No new designs in the field? Ever heard of 'clean' nuclear weapons (minimal fissile yield, sizable fusion presentation)? Tactical nulear devices (tac-nukes, able to be fielded/deployed by a single unit)? Gamma burst nukes (leave structures standing, kill all biological life)? Plasma window low-yield weapons (a variant of nuclear weapons which create a high-energy plasma field around the blast to contain the effects of fallout similar to a forcefield)? Yeah. We've got new stuff. We can just thank God and some sensible CIC & JCOS that these have not been used in actual operations. Horrible in aftermath, weapons with an incredible standoff reach, and just about the only deterrent technologically advanced countries have left that is legally permissible (re: the ban on bioweaps, etc). I guess we can be glad that these weapons are not available in general circles as well. These aren't terrorist strap-yourself-with-one weapons. These are WMDs, and you don't blow up a building with them, you extinguish millions of human lives at once and making life hell for another few mililon. Read a copy of "Hiroshima" The written accounts of the survivors of the bomb... if you can find a copy, because it's rare, it's gripping and horrifyingly detailed. The true power of a nuclear weapon is not so much death and destruction, but rather the pain, suffering, and almost otherworldly tableau that it uses as a palette to transform the lives of all of its survivors. Also: read "The Fourth Protocol".

I gotta look on both sides of this issue. 1) I'm disappointed - the movies have been great lately, especially out of Marvel Studios. I pray they keep that creative genius constant - don't fire anyone. 2) On the flip side, I can't think of anyone who I'd rather have building a brand new theme park with nothing but Marvel Characters. Universal did a decent job, but if anyone has the money, guts, space, and Imagineering to pull off a truly twenty-first century full sensory experience that's pure Marvel, Disney would be my first hope. I hear they were thinking of putting together a new park in Orlando/Kissimmee anyway. Let's keep our fingers crossed.