors of a Marvel Comics reboot and recent speculation about how the Civil War storyline might be adapted in a future Captain America or Avengers film, there's lots for geeks to debate and wonder about. I'm proudly standing among them.