Sponsor News: BBTS – MAFEX Spider-Man & Batman, Star Wars Retro & Black Series, Hot Toys, NECA Alien, Bring Arts & My Hero Academi

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Daniel Pickett

“Batman Beyond”: Andrea Romano – Working with Kevin Conroy; Mark Hamill; Finding That “Right” Voice [INTERVIEW]

My first up press room for San Diego Comic Con 2019 (SDCC) is the Batman Beyond 20 Year Anniversary celebration, and could not be more excited. The cast and producers have just announced, in Hall H, the release of the Batman Beyond: The Complete Series collection on blu-ray! The legendary voice director Andrea Romano (Batman: The Animated Series, Jutice League) stepped off the massive stage at Hall H and joins us at the round table for a bit of a chin wag.

 From her start at Hanna- Barbera to Batman: Year One, Romano has made her reputation by always finding the perfect actor for every character. We had to know what was Andrea looking for when she cast these iconic characters that were already cemented in the brains of millions of fans worldwide?

“The first thing I look for, and I always look for, is good actors. Good actors first. If the can do multiple voices and manipulate their voice to do something different,  that’s a bonus. But number one they have to be good actors. I can teach animation techniques quickly, I can’t teach acting in a four hour recording session. So that was always the first thing I was looking for. I was also looking for people who were willing to take a risk, this is going to sound so weird, to make an ass of themselves. Think about the Joker and how broad that had to go for Mark (Hamill), he had to really take it over the top. I always prefer it when an actor goes too far, and let me pull them back, rather than saying more, more, go farther.”

 Romano continues,

“And think about how we make the cartoon, we make the voices first, and then that goes off to animation. So the more we can give animation directors, the better the cartoon is going to be. So you want to get as much life from that initial record as you can. Sometimes that means more energy than actors are typically used to. You think of an on camera actor, they work very small because the camera picks up so much. So you have to think about being on stage, and that’s more like the energy that we use in animation. It’s a little broader, speaking to the lst row. It’s a little bit bigger. And I found that actors that had experience doing stage work often  into animation voice acting better.

It was looking for people who are willing to make fools of themselves, that was what was required, and who were also willing to trust me. I always made a commitment to every actor who ever worked with me that I would never let their voice go out sounding bad. I told them I’ll keep you after the session and work with you longer and if need be I will recast because I don’t want you to be embarrassed about the work that goes out there. Why would you do that to an actor? That’s just crushing talent. So I would ask them to trust me and know that I will get the best possible performance out of you I can. 

The connection between the biggest stars of B:TAS is legendary. We wanted to know what it was like working in the recording booth with Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill:

“I wanted to create an environment where the actors could feel free to explore and play and safe, and go to far, and be silly, and let them go too far. But the challenge was not to let them go too far. Because they would take over. ‘Guys come back we have only 45 minutes left and we still have 5 pages of script. So come back and focus and get it done and then we can play afterwards.’ That was always the challenge was creating that lovely environment but not letting the kids take over the asylum.”

With such a long and distinguished career working with the biggest names in show business, Bleeding Cool wanted to know if there was anyone that Romano wanted to cast but wasn’t able to:

“Christopher Lee… and he passed away before I could get him. I wasn’t that he said no me, Because I did make him some offers, it’s just that we could never work the schedule out. He would have been an awesome Ras A Gul. He would have been a beautiful voice for that. But, David Warner was stunning, just really terrific, so I was glad to have David. He (Lee) was one actor that got away. I always kept a list of people that I wanted to work with and there were only a handful. Another really silly one, laugh if you will, but I always wanted to work with Alex Trebek. I wanted to bring him in. I had a situation a couple of years ago, I think it was, a Voltron episode there was a game show host on the show. I said please can we use Alex Trebek, but they wanted comedian instead, so I got a comedian.”

You can enjoy the full roundtable video below where Romano tells us how much she loves retirement, more about how she would seek out the perfect voice, and which project she would come out of retirement for:

Batman Beyond: The Complete Series collection features all 52 episodes (41 episodes remastered) of the original series – plus Return of the Joker, the critically-acclaimed 2000 animated film. A limited edition box set will also include a chrome Batman Beyond Funko POP!, new featurettes, and lenticular art cards.

Pump up those pre-orders for Batman Beyond now, and who knows? We may well see another season!

The post “Batman Beyond”: Andrea Romano – Working with Kevin Conroy; Mark Hamill; Finding That “Right” Voice [INTERVIEW] appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

via https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/07/24/batman-beyond-andrea-romano-working-with-kevin-conroy-mark-hamill-finding-that-right-voice-interview/
Jimmy Leszczynski

“Batman Beyond”: Kevin Conroy Talks Timeless Dark Knight, Imitates Mark Hamill & More! [INTERVIEW]

Let’s get down to business. My first up press room for San Diego Comic-Con 2019 (SDCC) was the Batman Beyond 20th anniversary celebration, and could I not be more excited. The cast and producers announced the release of the Batman Beyond: The Complete Series collection on blu-ray – and the audience was clearly pleased! Lucky for us, Kevin Conroy was able to take a couple of minutes to joins us at a roundtable for a bit of a chin wag.

The first question thrown out asked how – after 27 years – his performance has changed:

“The trick for me has been not to have it change. It’s to have it remain truthful to the character that was established 27 years ago. ..The audience is passionate about the character. They love him, you know? … audiences have a very intimate relationship with animated characters, because you live in people’s imagination. When you are the voice of an animated character, they come up to me like I’m a brother. I’m someone they know, and they’ve never met me before. Because I live in their imagination, I’m the voice they hear. So it is an intimacy. Because if I’m not truthful to the character that they know, they’ll nail me in a heartbeat. “

Working so closely and frequently together, Kevin and Mark Hamill have developed a “bromance” to match no other – and here’s what Kevin had to say about Hamill:

“He is so much fun to work with. Everything you see is Mark. there is no pretense, there’s no ego, there’s no bull. He is one-hundred-percent there. He’s generous, he’s there to play. And he gives me so much, that I can’t help but perform well when I’m with him, and I’ve said this to him – You define me, and he said ’Well you define me.’ …You know Batman and Joker they kind of define each other.”

What I really wanted to know was how Conroy was able to play the same man at different ages, and do it so well? I asked him if there was any difference to his approach in playing Bruce Wayne on Batman:The Animated Series compared to playing him on Batman Beyond:

“Well, yeah. I mean It’s the same man…In (B:TAS) Bruce Wayne has the luxury of youth. He hasn’t tasted mortality, really. In Batman Beyond He has. He senses the passage of time. Which is why he reaches out to Terry McGinnis. And that is a very sobering thing. He is still a powerful man, but he’s frustrated by the fact that his body won’t do everything he demands it to do anymore. And that makes him cranky, and angry. He’s angry at his body. But he is still powerful, he’s still got that passion of Bruce Wayne, of Batman. …what was fun about playing him in that stage. He’s not a dottery 80 year old. He’s a feisty, passionate hero. They are different stages of the same man’s life.”

Though time was brief, Kevin also showed us his Hamill impression, and discusses the possibility of another season of Batman Beyond in the following clip:

Batman Beyond: The Complete Series collection features all 52 episodes (41 episodes remastered) of the original series – plus Return of the Joker, the critically-acclaimed 2000 animated film. A limited edition box set will also include a chrome Batman Beyond Funko POP!, new featurettes, and lenticular art cards.

Pump up those pre-orders for Batman Beyond now, and who knows? We may well see another season!

The post “Batman Beyond”: Kevin Conroy Talks Timeless Dark Knight, Imitates Mark Hamill & More! [INTERVIEW] appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

via https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/07/23/batman-beyond-kevin-conroy-talks-timeless-dark-knight-imitates-mark-hamill-more-interview/
Jimmy Leszczynski

BBTS Sponsor News: SDCC Reveals, Marvel Legends, Transformers, Power Rangers, DC, NECA, QMX & More!

via http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/bbts-sponsor-news-sdcc-reveals-marvel-legends-transformers-power-rangers-dc-neca-qmx-more/
Daniel Pickett

Coming Soon from Funko: Pop! & Action Figure – The Dark Crystal

COMING SOON: POP! & ACTION FIGURE – THE DARK CRYSTAL

Go on an adventure straight out of storytelling icon Jim Henson’s imagination. Bring home action figures including the Guard of the Castle of the Crystal Rian, the gelfling Deet, the Hunter, Hup, Aughra the Oracle and a Silk Spitter.

 

Bring home Pop! Rian, Deet, Hup, the Hunter, Aughra, The Chamberlain exclusive to Target, Deet Glow exclusive to FYE and the Hunter with a silver mask exclusive to Funko Shop.

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Daniel Pickett

The 50 Most-Read San Diego Comic-Con 2019 Stories on Bleeding Cool

Did you notice there was a comic convention this weekend? Maybe you did, maybe you didn’t, but here’s a way to catch up with what most people were reading – the fifty most-read stories at San Diego Comic-Con 2019…

1. New Mutants by Jonathan Hickman, Ed Brisson, Rod Reis Brings Back Recently Dead X-Men
2. [#SDCC] Marvel Studios Hall H Presentation Live-Blog
3. Hickman Teases Excalibur, New Mutants, Fallen Angels, 3 More Titles for X-Men Relaunch
4. Kevin Feige Didn’t Have Time to Talk About X-Men, Fantastic Four
5. Robert Kirkman Will Bring Back Walking Dead if We Stop Buying His Other Comics
6. Marvel Legends Reveals Come Fast and Furious at Hasbro’s SDCC Panel
7. Report: Dan Didio Mad People Are Buying the Facsimile Editions DC Publishes
8. DC Comics Are Working on a New DC Universe Timeline
9. Marvel Studios’ San Diego Comic Con Hall H Presentation Blows Up Comics on eBay
10. Marvel Studios Exec Teases Female-Focused Guardians Of The Galaxy Movie at Women Of Marvel SDCC Panel
11. Jonathan Hickman Says Only Dream Projects After X-Men Are At DC Comics
12. Jonathan Hickman and Leinil Francis Yu Launch X-Men #1 on the Moon, Starring Every Single Mutant #DawnOfX
13. Crisis Confirmed? DC Year of the Villain is Leading to an Even Bigger DC Event in 2020
14. Starfire to Spider-Gwenom – 68 Cosplay Shots From San Diego Comic-Con 2019 on a Thursday…
15. Jonathan Hickman Talks X-Men at San Diego Comic-Con
16. James Gunn Explains Why “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” Was Absent from the Marvel Hall H Panel
17. Jim Lee Will Draw Brian Bendis’ First Legion Of Super-Heroes Story: Millennium
18. New “Pennyworth” Series Confirmed Same Universe as “Gotham”
19. Every Funko SDCC 2019 Exclusive in One Place
20. Natalie Portman is Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder, November 2021
21. “Falcon” Anthony Mackie “Feels Good” Putting on Captain America Suit for TV Series
22. Psylocke is the New Captain Britain in Excalibur – Alongside Apocalypse? #DawnOfX
23. “Batwoman” Ruby Rose Cancels SDCC Appearances [VIDEO]
24. [#SDCC] Marvel Studios Shows Off “Black Widow” Footage
25. SDCC 2019: 60+ Pics Form the NECA Toys Booth
26. Dan DiDio Promises Major Wally West Event From DC Comics in 2020
27. Rumours About DC Comics’ Closure Of MAD Magazine, After San Diego Comic-Con Presentation
28. Marvel Comics Relaunch Deadpool With #1 in October
29. “Harley Quinn,” “Titans” & More: BC’s SDCC 2019 DC Universe Live-Blog
30. DC Goes All In on Reprints at SDCC Retailer Lunch, Didio Be Damned
31. Frank Miller’s Superman: Year One Wouldn’t Be Black Label if DC Could Do it Again – And How to Hide An Imprint
32. A New Look at Cadaverous, the Big Bad of Henry, JJ Abrams and Sara Pichelli’s Spider-Man
33. Masters of the Universe Takes Over the Mattel Booth at SDCC
34. SDCC 2019: 80+ Pics From the Hot Toys Display on the Show Floor
35. At Last, DOOM Gets His Own Marvel Series in October From Christopher Cantwell, Salvador Larocca
36. Mahershala Ali – Luke Cage’s Cottonmouth – is the New Blade
37. Nick Spencer Revives 2099 From Marvel Comics in November
38. Marvel Announces Marauders by Gerry Duggan and Matteo Lolli for Dawn of X
39. New Psylocke Debuts Alongside X-23 and Teen Cable in Bryan Hill and Szymon Kudranski’s Fallen Angels #DawnOfX
40. Marvel Tales Ghost Rider #1 Coming in November, Plus First Look Inside Danny Ketch Ghost Rider #1
41. DC Comics Give Away Plastic ‘Legion Rings’ With Launch of Legion Of Superheroes in November
42. DC Villains Stage Hostile Takeover in November, Unleash Acetate Covers on Readers
43. NECA Bringing TMNT: Turtles in Time Figures to Stores
44. First Color Look at Sara Pichelli’s Interiors for Abrams Spider-Man
45. Vita Ayala and Leah Williams Will Write 2nd Wave of X-Men Books (But No Claremont?)
46. Marvel Cosmic Heads Toward Annihilation in November
47. Kevin Feige Throws Shades at Fox’s “Fantastic Four”, Promises to Elevate Them to “the Platform They Deserve”
48. Tom King Says Strange Adventures Will Be About Trump Instead of PTSD
49. Will Eisner Awards: Bleeding Cool SDCC 2019 Live-Blog
50. Marvel Comics Teases December Event – A Burning Crown Of Flame?

The post The 50 Most-Read San Diego Comic-Con 2019 Stories on Bleeding Cool appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

via https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/07/22/the-50-most-read-san-diego-comic-con-2019-stories-on-bleeding-cool/
Rich Johnston

Anthony Mackie, Russo Brothers and Writers Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely Help Marvel Studios Kick Off the “We Love You 3000” Tour at SDCC 2019

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!

Anthony Mackie, Directors Anthony & Joe Russo and Writers Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely Help Marvel Studios Kick Off the “We Love You 3000” Tour at San Diego Comic-Con 2019

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 20: Anthony Mackie (L) and fans attend the #IMDboat at San Diego Comic-Con 2019: Day Three at the IMDb Yacht on July 20, 2019 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb)

SAN DIEGO, CA (July 20, 2019) – In celebration of the in-home release of Marvel Studios AVENGERS: ENDGAME (releasing Digitally on 7/30 and Blu-ray on 8/13), directors Anthony and Joe Russo, along with special MCU guest Anthony Mackie and writers Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, kicked off the “We Love You 3000” tour from the IMDboat at San Diego Comic-Con 2019. As part of the festivities, they personally thanked fans who have invested so deeply in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), treated them to MCU-inspired sundaes courtesy of Ben & Jerry’s and posed for photos with those who dressed up as their favorite Avengers characters!

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 20: Attendees in cosplay are seen at the #IMDboat at San Diego Comic-Con 2019: Day Three at the IMDb Yacht on July 20, 2019 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb)

The next stop on the #WeLoveYou3000 tour will take place at Funko HQ in Seattle, WA on Tuesday, July 30^th. For more information, please visit Marvel.com/WeLoveYou3000
MARVEL STUDIOS AVENGERS: ENDGAME Arrives on Digital July 30, and on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD August 13.

Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Endgame,” the climactic conclusion to an unprecedented, 11-year cinematic journey in which the Avengers take one final stand against Thanos, delivered the biggest opening weekend in history and is currently one of the highest-grossing films of all time. On July 30, Avengers fans around the world are invited to assemble once more for the in-home release of “Avengers: Endgame” on Digital in HD, 4K Ultra HD and Movies Anywhere, followed by a physical release on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On-Demand beginning Aug. 13. Fans who bring home the film will gain hours of additional screen time with their favorite cast members and filmmakers who have shaped the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Bonus features include a tribute to the great Stan Lee; the tale of Robert Downey Jr.’s casting as Iron Man; the evolution of Captain America; Black Widow’s dramatic story arc; directors Anthony and Joe Russo’s experience at the helm of both “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame”; the making of an epic battle scene with the women of the MCU; the creation of Bro Thor; deleted scenes; a gag reel and more.

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 20: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Christopher Markus, Anthony Mackie and Stephen McFeely attend the #IMDboat at San Diego Comic-Con 2019: Day Three at the IMDb Yacht on July 20, 2019 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb)

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Daniel Pickett