The Lizard? Morbius the Living Vampire? I did not know about this issue when I posted last week (See: Four Possible Amazing Spider-Man 2 Villains), but in terms of villains/allies both the Lizard and Morbius work well together as both have tragic origins routed in science. Written by Dan Slott with art by Giuseppe Camuncoli and covers by Camuncoli and J Scott Campbell. I’m not too surprised to see the Lizard return around the release of the Amazing Spider-Man, which features Rhys Ifans as Curt Connors/the Lizard- not the first time we’ve seen Connors on the big screen, but this will be the first appearance by the Lizard in a movie adaptation.

Official description: Spider-Man, Peter Parker, Curt Connors, and the Lizard. The stars of this summer’s big blockbuster movie are right here! Morbius the Living Vampire is on the loose and no one at Horizon Labs is safe–including a recently cured Curt Connors. But if Curt Connors is cured, who or what is that new Lizard creature? It’s definitely someone Spider-Man knows!

I’m excited to see Morbius mixing it up with Spider-Man again, could this lead to a future movie appearance? And who could the mysterious new Lizard be? The issue hits stands on July 5th. On July 3rd, we get the release of the Amazing Spider-Man starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone! Excited? Ready to be amazed?

It looks like ABC is doing the Daytime shuffle come September as Katie Couric’s new syndicated talk show will take the east coast timeslot that General Hospital has held for as long as I can remember. That will move General to an hour earlier into the current spot of the cancelled talk show, The Revolution, and the spot that was long held by One Life to Live. The shift begins on September 10th. This past week ABC’s last soap took home five Daytime Emmys including Best Drama, Best Lead Actor Anthony Geary, Best Supporting Actor Jonathan Jackson, Best Supporting Actress Nancy Lee Grahn, and Outstanding Directing Team. This news comes off recent news that One Life to Live actress Kassie DePaiva will reprise her role of Blair Cramer on General for the second time since One Life went off the air. Another bit of casting news concerns the hiring of Richard Steinmetz, formerly on Loving, who has been cast as the son of an unknown former character who will have a big upcoming storyline with Sonny.

BJ Novak joins Mindy Kaling and James Spader and will not return as a series regular in a season that is shaping up for a lot of change on The Office. That doesn’t mean that we’ve seen the last of Novak’s Ryan as he is scheduled to make reoccurring appearances in the ninth season of the NBC comedy. Novak of course has been a producer and writer on the series, but it is unknown if he’ll continue writing episodes. He joined Mindy Kaling over on her new show, The Mindy Project, as an executive producer on the pilot, but it does not appear that he will be a regular producer on the project. Returning to The Office next season are co-stars Ed Helms, John Krasinski, and Jenna Fischer who are all in long contract talks that thankfully ended successfully for the show. Catherine Tate has been upgraded to a series regular (here is hoping they continue to make her character a bit more likeable as they started at the end of the eight season). Also interesting to note is that this season will try to launch a Rainn Wilson lead Dwight Schrute spinoff. Will any other Office regulars join him? Maybe Angela Kinsey’s Angela Martin, the mother of his child. We’ll have to wait and see.

Click image to enlarge:

Via: MilitaryVALoan.com

Once Upon a Time just got a little more magical! ABC’s fairy tale drama just promoted Emilie de Ravin to a series regular, so get ready to see more Belle in the second season. The Lost vet is a welcome addition to an already really great cast that features Jennifer Morrison, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas, Lana Parrilla, and Robert Carlyle. This is the second such promotion in recent weeks as the show upgraded Meghan Ory to a series regular. Ory portrays Ruby aka Little Red Riding Hood.

Burn Notice just got a little more awesome as John C. McGinley is joining the show for five episodes (maybe more?). You should remember McGinley from his scene stealing roles in Scrubs and Point Break. In Burn Notice he’ll be taking on the role of Tom Card, a CIA training offer who taught Michael (Jeffrey Donovan) everything he knows and was a mentor/father-figure of sorts. Michael turns to him to help get Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar) out of prison. Tune in to Burn Notice tonight at 9p on USA to see how McGinley fits into the mix.

I guess Unforgettable might not be as forgettable as CBS thought it was as the network is in talks to revive the show, only weeks after not renewing it. The procedural starred Poppy Montgomery as a detective with an uncanny memory- they took the idea of a photographic memory to a cartoon like place by having her remember every piece of everything she ever sees tot he extent that she can even walk through the memories. It plays out more like a super power rather than a grounded detective show. The series co-stars Nip/Tuck‘s Dylan Walsh. We will have to wait and see if CBS ends up ordering more episodes and what impact it will have on the show’s budget and cast.

I have to admit, I’ve really been enjoying the Avengers vs X-Men storyline that has been cursing through the Marvel Universe and threatens to “change everything.” One thing I hope that it doesn’t change is X-Factor, the most consistent Marvel Comic of the past few years. This is the book that has remained awesome through characters coming and going, dying and coming back to life, and  it features one of the most unique teams of heroes, including Multiple Man, Strong Guy, Banshee, Layla Miller, Monet, Rictor, and more recently Shatterstar, Longshot, and Pip the Troll.

July brings us two new issues of the series from writer Peter David, with art by Paul Davidson in issue 239 and art by Leonard Kirk in issue 240..

X-FACTOR #239
Banshee versus…an actual banshee?! Strong Guy asks M out on a date. (Yikes!)

X-FACTOR #240
“RUN LAYLA RUN” A one-off issue featuring Layla Miller racing the clock.

Will you be picking up the new X-Factor issues? Are you excited that we are getting two new issues in July? What Marvel Comics are you currently buying?

Okay, I know what you are thinking… The Amazing Spider-Man hasn’t even come out in theaters yet, so why are we thinking ahead to the next one? Well, simply put, we know that there will be a next one and it is fun to play the guessing game as to who might be in it (assuming that they aren’t in the first flick of the rebooted series). I have stayed away from spoilers and our spotlight (Film Spotlight: The Amazing Spider-man) is the extent of my knowledge of the new film. The Lizard appears to be the only villain getting the spotlight in commercials, but we know that Oscorp plays a hand, so how far can Norman Osborn (aka the Green Goblin) truly be? In this list I’ll also be staying away from villains I thought/hoped would be apart of Spider-Man 4, which turned into The Amazing Spider-Man (hey, I was right on the money with the Lizard).

Lets start with a less likely possibility, Mysterio. He is one of Spider-Man’s oldest villains, having first  appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #13 in 1964. While many different people have donned the fishbowl, the original and best Mysterio was Quentin Beck, a failed special effects artist who uses parlor tricks and illusions to try and drive Spider-Man mad. Visually his costume is a bit cheesy and would need a big time movie makeover, but his “powers” could be pretty visually amazing (pun intended) in 3D and on the big screen. Plus, using him in even a smaller role in the sequel could be a nice early set up for bringing together the Sinister Six in a future movie (whose to say Spider-Man can’t face multiple villains over the course of the movie while dealing with a bigger threat– one villain at a time seems too easy on the hero).

How about the Scorpion? He appeared a couple issues after Mysterio in 1965. J Jonah Jameson (is he even in Amazing Spider-Man?) was responsible for this villain’s creation. He paid Mac Gargan to be apart of an experimental animal mutation therapy, which granted him with enhanced speed, strength and endurance, but had a side effect of driving him mad. He wears a (of course) scorpion based costume with a long stinger. Just like Mysterio it might be hard to make him a central villain, but who is to say he can’t work for Jameson- who in his quest to rid the city of the masked menace that is Spider-Man sets a few different villains loose. Only realizing what he has done too late. More recently Gargan took over the mantle of Venom during Marvel’s “Dark Reign”.

The living vampire Morbius! Hey, vampires are all the rage, right? Well, here is a way to have a vampire styled character but not have the need to incorperate the supernatural into the world of Spider-Man. Dr Michael Morbius attempts to cure his rare blood disease by testing an experimental treatment that uses vampire bats and electroshock therapy on himself. The result is that he turns himself into a horrible looking vampire like creature who needs to digest blood to survive. “Side effects” include the power of flight, super strength and a quick healing ability. Morbius and Spider-Men fighting through NYC at night would be quite breathtaking. His story would also be strong enough to focus a whole film on. The only problem is that his backstory might be a bit too similar to the Lizard’s origin (both are doctors trying to “cure” something about themselves). Morbius has a better handle and is a more outspoken villain than the Lizard.

Okay, now don’t get me wrong, I can totally understand why Marvel/Sony/Marc Webb would want to stay away from rehashing any of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies by reusing villains like the Green Goblin. But there is a way around that! Who wouldn’t love to see the Hobgoblin on the big screen? Instead of having Norman Osborn accidentally become the Green Goblin after the goblin serum drives him insane, lets have a man who purposely turns himself into a “goblin” villain to become a successful villain.  Sure, there have been a half dozen Hobgoblins, but that works towards the filmmaker’s advantage as it would be a lot harder to piss off fans even if you make big changes to the person behind the mask. Roderick Kingsley could be an Osborn employee who uses the serum on himself to get all of the abilities, but then messes with it so the next person that takes it is driven insane (Norman Osborn). This could lead to a pretty cool climax with Spider-Man stuck in the middle of an epic fight between the Green Goblin and the Hobgoblin.

Are you excited for The Amazing Spider-Man? What villains would you like to show up in future sequels? Who would you like to portray them?

Spinning out of the pages of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 is a five issue Spike limited series from writer Victor Gischler, with art by Paul Lee and covers by Jenny Frison (left) and Steve Morris (variant, right). This title joins the ongoing Buffy and Angel and Faith titles under the Season 9 banner. There is a rumored Willow limited series that will be coming after this one, but no official solicitations have been announced for it, nor has an issue amount. I’m excited to have more Buffy universe comics and even more excited that we’ll have a Spike story away from Buffy herself (now if we could just remove him from the spaceship with the cockroach crew).

Official Description: Having fought to regain his soul after falling in love with the Slayer Buffy, the once-terrifying vampire villain Spike has been a bit less fearsome (to humans, at least). On his own adventure, Spike is forced to examine the man he once was, the man he is now, and the man he still hopes to become.  As master of a steampunk ship filled with loyal, oversized alien cockroaches, Spike embarks on a journey to the dark side of the moon, setting into motion an adventure filled with demons, witches, and others who brew new evil in the world without magic! Spike visits the dark side!

The issue hits stands on August 22nd, 2012, two weeks after Buffy Season 9 #12, and the week before Angel and Faith #13. Excited for the Spike spinoff? Who else would you like to see get their own title? Willow? Andrew? Xander/Dawn? Connor?