By: Henry J. Fromage –

Most of the Marvel news that came out of Comic-Con was either unsurprising or previously reported, but one little tidbit caught my eye- the on the rise Anthony Mackie has landed the role of Falcon in the Captain America sequel.  Falcon was a former criminal and pimp, which with that name, of course, who is adopted and given powers by Red Skull, including flying and telepathic connections with birds.  So, basically the bird Aquaman, minus the kingdom, plus pimping skills.  Anyways, he eventually comes over to the good guys, which means he’s likely to be a part of the even larger ensemble planned for The Avengers 2.  Still no news on Black Panther getting in on the action, outside of a Marvel exec stating that they didn’t do his stand alone movie because they preferred to set things in the real world, and “it’d be difficult to create his world (the fiction African country of Wakanda)”.

Good thing portions of L.A. were perfect stand-ins for Asgard

In more Comic-Con news, Peter Jackson announced to the surprise of pretty much nobody that he would like to film yet more material for his upcoming Hobbit films, cribbed from 125 pages of notes that J.R.R. Tolkien wrote expanding the world of that story.  He needs to convince the studio to fund additional shooting, which may be tricky, and if he does it may only end up as part of extended-edition DVDs… which I’d watch the hell out of.  More intriguing, though, is the possibility that the additional footage will allow Jacksonto split The Hobbit into not two but three films, the first of which will explore Bilbo’s sexuality and horrifying pregnancy, if I remember the series right.

It really was a difficult last trimester.

Now for some news that will really set the fanboys aflame- Steve James is making a new documentary!  I hope the comment wars don’t shut down the site over this one, as the director of Hoop Dreams and The Interrupters is undoubtedly one of the finest documentarians working today, followed by the legion of fans only documentary filmmaking can create.  His next, Generation Food, will explore the ways that people are dealing with climate change and food crises across the globe, from Cuba to Malawi.  Perhaps I’m over-estimating mass appeal, but shit, I’m excited for it.

So, start pre-ordering those Imax 3-D tickets now, is what I’m sayin’