Second Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer unveiled

If you haven’t noticed already, Marvel Studios have debuted the second trailer for its superhero behemoth of a movie - Avengers: Age of Ultron. The trailer sees all the Avenger regulars making an appearance, including some rare glimpses of the Hulk and Iron-Man's Hulkbuster going head-to-head, with the Johannesburg CBD serving as the battleground. We even get to see the trusty SAPS getting stuck in, although the Hulk quickly dispatches them. 

For those non-South African viewers, the eerie monologue from a James Spader-voiced Ultron interspliced with images of Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark is the main focus. This somewhat confirms the film's storyline, as Ultron is believed to be a botched Stark experiment that comes back to haunt its creator, as well as the rest of the Avengers team. Avengers: Age of Ultron has slated for release in April this year. 

Scarlett Johansson slated for Ghost In the Shell lead

The Ghost in the Shell series has been one of the most storied in Anime history, starting off life as a Manga series in 1989, then six years later coming into animated life in the iconic film. Since then there have been multiple animated series, but up until now the thought of making a live-action version has never been touched. Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks studios picked up the rights for the film back in 2008, with not much else happening since then.

Now, Scarlett Johansson has signed on for the English language live action adaptation, with an April 2017 release date being set. Johansson's association with the project has garnered some mixed reaction, but the move makes a lot of sense. For one, Johansson has played a number strong female characters of late, namely as the Black Widow in Avengers and Captain America franchises, as well as the lead in Luc Besson's Lucy.   

As far as we know, the live action version will stay true to the 1995 anime feature. In it, the lead Motoko Kusanagi suffers an accident as a child that forces her mind (Ghost) to be housed within a cyborg body (Shell). For an idea of what the live action version may (hopefully) look like, check out the Anime trailer below. 

AMC debut trailer for The Walking Dead Season 5

In a popular move of late, most TV studios are opting to split their series seasons in two. The same tactic was adopted for AMC's fifth season of The Walking Dead, offering die-hard fans a slight reprieve from what was a particular intense first half. Now AMC have released a trailer for the second half of season five titled Surviving Together. The tile is pretty apt, as the trailer features a battle weary and forlorn cast trying their utmost to deal with apocalyptic world around and keep some semblance of their humanity.

Whether or not it is achievable remains to be seen, but season five looks to be the most physically and emotionally testing yet for The Walking Dead survivors. Check out the trailer after the break and anxiously await its release in a few weeks come 8 February. 

Silk Road documentary incoming

The Baby Boomers generation may have had the Watergate scandal and Deep Throat, but the digital natives have Silk Road and will soon have Deep Web as proof that we too have lived in interesting times.

The latter is an upcoming documentary where the mother of the Silk Road kingpin Dread Pirate Roberts (Ross Ulbricht to his mum), will tell her side of the story. For those who don’t remember, Silk Road was one of the more high profile arrests late in 2013, as the online underground for everything illicit was bust by the FBI, earning Ulbricht a short plank walk to some serious hot water.

The documentary comes at an opportune time, on the verge of the start of Ulbricht’s trial, which is sure to raise some very interesting questions about privacy, law and just how deep and dark the web can get.  

Ant Man trailer debuts

Thor, The Hulk, Iron Man and .... Ant-Man? One of these is not quite like the others at least as far as nomenclatures go. Granted, Ant-Man may not be the most fear inducing designations for a superhero, but judging by how well Marvel treats its characters, we wouldn’t put it past them to make the upcoming Ant-Man movie impressive nonetheless.

Helping matters is a rather impressive cast – along with Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lilly lending their acting chops. If you are still skeptical, then this newly released trailer for the movie might assuage your doubts.

Archie vs. Predator covers get released

Archie has had an interesting time of it of late, whether it be taking a bullet for a homosexual NAVY Seal or battling the zombies á la The Walking Dead style. Those two comic book series proved that hijinks involving Jughead, Betty and Veronica was not the only thing that Archie could be known for. Now, Archie is taking on action of a far more deadly nature - the camouflaged bounty hunting alien called Predator. 

Francisco Francavilla, who handled the artwork for the surprisingly strong Afterlife with Archie, designed a new cover featured Archie chest deep in muddy water, with a Predator standing overhead and searching for his ginger prey. According to reports from io9, the Archie vs. Predator comic will be released in a four-part series come 15 April, just in time to kill some downtime during the Easter holidays.     

Contributions by Ryan Noik.