Sony and Capcom has announced the release of an upcoming animated feature film to be released straight to DVD chronicling the events following the highly successful (and fun) Resident Evil 4. With a release date sometime before the year is over Resident Evil: Degeneration pairs up Clair Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy for the first time since their first appearance in 1998’s Resident Evil 2.

The film takes place entirely in an airport revolving around a bio terror attack that Clair happens to be at. Leon, who is now a specialist in counter bio terrorism is called in to resolve the situation. The animation looks extremely impressive and it should prove to be a very entertaining film.

So, I’m gonna do some shameless self promotion here but I don’t give a fuck.

I have been covering news from the Comic Con but I’ve been logging my personal experiences in detail daily on my personal website Humanjunk.net and I highly recommend checking it out.

So, if you want to live vicariously through my misadventures then check me the fuck out. And if you don’t want to live vicarious through me then fuck you, you’re all assholes.

(that last part is (half) a joke)

Dr. Cyborg here, checking in from the con.  I just wanted to drop a quick line and let you all know I’ll be back in a few days with complete coverage of everything these optical receptors have seen and with pictures.

First, I saw Alex Proyas’ panel for Knowing.  I’ll write up something about it later, but I wanted to set the record straight since EVERYONE else is reporting on my journalistic handiwork and I haven’t had a chance to yet.

Proyas is NOT directing Silver Surfer.  “Unfortunately that is just a rumor. I don’t know where that came from,” he told me and, by default, everyone else. “I do like Silver Surfer, but I’m not going to be doing it.”

So, bad times there.

I’m glad I got him to bring home the bacon for front page news on every other site.

Stuff to look forward to? I attended panels with Robert Kirkman, Grant Morrison, Mike Mignola, Jim Lee and a couple of other people whose names slip my mind.  I’ll be writing it up soon.

(Seriously though, that was indeed Dr. Cyborgs beautiful visage up there on the Big Screen of Hall H. Don’t you forget it.)

I just received a Comic-Con announcement press release.  Aronofsky is officially signed to direct a Robocop film for release in 2010.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM) has signed Darren Aronofsky to direct and David Self to write a new installment for its ROBOCOP franchise.  Aronofsky, the director of The Fountain, and Self, the writer of Road to Perdition, make a formidable creative team, fast tracking the ROBOCOP motion picture and spotlighting it as one of the most anticipated new films for 2010.

This is good news.

When asked who the Kubrick of this generation is, my reply is always Aronofsky and the man hasn’t let me down so far.  If you’re going to reinvigorate a franchise, what better way to do it than to inject new life into it with a visionary like Darren Aronofsky?

Seriously, this is a cause for rejoicing.

Frank Cho has stated that his once planned monthly book Zombie King is back in the works again. It is being pitched around as a feature film to Dark Horse Entertainment as well which will decide if Image or Dark Horse will be publishing the book.

I just went to a panel on LBGT (lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender) superheroes in mainstream comics earlier this morning focusing on queer themes in comics, and needless to say it was very interesting. There are a lot of events in comics that are generally overlooked when it comes to queer superheroes. Perry Moore has actually written a pretty cool article on the subject and rather than really dive into it myself I would suggest reading what he has to say as I’m sure it would be much more eloquent than my snarky musings…

Keep an eye out for Moore’s new novel Hero, a story about a high school student who moonlights as a superhero who just happens to be gay. Near the end of the panel Stan Lee decided to crash and he and Moore announced that there is a… project in the works on Hero.

Cartoon Network and Adult Swim have released their scheduled panels and events for the upcoming San Diego Comic Con which includes a search for the best Carl Look-a-Like for an upcoming live-action episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force!

“Adult Swim also announced today the nationwide search for a Carl look-alike to appear in the first-ever live action episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force.  The search will begin Saturday, July 26, from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., at the Omni Hotel in San Diego during this year’s Comic-Con convention, what some consider to be the epicenter of Carl-like men.”

So if you look like Carl, first off I’m sorry, but secondly, you may be able to put that to use and co-star in the live-action ATHF episode!

Other noteable panels include a panel with directors, editors, producers, and voice actors from the upcoming Batman animated series, The Brave and the Bold; A panel for the upcoming Star Wars: The Clone Wars series; an Adult Swim panel featuring Robot Chicken co-creaters Seth Green and Matt Senreich and a Venture Bros. panel; and finally a picnic hosted by Tim and Eric from Time and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! where there will be games, contests, and karaoke, and one lucky person will win the grand prize: the opportunity to ride jet skis with Tim and Eric!

You can check out the Comic Con 2008 Panels Press Release and the Aqua Teen Search for Carl Press Release below!

• ATHF Search for Carl
• Adult Swim/Cartoon Network SDCC Press Release

UPDATE: Check back next week on Big Shiny Robot!, we’ll be posting an interview with Batman: Brave and the Bold director Ben Jones.

Marvel.com has just posted the trailer to it’s newest animated series set to hit Nicktoons in 2009, Iron Man: Armored Adventures Animated Series, which you can view here.

“Tony Stark, heir to a billion-dollar corporation, lives a life of luxury, free to pursue his chief interests — seeing extreme thrills, solving scientific mysteries, and creating mind-boggling inventions.

But everything goes horribly wrong when a tragic accident robs Tony of his father and nearly costs him his own life. Now dependent on his own amazing technology for survival and dedicated to battling corruption, Tony must reconcile the pressure of teenage life with the duties of a super hero.

Inside his remarkable invention, Tony Stark is geared for high-speed flight, high-tech battles and high-octane adventure! He is IRON MAN!”

The animation for the newest series looks pretty solid and the trailer is making it look pretty exciting. I wasn’t exactly thrilled at the fact they are retconning the origin of Iron Man and kind of making it into “Iron Teen”, but when you take in the consideration of the demographic they are aiming for, it makes the most sense and is probably the way it will be the most successful. The first 26 episodes will start airing on Nicktoons in early 2009, and of course, those of you attending the San Diego Comic Con can catch an episode early on Saturday, July 26th at 10 am PT in Room 6CDEF!

It’s been rumoured that Barack Obama would be making an appearance at the San Diego Comic-Con in July.

Newsarama is reporting that it probably won’t happen, but that doesn’t mean it won’t.

Politically, this would be a great move for a number of reasons. For one, it’s obvious that Obama is courting the young vote and the majority of Comic-Con attendees are either young people or old people pretending to be young. Or, like me, they’re in that middle ground. But what better place to prove to the youth of America that he belongs in their camp then to make some type of major announcement at a comic book convention?

For two: Hall-H (which is undoubtedly where he’d have to appear) fits 6.500+ people. It’s a good size venue. But it would be filled with comic nerds from all over the country, all in one place. If Obama could secure endorsements from major comic book superstars like Frank Miller or Jhonen Vasquez or Kevin Smith or Jim Lee or something, you’d have 6,500+ people going back to their home states proselytizing to the rest of the nerd vote about how hip Obama is.

Thirdly, Obama is a stunning orator who can work a crowd this large. And if he can personalize a speech that announces his candidacy for president in the Marvel or DC Universe (Right now, Stephen Colbert is the front runner in the Marvel U, and the President in the DC Universe was Lex Luthors Vice President) and then could shade the speech with the kind of rhetoric that we can once again stand for Truth, Justice and the American way so that Superman and Captain America could once again be proud of their country…. It could be a watershed moment in politics and the nerd vote (the same countless millions who put movies like Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings in the top highest grossing films of all time category) would be officially courted in a meaningful way by a candidate that could genuinely earn street cred from the geeks.

It probably won’t happen, but it would be a great move. And it would make great TV. And it would make a lot of sense.

But, I’ll see you guys in San Diego in July and we’ll see if Obama makes it out there.

(This isn’t necessarily an endorsement of Obama, although I like him and I voted for him in the primary. This is just an interesting hypothesis. Big Shiny Robot is strictly non-partisan and non-politics.)