Hey Guys. It’s another week filled with comic news and first looks so check it all out in this week’s installment of The Impact.

Kick-Ass 2 Trailer.

The movie stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson who returns as Kick-Ass as well as break out star Chloë Grace Moretz as Hit-Girl, and the former Red Mist played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse who as readers know,  rebrands himself as “The Mother F—er.” Jim Carrey joins the cast as Colonel Stars and Stripes and from the looks of the trailer his performance could be as scene stealing as Nic Cage’s Big Daddy.  I am hoping that new director Jeff Wadlow can do as good a job as Matthew Vaughn did, taking the best ideas of Mark Millar’s story by strengthening the narrative and frankly making the characters more likable. Kick-Ass 2, hits theaters on August 16.

Injustice: Gods Among Us Unveil Arrow Skin Voiced by Stephen Amell.

Courtesy of TV Guide. Check this out Arrow actor Stephen Amell will be lending his likeness and voice to an unlockable skin for the new DC fighting game, Injustice: Gods Amongst Us. Players can unlock the skin after earning certain achievements. What I find so cool about this is that alternate skins and costumes are nothing new in video games but rarely do they go the extra step of adding the alternate voice. Injustice: Gods Amongst Us hits stores April 16 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii U.

 Colton Haynes Promoted to Series Regular for Arrow Season 2.

Courtesy of EW. Get ready to see a lot more of Roy Harper in the second season of Arrow.  Last week the CW announced that actor Colton Haynes had been promoted to a series regular. That said, don’t count on him suiting up anytime soon at Paleyfest 2013 producer Marc Guggenheim said that Roy and Laurel’s transitions to vigilantes “has to be earned, it has to be real.” and that it took Ollie five years to become Arrow. New episodes of Arrow start this Wednesday at 8/7c on The CW.

 Batwing #19 Gatefold Cover Teases a New Batwing.

CBR  got the first look at the gatefold cover to Batwing #19, the first issue from new creative team Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Fabrizio Fiorentino. The issue will debut a new person in the costume as David Zavimbe concludes his time as Batwing. Gray spoke about the decision to change protagonists,

“We felt Batwing was missing a direct and important connection to the Bat Family,” “Speaking from the outside looking in as a reader and a fan, the differences between ‘Batman Incorporated’ and Batwing (in his own book) felt disconnected, almost as if they were two different people in the same uniform. As a result, we instinctively began looking for a new way to present Batwing — and as it worked out, we settled on a new person inside the uniform.”

Batwing #19 hits stores this April.

Major Marvel Movie Casting Announcements For Guardians of the Galaxy and X-Men Days of Future Past.

Former WWE wrestler Dave Batista has joined the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy. Batista will play the green-skinned warrior Drax the Destroyer. He joins the previously announced Chris Pratt (Parks and Rec, Zero Dark Thirty) who is playing Peter Quill a.k.a Star Lord.  Guardians of the Galaxy hits theaters  August 14, 2014

Being that it is a day that ends with a y, there are more X-Men: Days of Future Past casting announcement. Fan Bingbing will join the cast as Clarice Ferguson, better known as the mutant, Blink. Blink was not in the original “Days of Future Past” which makes me wonder if this will be an amalgamation of “Days of Future Past” and the Age of Apocalypse” Daniel Cudmore a.k.a Colossus is returning to the cast so I think fans can expect to see a fastball special or two. Production on X-Men: Days of Future Past which starts production soon opens in theaters July 18, 2014.

Teen Titans Go! Debuts on Cartoon Network on April 27th.

This weekend we said goodbye to Young Justice and Green Lantern: The Animated Series. Both were fantastic series that ended far too soon . That said, starting April 27th we will start the next stage of DC Nation with the debut of Teen Titans Go. Here is the official press release.

The Teen Titans are returning to Cartoon Network with all-new comedic adventures, and this time they’re giving viewers a look at what life is really like as a teen superhero… once the cape comes off. The half-hour animated series, Teen Titans Go! premieres on Tuesday, April 23, at 7:30pm (ET/PT) and will be rebroadcast during the DC Nation block on Saturday mornings at 10:30am (ET/PT) beginning April 27.

The character-driven comedy series focuses on the funny that happens in between saving the world and living together as teenagers without adult supervision. The comedic mayhem of the animated series is punctuated by pranks and the occasional need to fight crime, but it will also deal with the everyday issues of adolescence. With epic staring contests to decide who does the laundry, a series of quests and battles to construct the perfect sandwich or fighting crime in Jump City, one thing is for sure, these Titans will always be ready for an adventure inside the house and out.  

The principal voice cast from the original Teen Titans series, based on DC Comics characters, will reprise their roles in Teen Titans Go!, with Scott Menville as the voice of Robin, the slightly power-mad perfectionist and leader of the Teen Titans. Hynden Walch voices Starfire, an alien struggling to fit in; Tara Strong voices Raven, the sardonic, deadpan demon girl; Greg Cipes returns as the slightly dim but always loveable loafer, Beast Boy; and Khary Payton provides the voice of Cyborg, a laidback kid who is half teen, half robot.

The fan-favorite theme song from the original Teen Titans will also be making its return to television, with an updated remix from Mix Master Mike of the Beastie Boys.

Teen Titans Go! joins a strong Tuesday night block of programming on Cartoon Networkwhich also includes Johnny Test (7:00pm ET/PT) and The Looney Tunes Show (8:00pm ET/PT). Teen Titans Go! can be seen again on Saturday mornings during the DC Nation block alongside Beware The Batman, which will premiere this summer. Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Young Justice Invasion will end their run on March 16. 

Teen Titans Go! is produced by Warner Bros. Animation with Sam Register (MAD, Teen Titans, Batman: The Brave and The Bold) serving as executive producer with Michael Jelenic (ThunderCats) and Aaron Horvath (MAD) as producers.

Batman Brave and the Bold, Batman Beyond, and Justice League Coming to Netflix Streaming.  

According to Streaming Soon some of our favorite animated series will soon be coming to Netflix Streaming . Starting March 30th Batman Beyond (Season 1-3), Justice League (Seasons 1-2), Justice League: Unlimited (Season 1-2) and Batman: The Brave and The Bold (Season 1) will be available to watch on demand. Now we all wait with bated breath for the announcement of when Batman: The Animated Series will be available.

Josh Fialkov and Carmine Di Giandomenico Take Over The Ultimates  

This has been a great year for Joshua Hale Fialkov. He was named the new writer of Green Lantern Corp. and the Red Lanterns and now he is taking over Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates. Starting this June Fialkov and Carmine Di Giandomenico launch their first arc “Ultimates Disassembled.” Fialkov spoke extensively with Newsarama about his plans for the series and his opening arc.

…By the end of this arc, we will have an entirely new set of Ultimates. They will be five of my favorite characters in the Ultimate Universe. The first thing I did when I came in was like, “Look, here’s the thing, we’ve seen these characters for the past 10 years now. Let’s explore what it means to live in a world without them.”

If you’ve been reading Ultimates, Sue Storm and Thor have been out discovering the Infinity Gems. Page 1 of issue #25 is Ultimate Hulk wearing two Infinity Gauntlets. That’s where we start. That was my pitch — “Page 1, extreme close-up on the Hulk, two Infinity Gauntlets, saying, ‘You guys are screwed.'” And they were like, “Alright, we don’t even know what that is, but we’re on board.” Reed Richards, the Hulk, Quicksilver and a mysterious fourth character to be revealed have been essentially scheming and planning to take control of the Infinity Gauntlets and remake the world.

Reed Richards as a villain in the Ultimate Universe has always been so interesting to me, because I don’t think he’s a villain. I think he’s horribly misunderstood. Him and Tony Stark, these are two really smart guys who are playing chess against everybody else on Earth. Tony Stark sort of does it in this laissez-faire way. Reed is doing it hardcore. He’s going to win, and winning means saving the world whether it likes it or not. So all the terrible things that he’s done, we’re going to start seeing that there’s not just repercussions, but there’s a meaning and a motive behind a lot of it.

The Fantastic Four are probably my favorite of all the Marvel characters, and I think the Ultimate Fantastic Four were so interesting, and there’s so much cool stuff that they’ve done and they’ve been through that is actually a lot of the cornerstones of the Ultimate Universe. I really want to go back not just to the early Ultimates, but also to the Ultimate Fantastic Four series, and the Galactus event, and their understanding of the cosmos as it applies to trying to live on this tiny planet.

It’s a redemption story. The story we’re telling is about four characters who have done horrendously horrible things trying to prove to the world that they did those horrible things for a reason. If you look at the Bruce Banner stuff in Ultimates #1, that’s what Banner’s doing. Banner becomes Hulk specifically because he knows that’s what the world needs, and he knows that he’ll be blamed for it, and that he’ll be pilloried for it. And yet, his commitment to the survival and growth of mankind is so strong that he sacrifices his humanity and everything about him. That is a great, tragic character. That’s the stuff that really sings for me, and really gets me going.

Fialkov is one of my favorite comic writers working today and I can not wait to see what he does with the series. Ultimate Comics: Ultimates #25 hits stores this June.

New Total Film Cover Showcases Man of Steel and Lois Lane. 

This month’s issue of Total Film  showcases the Man of Steel and our best look at Amy Adams as Lois Lane. Nothing really to add other than I WANT THIS MOVIE NOW!!!!!! Man of Steel opens in theaters June 20th.

There you have it guys. I will see you all here next week with an all-new installment of The Impact.

Matt Todd

matthew@comicimpact.com