It seems that in this cover art that Tony Stark is wearing an older version of the Iron Man armor as he once again has the round arc reactor in place.  At the end of Iron Man 2 Stark had created a new arc reactor that was triangular in shape.  I noted this irregularity in some of the earlier artwork for the Avengers and didn’t understand why Stark would be using old armor in the Avengers.  Turns out the folks at Empire Magazine can shed some light on that.

For those asking about Iron Man's suit on the cover, it's one of several worn in the film. This message brought to you by Stark Industries.—
Empire Magazine (@empiremagazine) January 23, 2012

Now that sort of makes sense that Tony Stark would make use of multiple suits or armor in the movie and explains why a good deal of the promo artwork features the round arc reactor.  My theory is that something happens to critically damage the current Iron Man armor.  As such, Tony will be forced to use the older Iron Man armor and the arc reactor that will slowly kill him.

Empire also released covers featuring each individual character.  These are featured in the gallery below.  They seem to be the same character pictures just with different backgrounds.  Is it time for this movie to come out yet? I’m really ready for the Avengers on the big screen.

Here’s a simple takeaway of how SOPA will affect the internet courtesy of Wikipedia.

The originally proposed bill would allow the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Depending on who makes the request, the court order could include barring online advertising networks and payment facilitators from doing business with the allegedly infringing website, barring search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring Internet service providers to block access to such sites. The bill would make unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content a crime, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison for ten such infringements within six months. The bill also gives immunity to Internet services that voluntarily take action against websites dedicated to infringement, while making liable for damages any copyright holder who knowingly misrepresents that a website is dedicated to infringement.

The spirit of the law is to protect copyright holders which is a legitimate thing.  However, the method used to enforce these copyright protections is far too  punishing.  One provision, which seems to have been shelved for now, is the ability for the US government to blacklist DNS addresses.  Specifically if one of my writers posted an article that linked to a YouTube video or picture that someone makes a copyright claim on I am held liable.  This could even be held true if someone links a YouTube video or copyrighted image in a comment.  Not only am I held liable but the US can then choose to blacklist my domain name.  This means that if you’re in the US and you type in www.nerdsoftheroundtable.com or search for it on Google you will not be able to find the web-site.  The internet is fundamentally broken by this action!

There are many people who oppose both SOPA and PIPA.  This includes sites such as Google, Yahoo!, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, AOL, LinkedIn, eBay, Mozilla Corporation, Roblox, Reddit, the Wikimedia Foundation, and human rights organizations such as Reporters Without Borders, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the ACLU, and Human Rights Watch.

To show support for the defeat of SOPA and PIPA some web-sites are even shutting down for a day.  Earlier this month Reddit announced plans to shutdown their site for the entire day on January 18th.  Additionally, Wikipedia announced that in an unprecedented move they would shut down their site for the entire day on January 18.  WordPress has also announced methods to express you opposition to SOPA and PIPA.  I will be making use of their tools to this and if you use WordPress I encourage you to do so as well.

Personally, I think it would great if sites like Facebook or Google shutdown for the day.  Can you imagine the impact if people couldn’t update their Facebook status or search Google for things?  SOPA has the ability to damage both these sites and showing just how much they would be missed would have a great impact on people.

I have been opposed to SOPA since I first read of it and heard a good deal of background on This Week in Tech (TWiT).  To show my opposition to the act I even updated the site logo to reflect opposition to censorship.  Clicking on this link leads one to AmericanCensorship.org, a site dedicated to the opposition of both SOPA and PIPA.  This site also features multiple ways to oppose both SOPA and PIPA.  My hope would be that if you oppose these pieces of legislation check the site to see how you can help defeat the passing of these laws.

In an effort to express my support in defeating both SOPA and PIPA the Nerds of the Round Table will be going dark on January 18th.  No new posts, no tweets, no Facebook updates everything will be shutdown for the day.  I have no expectation that I have anywhere near the influence of Wikipedia or Reddit but I want to do my part to help defeat SOPA and PIPA.  Please join in and do that same.

Today, Marvel unveiled the cover for the first issue of Avengers vs. X-Men.  Getting Jim Cheung to draw the cover is just brilliant in my opinion.  I’ve loved his work on Young Avengers and seeing him drawing nearly all the heroes of the Marvel Universe is a treat.

I will fully admit there was one part of this cover that surprised me.  I thought that Marvel would sweep the event of Schism under the rug and have Wolverine side with the X-Men instead of the X-Men.  Looks like I was wrong as Wolverine is predominantly featured on the Avengers side.  It’s also interesting to note that Thor is featured on the cover as well.  Looks like he will be brought back to the Marvel Universe fairly quickly after falling in Fear Itself.

Looking at this cover I would certainly have the give the Avengers the edge in these battles.  They have a lot more heavy hitters than the X-Men.  It’s possible that the fanboy analysis of the match-ups reveals the X-Men win in the end but I would be very surprised.

Below is the cover for issue number 1 and the press release put out by Marvel Comics.

Marvel Press Release:

This April, prepare for the biggest super hero war in comics history as Marvel is pleased to present your first look at the jaw-dropping cover to Avengers Vs. X-Men #1 by superstar artist Jim Cheung! From the powerhouse creative team of Brian Michael Bendis, Jason Aaron, Matt Fraction, Jonathan Hickman, Ed Brubaker, John Romita Jr., Adam Kubert and Olivier Copiel comes a groundbreaking event pitting Earth’s Mightiest against the X-Men with the entire Marvel Universe at stake. Cyclops and his team believe the arrival of the Phoenix Force will save mutantkind, but Captain America is convinced it will destroy the world! But who is right? Don’t miss out on all the action in Avengers Vs. X-Men #1 in comic shops worldwide and on the Marvel Comics app this April!

Which team will reign supreme? Join the conversation on Twitter with #AvX!
For more on Avengers VS X-Men, please visit http://avx.marvel.com
AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #1 (JAN120625)
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS, JASON AARON, MATT FRACTION, JONATHAN HICKMAN, ED BRUBAKER
Art by JOHN ROMITA JR.
Cover by JIM CHEUNG
FOC – 2/27/12, ON SALE – 4/3/12

Avengers: 3

X-Men: 2

The first match-up for today is rematch from long ago.  This time we are pitting Ms. Marvel against the woman who stole her powers and memories, Rogue.  Rogue has worked to gain a better handle on her powers but since her first encounter with Ms. Marvel, Carol Danvers has just become more powerful.  I think the increase in power and the anger over having her past stripped away give Ms. Marvel the edge in this match-up.  The only way Rogue pulls this off is if she makes skin contact with Ms. Marvel something that I’m sure Ms. Marvel will actively avoid.

Avengers: 4

X-Men: 2

The second match-up pits Luke Cage against Beast.  Beast is a longtime Avenger and in recent years Luke Cage has become a mainstay of Bendis’ Avengers.  Cage is near invincible and has enhanced strength.  Meanwhile Beast has a genius level intellect in addition to supreme agility and strength.  In a physical contest Luke Cage would probably come out on top.  However, I imagine Beast will use his mind to outwit Luke Cage in the end.  The win goes to Beast.

Avengers: 4

X-Men: 3

The final match-up sees Emma Frost, the White Queen, going toe-to-toe with the Incredible Hulk.  Hulk most definitely has the edge when it comes to pure strength.  However, how well would Emma’s telepathy work against Hulk?  Would she be able to sooth the savage beast?  Its possible, but the problem is in this picture Emma is in diamond form and as such cannot use her telepathy.  In a one-on-one fight where it is difficult to use telepathy I say Hulk smashes the White Queen.

Avengers: 5

X-Men: 3

So after day two of this individual match-ups the Avengers have extended their lead to be winning by two.  Will this trend continue?  Probably not, but it will be fun to see how these match-ups progress.  As more match-ups come up I will continue to provide my fanboy analysis.

One quick note for you all.  I’m going to be having my wisdom teeth removed and as such not online as much.  Updates are probably going to be sporadic for a few days.

There are four new matchups that have been revealed in addition to the Magneto vs. Iron Man battle that was revealed earlier this week.  The four match-ups are shown below with my opinions as to who would win the battle.  Feel free to let me know what you think in the comments though.  I’m always up for a spirited comic book debate.

The first match-up we’ll cover is Black Widow vs. Psylocke.  Both are highly trained martial artists and have notoriously been depicted as being able to stand toe to toe with anyone in physical combat.  From my perspective Black Widow probably has the slight edge in martial arts but Psylocke takes the fight with her mutant powers.

Avengers: 0

X-Men: 1

Second up we have the God of Thunder, Thor, against the Queen of Wakanda, Storm.  Now this is an interesting match-up just because of the parallels of both combatants being able to use thunder and lightning as weapons.  But how does a mutant beat a god?  I just don’t see Storm pulling out the win against Thor.  Thor can take just about anything Storm throws at him and his still has his hammer which can do tons of damage.  Thor gets the win here.

Avengers: 1

X-Men: 1

Next we have Spider-Man taking on his amazing friend Iceman.  I like this pairing if only for the play on the 80s cartoon.  Just add Firestorm and it will be a reunion.  Iceman is an Omega level mutant once of the most powerful of the X-Men.  Peter Parker is finally getting his due as one of the smartest minds of the Marvel Universe.  His close relationship with the Future Foundation/Fantastic Four allows him to exercise his mind and encourages him to think first and then act.  Both combatants have a history and familiarity with each other.  Spidey’s big brain saves him in the end as he comes up with a good plan or technology to defeat Iceman.

Avengers: 2

X-Men: 1

The final battle puts the leaders of both teams against each other.  Captain America takes on Cyclops in what I think will be a fun read.  Cap is the longtime leader of the Avengers and is a historical icon.  Cyclops is the longtime leader of the X-Men and now the leader of Utopia and a vast majority of the remnants of mutantkind.  Both men are well established leaders and strategists so I think this battle comes down to one thing… experience.  Cap has been fighting since World War II long before Cyclops was even born.  His experience gives him the edge here and he exploits Cyclops’ obvious weakness, his visor.  Cap’s shield can take anything Cyke throws at it… but one shot from Cap’s shield to the visor and Cyclops is down for the count.  Cap takes this fight.

Avengers: 3

X-Men: 1

I spoke about the match-up between Iron Man and Magneto last week but I didn’t give a prediction as to who the winner would be.  Its a toss-up between Reed Richards and Tony Stark in regards to who the smartest man in the Marvel Universe is.  Tony’s powers all stem from his creations and the Iron Man armor is a phenomenal piece of tech.  Magneto has reformed from his terrorist ways and has become a solid member of the X-Men.  But he’s still the master of magnetism and Tony Stark wears a metal suit.  That fact alone makes me lean towards Magneto as the winner.  Tony might come up with a way to make his suit non-magnetic but there are still lots of other things around that Magneto can control to combat Shellhead.   Also factor in the fact Tony is still recovering from falling of the wagon and I think in the end Magneto comes out victorious.

Avengers: 3

X-Men: 2

With a current score of 3-2 nobody is running away with the fight and the Avengers keeps a slim lead.  As more of these match-ups come out I will continue giving my fanboy analysis.  In the end I think the Avengers will just barely eke out the win… but I could be wrong.  If you disagree with my predictions let me know and lets start a debate on this.  One of the best parts about being a comic fan is arguing over who would  beat who in a fight.

The stories in Avengers vs. X-Men will tie-in to the main overarching story of the summer event, however Marvel editor Tom Brevoort has said that ‘Primarily, you’re talking about one-on-one bouts’ in the upcoming books.  As a fan I find this to be really interesting.  I’ve got in many arguments with my friends on topics like, ‘Who would win in a fight, Thor or Storm’ and other similar comparisons.  From that perspective I think the Avengers vs. X-Men books are going to be a of fun.

The first matchup in Avengers vs. X-Men will pit Iron Man against Magneto in a fight that I think will be a lot of fun to see.  Iron Man’s metallic suit against the Master of Magnetism… I’m sold.  Also in the first issue we will see a battle between Namor and the Thing.  Marvel Senior Editor Nick Lowe described the first issue as ‘two huge knockdown, dragout battles that play with the characters’ powers in amazing ways.’  One of my favorite artists, Adi Granov has drawn an incredible looking teaser for the first issue.  I love the way he draws Iron Man and seeing the pieces of his armor shredding off while he flies towards Magneto just looks incredible to me.  Credit goes to CBR for getting this fantastic looking promo art online.

Marvel has also released the following press release for the first issue of Avengers vs. X-Men…. and while it’s a bit light on details and any potential spoilers it’s still enough to get me interested in the upcoming series.

Official Press Release

AVENGERS VS X-MEN: ROUND 1!

The biggest superhero brawl in the history of the Marvel Universe begins this April in Avengers Vs. X-Men #1!

Which team will reign supreme? Join the conversation on Twitter with #AvX!

For more on Avengers VS X-Men, please visit http://avx.marvel.com

AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #1 (JAN120625)
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS, JASON AARON, MATT FRACTION, JONATHAN HICKMAN, ED BRUBAKER
Art by JOHN ROMITA JR.
Cover by JIM CHEUNG
FOC – 2/27/12, ON SALE – 4/3/12

I’ll be the first to admit that I am generally vehemently against having a large number of tie-in books during a company wide event.  However, this series intrigues me since it seems to mostly be one-on-one fights between characters which should make things a lot of fun… and be used to settle lot of fanboy debates.  The first issues of Avengers vs. X-Men hits stands in April so keep your eyes open for it.

Simply put, Kiefer Sutherland has said the 24 movie is still a go.  Sutherland was at the Television Critics Association winter tour presentation and asked about the oft-rumored movie and was able to give some new information to 24 fans.

First, Sutherland stated that the current plan was to begin filming “at the end of April, beginning of May.”  So starting soon there should be more 24 under production.  Sutherland gave further detail about the movie, specifically that the 24 movie will be “relatively a direct continuation. We’re talking maybe six months from the end of that episode.”  My advice would be to re-watch the last episode of 24 to refresh yourself as to how things ended.  From what I recall Jack had severed ties with CTU and was now a man on the run.

One of the biggest changes from the TV show is that the movie will not occur in real-time.  This isn’t really surprising since it would be impossible to cram a days worth of action into a roughly 2 hour timeframe.  But, the good news is that we will have one final send off for 24 and of course Jack Bauer.  I for one am looking forward to this movie.

Stoner viewing at 3:30 in the morning: alt takes and unused footage from THE DARK KNIGHT. youtube.com/watch?v=-qmq1I… I love this movie so much…—
KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) December 23, 2011

The video is below for your viewing pleasure.

The theatrical trailer for The Dark Knight Rises has officially been released.  If you’re like me and resisted the urge to watch the bootleg copies its well worth checking out now.

In typical Christopher Nolan fashion the trailer really doesn’t give anything away but does its job in getting you amped up for the final movie.  There were a few cool little things I picked up on in the trailer.

1. There was a pretty cool Easter egg in the beginning of the trailer.  The crowd at the football stadium are holding up signs.  Once sign spells out Rouges.  If you look at the R, its shaped the like the R that is traditionally used as Robin’s logo.
2. Harvey Dent’s reputation appears to be intact.  Based on the pictures over Gordon’s shoulder it would appear that Gordon and Batman have kept their pact to hide Harvey’s crimes.
3. Selina Kyle appears to be at a masquerade ball dancing with Bruce Wayne, and it certainly looks like she has cat ears in her hair.
4. It seems that Bruce Wayne is in prison.  Not sure whether this is a flashback or not.  I’m sure we’ll find out.
5. Bane is hard to understand.  However, that is probably how he would sound in the comics as well with his mouth completely covered by the mask.  I’m going to have to pay close attention to understand everything he says.
6. The Batwing is awesome looking. ’nuff said.
7. The trailer is lacking in the amount of screen-time give to Batman.  He had very little time on screen, however if the Bat is broken it would make sense that he doesn’t appear very much.
8. They included the Joker’s theme from The Dark Knight in the trailer.  You can hear it as the prisoners are escaping and right before the chanting starts.  I thought it was a great callback to the last movie to include Joker’s music. (Yes, I own The Dark Knight score and listen to it regularly.  That’s how I picked up on the music)

One final thing, is it just me or does Bruce Banner remind anyone else of a younger looking Admiral Adama from Battlestar Galactica?

After watching the trailer I have to admit I’m fairly optimistic about the movie.  It looks to be a real G.I. Joe movie not people in battlesuits flying around.  I think my favorite part of the trailer has to be seeing Cobra Commander actually look like Cobra Commander and the Cobra flag unfurling over the White House.  Of course The Rock is also starring in the movie and I’ve been a fan of his since his WWF days.  Rock as a G.I. Joe and kicking ass sounds like a fun summer movie to me.

The only thing that confuses me on this posters is how it is proclaiming ‘The Untold Story.’  As far as I know Spidey’s origin has been fairly well told over they years between multiple cartoons and Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies.  Is Spidey’s origin going to get tweaked in this reboot?  If so, I hope its nothing drastic.

We were lucky enough to get the second poster for The Dark Knight Rises… or at least we got something that looks like it could be a new poster.  I’m not 100% sure this new poster is real, but it does look good.  It certainly indicates that Bane will damage Batman, and potentially break him.

The folks over at Cinema Blend were covering the press screening of the first 6 minutes of the movie in IMAX format and at the end of their article stated:

and we’ll see you tomorrow when the first theatrical trailer arrives online.

Combine this statement with the Operation Early Bird countdown, and it looks like we are getting the first real trailer for Christopher Nolan’s final Batman film.  Needless to say, I am excited and looking forward to seeing how good this trailer is.  Once it goes online I’ll be sure to put a copy of the trailer here for your viewing pleasure.

Yes, you did read that right.  I thought I was done writing about Smallville news, but I appear to have been wrong.  It looks like the loyal viewers of Smallville are about to be rewarded with an 11th season of the hit show.  But there has to be a catch right?  Indeed there is, but it’s not a terrible one.  According to Bleeding Cool, the continuation of the Smallville world will take place in the form of a written book, not a graphic novel.

One of the biggest flaws of Smallville is that the climactic battles were never really that good, in part due to the associated costs of special effects.  In a written word form, Clark/Superman can truly have epic battles against his opponents.  For lack of a better term, this book has been described as a Smallville Season 11 and would presumably take place after the finale.  But there is a lot of ground that could be covered in this novel.  There is a lot of time between Clark’s first appearance as Superman and the bedtime story Chloe was telling her son.  Regardless, it should be a fun ride to see how everything develops.

What is perhaps the most interesting part is that Bryan Q. Miller will be writing this new Smallville novel.  I was a big fan of Miller’s work on Batgirl prior to the new DCU relaunch.  The fact he doesn’t have a book in the DCU is almost criminal in my mind.  But it looks like he’s landed on his feet with the novel-form continuation of Smallville.  A note of caution though, there has been no official confirmation of the Smallville novel.  But, I remain cautiously optimistic that we will see it.  What will be fun about this is there are not TV budget restrictions on a book.

One of my biggest concerns is that Sony is taking the a character that has been built up in the Sam Raimi movies to be a major villain in the future and using him as Peter’s first opponent in the reboot.  But… its possible I’m just jaded in regards to the movie.

The guys over at SpiderMedia.ru have uncovered that first picture of Rhys Ifans in full makeup playing the Lizard.  Personally, this hasn’t helped to sell me on the movie.  To me, the shape of the head is off and doesn’t compare to what is seen in the comics.  However, the strangest thing of all is that the Lizard will be naked in the upcoming movie!  Look for lots of conveniently placed objects to obscure anything that would make the rating of the movie go up.