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Lauren Shuler Donner Talks Deadpool & X-Men Prequels

Filed under: Action », RumorMonger », Fandom », Scripts », 20th Century Fox », Newsstand », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Remakes and Sequels »

The wonderful people at Empire have landed a big interview with Lauren Shuler Donner where she foretells the future of all the X-Men spinoffs. Not surprisingly, the majority of their energy is being focused on Wolverine's adventures in Japan, and he'll be seeing production long before Deadpool, X-Men: First Class, and Magneto. While it's heartening to hear they don't plan on straying from the Chris Claremont / Frank Miller story, I'll need an amnesia bullet to forget at all the continuity errors in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, so I'm not going to hold my breath.

The best news belongs to the Deadpool spinoff. According to Donner, you can forget all about the abomination called Deadpool in Wolverine. "I want to ignore the version of Deadpool that we saw in Wolverine and just start over again. Reboot it. Because this guy talks, obviously, and to muzzle him would be insane." Don't look for Hal Jordan to jeopardize the future of Wade Wilson, either. "I don't see it as a problem that Ryan [Reynolds] is also playing Green Lantern. I mean, look at Harrison Ford - he was in Stars Wars and Indiana Jones at the same time and everyone was fine with that. Green Lantern could not be more different to Wade Wilson." Donner promises it will be a "dark, snarky, very funny movie," echoes Reynolds' fourth wall promises, and stresses it may be one of the hardest stories Fox has handled thus far.

Donner also made X-Men: First Class sound a lot more promising than previous stories did, but maybe I'm just softening on the idea. As you may remember, First Class will be loosely based on the comic series and will follow the early adventures and schooling of the X-Men we already know and love.

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The Geek Beat: The Forgotten Sequel to 'Willow.'

Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Fandom », George Lucas », Remakes and Sequels », The Geek Beat »



This week's column is about George Lucas, a long absent figure in the Geek Beat. If you find your blood pressure easily raised by even the slightest mention of his name, then skip reading this week. However, be assured that I'm not going to trot out any of the old Lucas clichés; tell you he raped my childhood, or bring up that cringe-worthy site that analyzes his neck size. But I am going to examine one of his lesser known sins: the 1996 sequel to Willow.

Thankfully, it was consigned only to bookshelves and not foisted on an unsuspecting movie audience. If you've never heard of it, be glad. And you're not alone, as it seems to have come and gone under the radar for most geeks. Which is a shame; it could have warned us that trouble was ahead -- like Lenin's letter warning against Stalin, or the iceberg warnings sent to the Titanic.

Ah, Willow. I didn't see it on its initial release, but rediscovered it as a pre-teen. I was enchanted by it in those days, when I was all about dragons, crystals, swords and the Renaissance Faire. (I've matured in my medieval tastes, though I still admire a well-made sword from time to time. I still have one hanging on my wall, actually.) Though I had read The Hobbit, I had not yet tackled Lord of the Rings, and so Willow struck me as relatively original. Now, of course, I realize it's a blatant rip-off of Tolkien ... but oh, the folly of youth. Plus, Val Kilmer was really handsome in the flick.
 
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