Spider-Girl may have finally met defeat

MAY "MAYDAY" Parker, daughter of Spider-Man and heir to his powers and enormous sense of responsibility, seems to have spun her final web.

The character, who built a loyal fan base for the past dozen years and - paradoxically - survived relatively low sales, two series cancellations and numerous other rumored cancellations, appears to have run out of luck.

It had gotten to the point where Tom DeFalco - who has written every Spider-Girl adventure - was so convinced each issue would be the character's last, he started ending them with the tagline "The End . . . For Now!" This way, if it were the last issue, fans would be confident they would see the character again.

However, with the recently released "Spider-Girl: The End," it seems as if DeFalco finally has told his final Spider-Girl tale, which has many of her fans in an uproar. This is especially true since barely six months ago, the character was announced as coming back in a new, ongoing "Spectacular Spider-Girl." Without warning it was then announced that "Spectacular Spider-Girl" would be a limited series that would close as part of Marvel's "The End" line of one-shots - and that Marvel would launch a new "Spider-Girl" series, starring Araña, who has much less of a fan following, as the title character.

DeFalco has publicly stated that he has been confused by these recent decisions by Marvel editorial and that despite everything he refuses to believe he has spun his last tale starring "Mayday" Parker. Indeed, despite a development for the character that will have the eyes of fans welling with tears, DeFalco has left some slight wriggle room for her to shock everyone and beat the odds yet again.

Comics Guy will try to shed some light on that next week. If this is "The End," Mayday is going out with a bang and reminding everyone why she had such a fervent following to begin with.

"Spider-Girl: The End" reiterates that this has been one of the few characters who you never had to question whether she was a hero. Told in a way that will have you emotionally attached to all the characters while still managing to be fun and melodramatic, it gets Comics Guy's highest possible recommendation.

'X-Men' cast grows

At the Toronto Film Festival, James McAvoy made it clear that his version of Charles Xavier will be vastly different from Patrick Stewart's, including starting the film with hair and the ability to walk.

"I'm basically going to try and bury Patrick's performance," he joked about his role in "X-Men: First Class." "I think the fun about these films, whether it's a reboot or prequel, is you get to see how people became who they are."

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that unknown Tony Rich has landed the role of Synch, who besides being able to duplicate other mutant powers is a civil-rights activist.

So with only a month until shooting, confirmed cast members include McAvoy as Xavier; Rich as Synch; Michael Fassbender as Magneto; Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw; January Jones as Emma Frost; Lucas Till as Havok; Edi Gathegi as Darwin; Nicholas Hoult as Beast; Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique; Caleb Landry Jones as Banshee; Jason Flemyng as Azazel; Rose Byrne as Moira MacTaggert; Oliver Platt as Man in Black; Zoe Kravitz as Angel Salvadore; Bill Milner as young Magneto; Laurence Belcher as young Charles Xavier; Morgan Lily as young Mystique; and Alex Gonzalez as Riptide.

That's 18 cast members, only three of whom are younger versions of others, which has fanboys' panties in a bunch. That's because ever since the cast of the Burton/Schumacher Batman films grew out of control, large ensembles have been met with apprehension and trepidation.

It's worth noting, however, that "X2: X-Men United" had 15 main characters AND 15 significant smaller roles/cameos, and that's still considered by some to be the best comic-book movie ever.

So the key to the "Class' " quality will be what director Matthew Vaughn does with a large cast. "X-Men: First Class" is set for release on June 3.

Eminem riddles his rap

Since the storyline and villains are still unknown for the next Batman film, that leaves a huge vacuum to be filled with rumors.

The most buzzworthy has Eminem trying to land the role of the Riddler. According to the Daily Express, the rapper has stated he is "desperate" to land the role - so much so that he let his wishes be known to director Christopher Nolan in a verse that says: "When it comes to business, you know I ain't no fiddler. You tell them Batman biggies I wanna play the Riddler!"

Though Johnny Depp and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are more likely to land the plum role, the hip-hop star's reps say that he has already had talks with producers - and that he has a real shot.

"Producers are piqued at the prospect of a Rappin' Riddler," claimed the Express.

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