Marvel Takes Superheros Online

Joss Whedon directs Robert Downey Jr. in superhero blowout

(NEWSER) - Sure, it's an effective moneymaking scheme: release movies about individual superheroes, then one about all of them. But with Joss Whedon at the helm, The Avengers really works. What critics are saying:

• "Even if you don't particularly like comic-book adaptations, this film just might make a believer of you," writes Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times . "Whedon is the key reason why this $220 million behemoth of a movie is smartly thought out and executed with verve and precision."

(AP) - The Walt Disney Co. says it is acquiring Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion in cash and stock, bringing characters like Iron Man and Spider-Man into the Disney family. Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of 5,000 Marvel characters. Marvel shareholders will receive $30 per share in cash plus 0.745 Disney shares for every Marvel share they own, Disney reports. More»

Character will debut in a 1-hour Showtime special

(NEWSER) - Is the world ready for the first homosexual superhero? Comic legend Stan Lee has created the character Thom Creed, a high-school basketball player who must deal with his sexual orientation as well as untrained superpowers, the Telegraph reports. The character, adapted by Lee from the novel Hero by Perry Moore, will make his first appearance in an hour-long special on Showtime. More»

Split, meant to entice younger readers, riles longtime fans

(NEWSER) - After 20 years of togetherness, Peter Parker and his beloved Mary Jane are kaput, and he's locking lips with a new mystery woman, according to the latest issue of the Amazing Spider-Man series. Longtime fans of the Marvel Comics classic aren't any too happy about the split, Newsweek reports. "This is an admission of a lack of ideas," said one disgruntled fan. More»

(NEWSER) - In an issue of its comic book coming out July 5, Marvel Comics kills off superhero Captain America. In "Fallen Son" Captain America is killed by an assassin on the steps of the federal courthouse in New York. He was there after refusing to register his true identity (Steve Rogers for you non-fans) with the government. More»