Clooney, who is being presented with the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award on June 7, and ahead of that honor the actor opened up to The Hollywood Reporter about the parts of his career that have had the biggest influence on his work. Not to my surprise, he credited Batman & Robin.

“It’s really easy to pick: Batman & Robin,” he said. “That’s not a joke. Up until that moment, I was an actor only concerned with finding work. After the failure of that film creatively, I understood that I needed to take control of the films I made, not just the role. My next three films were Out of Sight, Three Kings, and O Brother, Where Art Thou?”

Clooney taking the failure of Batman & Robin as a lesson makes a lot of sense. When Clooney took over Batman from Val Kilmer in 1997, there was a lot of expectation. Batman Forever may have been met by mixed critical response, but the film was a box office hit with fans going into Batman & Robin excited for the next chapter.

The film “Batman & Robin” became something that even Clooney himself has joked about and apologized for over the years. Clooney even once said that he was the “least qualified” person to comment on another much-criticized take on Ben Affleck as Batman, saying that he “so terribly destroyed the part” that his opinion wasn’t important.

Of course, Clooney didn’t actually destroy the role of Batman. While it would be eight years before Batman returned to live action films, return he did with Christian Bale as the hero in Batman Begins. Clooney’s time as Batman also allowed him to give Affleck a bit of advice about the role for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

As for Batman & Robin itself, it’s had a positive impact outside of just helping Clooney to become a better actor. The film, which is now 21 years old, has a particularly strong following with the LGBTQ community, so much so that the film’s director Joel Schumacher noted last year that while it wasn’t his intention, he’ll take that positive legacy.

“I never thought of that,” Schumacher said. “I do know that there is definitely a large gay audience for all of the Batman films. But yeah, I tried to put in something for everyone. I never thought it was an important moment in gay cinema but hey, I’ll take it.”

What did you think of George Clooney’s performance as Batman? Let me know on Twitter @BlueJayHJB and follow SEVNetwork on Instagram @sevnetwork

The post George Clooney thanks “Batman & Robin” appeared first on .

Warner Bros. describes the story as:

Batman Ninja takes a journey across the ages as Gorilla Grodd’s time displacement machine transports many of Batman’s worst enemies to feudal Japan – along with the Dark Knight and a few of his allies. The villains take over the forms of the feudal lords that rule the divided land, with the Joker taking the lead among the warring factions. As his traditional high-tech weaponry is exhausted almost immediately, Batman must rely on his intellect and his allies – including Catwoman and the extended Bat-family – to restore order to the land, and return to present-day Gotham City.

Warner Bros has drop a trailer for the anime.

Playstation also released a clip of the anime. The clip shows Batman being transported to medieval Japan.

What do you think? I am personally looking forward to seeing it. Warner Bros. will release the film on Digital on April 24, and on Blu-ray Disc Steelbook, DVD, and Blu-ray/DVD combo pack on May 8.

The post Do You Love Anime?? Do You Love Batman!! appeared first on .

Batman The Telltale Series will be available for digital download on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iOS, Android, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Mac and PC. September 13th will mark the start of retail availability in North America as a special Season Pass Disc, which will include the first of five episodes in the season,  as well as granted access to the remaining four episodes as they are available for download. Europe is slated for a release date of September 16th.

“We’ve been hard at work at Telltale creating an all-new iteration of the iconic Batman story that puts players in the suit of billionaire Bruce Wayne,”  said Telltale Games CEO and Co-Founder Kevin Bruner about the series, “just as much as it will put them behind the mask, deciding how to carefully navigate a complex drama, rich with action, crime, corruption, and villainy lurking around every corner of Gotham City. The complex life and fractured psyche of Bruce Wayne has lent itself to becoming a bold evolution of the signature ‘Telltale’ role-playing experience, and we couldn’t be more excited as we prepare to debut the series to players across the world this summer.”

Enter the fractured psyche of Bruce Wayne and discover the powerful and far-reaching consequences of your choices as the Dark Knight. In this gritty and violent new story from the award-winning creators of The Walking Dead – A Telltale Games Series, you’ll make discoveries that will shatter Bruce Wayne’s world, and the already fragile stability of a corrupt Gotham City.

The post SEV’s Comic Nook News: The Official Batman The Telltale Series Trailer Has Arrived appeared first on .

Nah, Deadpool is NOT one of the worst superhero films ever..although that Wolverine film he was in…

Recently and in the past few decades we have seen some critically acclaimed and financially $ucce$$ful films based on comic book characters . The Captain America Trilogy, Christopher Nolan’s Batman Trilogy, Guardians of the Galaxy, and the aforementioned Deadpool are recent blockbusters. Before these films, Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992) were financial successes that were nominated for Academy Awards with Batman winning one; Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy (1990) won three Oscars, and Superman: The Movie (1978) was nominated for three Academy Awards, winning an Oscar for Special Achievement for Visual Effects for a total of four Oscar nods.

However, we have also seen box office bombs like The Rocketeer (1991), Billy Zane’s The Phantom (1996), and 1987’s He-Man and The Masters of The Universe (Frank Langella is positively deliciously evil as Skeletor and you Jack Kirby fans will have a field day with the references to Kirby’s New Gods/Fourth World work).  These flops are entirely watchable and entertaining films. They have since developed popular cult followings which isn’t nothing to dismiss. Zane’s Phantom movie did very well in VHS and DVD sales and is presently on Netflix. Remember, even the classic 1939 musical The Wizard of Oz was a commercial flop. That family favorite film property is worth millions now.

AND THEN there are the colossal stinkers. The ones that put the “B.O.” in Box Office (B.O. means smelly body odor in American slang). Movies so bad you wonder how they got made in the first place and who was fired for approving the script, cast, and film be it on the big screen or on television. Some were surprise bombs–Jonah Hex is a great character; the film had a great cast. Yet the storyline was lousy.We all have heard the comments about bombs like Ben Affleck’s Daredevil, his estranged wife Jennifer Garner’s Elektra, Seth Rogen’s The Green Hornet, Halle Berry’s Cat-woman, and Ryan Reynold’s Green Lantern; but these films did not make the list of the top five biggest stinkers. What could be worse than these films? Let me jog your memory.

5. STEEL (1997)

Kenneth Johnson created the television series “V” and “The Bionic Woman” and was instrumental in developing the television shows “Alien Nation” and “The Incredible Hulk”. Shaquille O’Neal was an NBA superstar and champion. Together they made this abysmal flop about the supporting DC character from the Superman mythos who had his own comic once and long ago in one of DC’s many reboots. A heavily and overly exploited joke in this film is the reference to O’Neal’s inability to complete free-throws. Yep. That’s about it for this disaster. NEXT!

4. THE FANTASTIC FOUR (2015)

What could be worse than all previous versions of the Fantastic Four live action films? THIS ONE. A totally revamped version of the first family of comics when the fans were begging BEGGING I SAY for one great film and what did they get–a science fiction film that would have stood better off alone on its own rather than be attached to the familiar family property. It did not help the fate of this film that some of the lead actors made arrogant and ignorant remarks prior to and during the filming of this movie; nor did it help that the media plagued the film with its constant barrage of political correctness mud slinging. The director fighting with cast and crew and leaving the project in this one act debacle pretty much sealed its doom that no doctor could have saved.  Hope you caught the pun-NEXT!

3. SUPERMAN III (1983)

It’s a shame that after two great Superman films Christopher Reeve ended up playing second fiddle to an out of place Richard Pryor in this film. Both men seem to be just waltzing through this after they got a paycheck for this poor excuse of a sequel.  This is how evil Superman’s twin is: he straightened out Italy’s Leaning Tower of Pisa. Any more evil and he might have gone as far as stealing Bruce Wayne’s left socks. NEEEEE–XT!

2. SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE (1987)

It’s a shame that after two great Superman films Christopher Reeve–whoa. Deja vu! What the heck? Yep, another abysmal Superman sequel starring one of if not the best men to don to iconic cape and suit. This one is an incredible train wreck. The premise is ridiculous. Superman is practically tyrant of the Earth as he informs all governments that he is getting rid of their nuclear weapon, and they just blindly accept his “generous” act?  Seriously? That act would make him world enemy and global threat #1 to nations of the planet Earth. Who is he to dictate world policy and step on the sovereign power of each country? We also get to see the Mariel Hemingway as Clark Kent’s new love interest breathe in outer space. What? This film is a face palm from start to end. Regardless how you feel about the last three Superman films, they were better than this and made a whole lot more money than this film and Superman III. This brings us to…

The worst comic book adaptation to film is THE MAN-THING (2005). Even George Lucas’  Howard The Duck was  better than this production shown on the Sy Fy (nee: Sci Fi) Network.  Have you seen it? Good! Then don’t! His powers are different, his origin is different–you figure the people behind the 2015 Fantastic Four film would have paid attention to this disastrous formula in bringing a property to film but nooooooo!  IF IT AIN’T BROKE DON’T FIX IT! His costume looks like a reject of the Spawn suit from the awful 1997 Spawn film (which made number 6 on this list!) painted in green! The character was liked by the fans as it was! You mess with it, you get what you sowed! A disaster!  The Man-Thing in this film is more like DC’s Swamp Thing who had TWO enjoyable films and his own series. You’re far much better off watching Swamp Thing than the unrecognizable Man-Thing mess.

The post The 5 Worst Superhero Adaptations on Film EVAH! appeared first on .

West joins a small list of popular personalities of fandom who have appeared on the show. Others include Battlestar Galactica actor Katie Sackhoff,  Firefly‘s Summer Glau, comic book legend Stan Lee, Star Wars‘ James Earl Jones & Carrie Fisher, and Star Trek actors Levar Burton, Leonard Nimoy (voice over only), George Takei, and Wil Wheaton. Wheaton will also appear on the 200th episode, unfortunately.

Adam West, born William West Anderson in Walla, Walla, Washington, is most famous for his role as Batman; a role in which he has vocally reprised often in various cartoons. He has also voiced Thomas Wayne (the father of Bruce Wayne), The Gray Ghost (Bruce Wayne’s television idol), Mayor Grange, and Protobot in different cartoon series based on Batman.  He portrayed Batman in live action in 1979’s two-part Legends of the Superheroes. In the 1986 short-lived police sitcom The Last Precinct,  he wore the Batman costume but without the bat symbol on his chest. He also wore the cowl and a track suit years earlier to a wrestling event  where he got into a war of words with Jerry “The King ” Lawler, dressed as “SuperKing”.

His other superhero roles have included Cat-Man on The Fairly Odd Parents and The Galloping Gazelle on the live action series Goosebumps.

It won’t be the first time Mr. West is portraying himself on screen. He voiced his appearances as himself on several cartoon series like The Simpsons and Johnny Bravo, and he continues to voice a wacky version of himself  on the adult themed Family Guy. West has appeared as himself in films like the Burt Reynold’s film Hooper and decades later in Drop Dead Gorgeous. He has appeared as himself many times on several shows including Murphy Brown, The Drew Carey Show, and King of Queens and has also voiced himself and his version of Batman in a video game called Lego Batman 3:Beyond Gotham. 

The post Great Gotham! Adam West is in The Big Bang Theory’s 200th Episode appeared first on .

Celebrities have named their children after the stars of famous franchises too. For instance the beloved talented comedian and actor Robin Williams was a big fan of the video game The Legend of Zelda; so big  that he named his own daughter after Princess Zelda. They even shot a commercial together for The Legend of Zelda:Ocarina of Time 3D, the Nintendo 3DS game in 2011.

Another actor who named his daughter after a fan favorite character is actor/writer/director Kevin Smith. The American filmmaker named his daughter Harley Quinn, after the DC character who is in love with the insane Joker, Batman’s nemesis. The character is featured in the upcoming Warner Brothers film Suicide Squad.  Recently, Mr. Smith presented his daughter Harley Quinn Smith with the bat used in the film by the fictional character Harley Quinn.

Girls are not the only ones to suffer from having a father who is not only a celebrity but a geek and/or nerd. Actor Nicolas Cage named his son Kal-el, after Superman’s Kryptonian identity.  Cage is the nephew of Academy Award nominee Talia Shire , a nephew of multi Academy Award winning Francis Ford Coppola, and the first cousin of Academy Award winning Sofia Coppola.  An Academy Award winning actor himself, Cage was born Nicolas Kim Coppola. He took the professional name of Cage from Marvel Comics’ Luke Cage, Power Man.

Kal-el, Superman himself recently came to the rescue of Nicholas Cage. IRS troubles and other debt caused the actor to sell his copy of Action Comics #1 in November 2011 via an online auction. The comic sold for 2.16 million USD (United States Dollars), breaking the previous world record of 1.5 million USD. He had purchased the Holy Grail of comic book in 1997 for a paltry 110,000 USD.

Who knows, someday YOU might create a character that some celebrity will name their own child after; but make sure you pay your taxes because not all comics are worth what Action Comics #1 is.

The post Celebrities Who Named Their Child After a Character appeared first on .