*UPDATE* First Teaser for the Unofficial 'Dredd' Spinoff Series, 'Superfiend'

*UPDATE* A brief teaser has been released ahead of Thursday's full trailer.

Ever since Dredd opened a couple of years ago fans of the brutal lawman have been begging for a sequel. While Karl Urban has expressed some hope it may happen at some point, it was producer Adi Shankar who revealed a couple of weeks ago that he was developing an "unofficial" sequel miniseries for the web.  He's dropped other such projects in the past for The Punisher and one for Venom, but chances are nobody was expecting what his Dredd follow-up has turned out to be.

EW has released the first photos and poster for what is being called Superfiend, and as you can see it's going to be an animated web series, not live-action. One look at the poster also tells you that Urban isn't involved at all, which has to be a disappointment to fans hoping he'd be a part of everything Dredd. The story is based on the "Dark Judges", a group of undead law enforcers from another dimension. It isn't technically a sequel, either, but a part of Shankar's little stable of bootleg flicks.

Basically this looks like something Cartoon Network would have cast aside, and certainly doesn't resemble dark spinoffs we're used to seeing from Shankar. But then again the Dark Judges are pretty cool and it's a great storyline, so maybe it will turn out better than these images suggest. Superfiend should arrive later this month.

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Karl Urban says a 'Dredd' sequel could still happen

Fans of the Judge Dredd comic books finally got to see their favorite lawgiver done proper cinematic justice in Alex Garland's Dredd. After being saddled with the awful Sylvester Stallone film for so long, Garland's take was perfectly in keeping with the dark, totalitarian vision John Wagner originally envisioned, and Karl Urban proved to be the perfect guy to be under the helmet. Although it didn't do much at the box office, it's rapidly become a cult favorite on DVD, and now Urban says it may be enough to get a sequel green lit.

Collider caught up with Urban to talk Star Trek Into Darkness, and the conversation turned to a potential Dredd sequel. Urban revealed that he had just met with Garland over and the subject came up....

Urban:“Interestingly enough, I did have breakfast with Alex Garland this morning. It’s not off the agenda.  Clearly everyone has woken up to the fact that an audience has found this movie and loves it.  It’s entirely possible, and if people want to see another installment then they should be vocal about that, because, it can happen.  The power of fandom can resurrect projects.  In fact, that’s what happened with Star Trek.  They weren’t going to do a third season until fans did a letter writing campaign and they continued that series.”

He doesn't sound too positive, honestly, but he's right that fans will largely control the sequel's fate. The first film was produced on a relatively small budget, and if there's a significant enough push at this summer's Comic-Con then a studio may be willing to take a gamble on it.

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Olivia Thirlby hopes to make a difference in new clip from 'Dredd 3D'

 

For a film that's going to make its money luring in those eager for some cinematic ultra-violence, the most recent clips from Dredd 3D have been pretty tame. Not sure what the marketing strategy is behind that, but I guess when you've got two talented actors like Karl Urban and Olivia Thirlby you want to show people they'll be doing more than just bustin' caps.

In this brief clip, rookie Judge Anderson(Thirlby) expresses her desire to actually help the people of crime infested Mega City One, rather than just blowing everybody to smithereens. Dredd doesn't seem to quite understand the point. Maybe my ears are deceiving me, but does Urban sound like he forgot to put on his throaty Dredd voice at the beginning? Let me know.

Dredd 3D opens on September 21st. Check out the clip below....[Digital Spy]

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Karl Urban is the law in new 'Dredd' clip

While nobody's expecting Dredd to be a masterpiece or anything, there's no doubt it looks like a more faithful interpretation of John Wagner's authoritarian comic series than that crap Sylvester Stallone gave us back in the 1990s. For a perfect example of how different the two movies are, you need look no further than this latest clip.

Karl Urban stars as the iconic, hyper-violent street judge who keeps the crime infested streets of Mega-City One clean....well, except for all the blood he spills in the name of justice. In this clip, Dredd calmly proclaims "I am the law" to the evil druglord, Ma-Ma(Lena Headey), while trapped in her 200-story vertical slum full of armed goons. Although the footage is brief, Urban seems to have Dredd's menace and moral certainty down pat, without feeling the need to overplay the character's most memorable catchphrase. By comparison, Stallone's was a campy, barely-intelligible bellow.  Dredd opens in theaters on September 21st. Check out the clip below, followed by the Stallone version...

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Comic-Con News: Red band clip from 'Dredd' ramps up the bloodshed

You see that scowl on Dredd's (Karl Urban) face in the above picture? Maybe that's because he knows the trailer for Dredd, which came out a few weeks ago in late June, was kind of meh. Punch Drunk Critics' own Travis Hopson was somewhat into the trailer - noting how director Pete Travis "seems to have nailed the pulpy tone of the comic" - and he let us know about the new red band clip of the film that showed up at Comic-Con today.

What can you expect from Dredd, according to this clip? Lots of bloodshed, lots of plasma coming at you in 3-D, and lots of Olivia Thirlby still looking awkward as all hell as cadet Judge Anderson. Maybe it's the aggressively bad blond wig (... that hair isn't for real, right?) or her wide-eyed naivete, but something about Thirlby isn't working for me in this role.

Things that are working for me, though: Urban's super-on-point grimace as Dredd, the absurdity of these drug addicts (highness and guns don't mix, kids) and the slow-motion stomach-rippling action beginning at 0:18 in the clip. That unreal skin action is so obviously CGI, you have to respect that the movie is really being honest about its campy intentions. Based on this clip alone, I'm giving Dredd a tentative slow clap.

For the new 1-minute red band clip of Dredd, click below!

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4 new images from 'Dredd'!

One thing you'll notice immediately after checking out these four new shots from Dredd is that the criminals appear to be dead in both pictures featuring them. Well, in one case it's Olivia Thirlby in the process of splattering one perp's brains all over the wall. There'll be no taking prisoners in this film, with Dredd and the of the elite Street Judges are free to execute thug they deem fit.

It's Thirlby, playing the psychic law enforcer Judge Anderson, that has me most intrigued. Karl Urban...y'know, we're probably not going to hear him say much if Alex Garland's script bears any resemblance to the Judge Dredd comics. And we definitely won't see him without his helmet. Thirlby, who I've always considered the true breakout star from Juno, is the one we're going to have to identify with. It'll be interesting to see her taking on something so vastly different than anything else she's ever done.

Just basing off the images we've seen so far, it looks like director Peter Travis is fixing all the mistakes from the terrible Sylvester Stallone film from 1995, which I might add didn't even have Judge Anderson in it. Pathetic.

 Dredd will open in 2D and 3D on September 21st. Check out the new images below...[2000AD]

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New image of Karl Urban in 'Dredd'

If Judge Dredd ever smiled I bet his face would crack. Then again that's hardly been the character's style, as he always looks like he's constipated or just got called to the principal's office or something. We've seen more than a few images of Karl Urban under the bucket helmet of Dredd, and Total Film has provided one more.

Directed by Pete Travis(Vantage Point), Dredd features the ultra violent lawman, given the authority of judge, jury, and executioner to help clean up the crime ridden streets of Mega City One. Olivia Thirlby co-stars as Judge Anderson, with Lena Headey as the villainous Ma-Ma. 

Dredd  is expected to open in 2D and 3D(of course) on September 21st.

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