And over here in the world of Marvel comic book movie adaptations, we've been hit with a one-two punch from the folks behind the new Ghost Rider movie and the new Spider-Man flick, with a casting notice from the latter and from the former, a reassurance that the sequel won't suck like the first one.
First from the spectacular Spider-Man camp, comes news that they've cast Peter Parker's parents and a new villain to boot. Campbell Scott and Julianne Nicholson will reportedly be playing Peter's rarely-seen-the-comics parents (depending on the continuity, they've been written as spies or scientists), while Slumdog Millionaire's Irrfan Khan will be playing someone/thing called Nels van Atter. Whether he's related to the INCREDIBLY obscure (white) villain Nels van Adder (aka the Proto-Goblin), who can say? Other than the scores of disgruntled comic nerds hoping for a more recognizable villain, that is.
And from the demonic demesne of Ghost Rider, comes news that, much like the Wolverine sequel, this new installment of the skull-faced motorcyclist is ignoring the movie that came before it. Quoth star Nicolas Cage, "The first one, which I won't denigrate - I liked the first one, but it was almost like a fairy tale.This one is completely re-conceived, it's not even connected to the first one, it's a different origin sequence." On the one hand, hurray for recognizing what a steaming turd the first movie was. On the second, hand, let's be sure to make sure that the script and the direction are better this time around. After all, ignoring the last two lousy Superman movies didn't make Bryan Singer's snoozy installment any better.
· EXCLUSIVE: Spider-Man Gets a Set of Parents and Another Villain [THR]
· Nicolas Cage says Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance has no links to first film [ONTD]