Two New Spider-Man Movies In Two Years?

Okay, that title is a little misleading, I know.  Still, it is accurate. Let me explain...


As you all know, Tom Holland's appearance in Captain America: Civil War was the first time that we were able to see Peter Parker's Spider-Man interact with the other heroes in the MCU.  It was a HUGE deal, considering that the Spider-Man property is owned by Sony, and for two movie companies to agree to share the rights to something is nearly unheard of.  The agreement helps both companies, though, not just Marvel.  Now that we've seen Spider-Man in an MCU movie, we can expect to see other Avengers in the Spider-Man solo films.  In fact, Robert Downey Jr. is going to be appearing in the Spider-Man: Homecoming movie that will debut next year.


Before it was revealed that Tom Holland would be playing the Peter Parker version of Spider-Man, there was a lot of rumors going around that instead of featuring Peter Parker, Marvel and Sony would instead focus on the Miles Morales version of Spider-Man.  If they would have gone this route, it really wouldn't have surprised many people.  We've already be given five different movies that featured Peter Parker, so what other stories could they tell that wouldn't be rehashing storylines from these other films?  And would we be given yet another origin movie?  How many times are we going to see a radioactive spider bite this kid?  Even with all of these reasons, Marvel and Sony decided to stick with Peter Parker, since he is the most well known and most popular Spider-Man out there, and Miles would not appear on the big screen...or would he?


Heroic Hollywood is reporting that there is an animated feature being worked on that will feature Miles Morales set to come out in 2018.  Even though this is just a rumor right now, they point to something that Tom Rothman (Sony Pictures Chairman) said at last year's CinemaCon while discussing the possibility of someone different being Spider-Man for an animated movie:


“The film will exist independently of the projects in the live-action Spider-Man universe, all of which are continuing.”


So why make an animated Spider-Man movie that stands alone from the live-action movies and feature the same character?  It would make more sense to make one featuring Miles Morales and introduce him to theater goers that don't actually read the comic books.  I'm also guessing that since it's going to be an animated movie, it'll be geared towards a younger crowd which will help expand their brand.  It could also open up the possibility of Miles appearing in an MCU film at some point down the line if the animated film does really well.


Like I said before, these are just rumors.  The animated film may well feature Peter Parker's Spider-Man, though that wouldn't make much sense.  The movie is being co-written and produced by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, both of which gave us The LEGO Movie.  There is no director yet, and a storyline or title for the movie hasn't been revealed to anyone.  We do know that it is scheduled to be released into theaters December 21, 2018. Tom Holland's Spider-Man: Homecoming will be released July 7, 2017.


So what do you think?  Are you ready for an animated Spider-Man movie that will feature someone other than Peter Parker as your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments section down below.

Who Will Logan Fight In The Upcoming Wolverine 3 Movie?

This weekend's release of X-Men: Apocalypse rounds out the "First Class" trilogy, and the untitled Wolverine 3 movie coming out next year will complete the Wolverine trilogy.  It will also be the end of Hugh Jackman's time as this character.  His first two solo movies did well at the box office, but were released to mixed reviews, and considering how violent the comic book version of Wolverine is, those first two movie were pretty tame and given a PG-13 rating.  They did this, of course, in order to reach a wider audience and hopefully make more money, but in doing this they lost the essence of the beloved character.  They didn't just lose the essence of Wolverine, they also lost it with other characters that they included in these films, most notably Deadpool. 

Enter Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the writers for the Deadpool movie.  They came along and showed everyone that you could make an R-rated superhero movie and still make money...all while staying true to the character.  Who'd a thunk it, right?  Now, 20th Century Fox is giving us what we've wanted from the get go...an R-rated Wolverine movie, and it should be a blood-bath of a good time!  But who is Logan going to be going up against?

There are two possibilities that are being floated around chat rooms right now.  The first one is Mister Sinister.  This is being considered as one because of the post-credit scene at the end of X-Men: Apocalypse.  In that scene, it shows a man walking over a bunch of bodies  until he reaches a vial of Wolverine's blood.  He picks it up and puts it into a briefcase that says "Essex Corporation" on it.  That puts Nathaniel Essex (a.k.a. Mister Sinister) front and center as the possible villain in the movie, with many people believing that this scene was put in to set up the character for Wolverine 3. Like I said in an earlier post, that may be the case, but it might not be.  They could be using the scene to set up the introduction of X-23, a clone of Wolverine that is also rumored to be making her debut in the film. 

The second possibility of villains are the Reavers.  The Nerdist recently claimed that through inside sources, these guys are the ones that Wolverine will do battle with.  The Reavers are cybernetically enhanced mercs that hunt mutants.  They've gone through a bunch of different forms, making their first appearance in Uncanny X-Men #133, but their most recent form has them as a group of mutant hunters led by Donald Pierce, who brought members of the Hellfire Club together and refitted them with advanced cybernetics.  They went on a tear trying to take down the X-Men, with a specific focus on Wolverine.  Whichever version they decide to use, the fact that Jackman is claiming that the movie will be loosely based on the comic book story Old Man Logan, chances are that we will be given a "Mad Max-ish" style of movie if either of these last two rumors are true.  In Old Man Logan, Wolverine sets across a dystopian United States (which is no longer the United States), and most of the story takes place in deserts and rocky terrain, which is why I think it'll be similar to a Mad Max movie.  But that's just my two cents on the matter.

Whoever Wolverine goes up against, it's looking to be an epic battle, one deserving for a character and a man who's entertained us for so many years.  Wolverine 3 will hit theaters March 3, 2017.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens LP Holds Crazy Secret

Does anybody out there still own a record player?  If you do, then you may want to go out and buy the Star Wars: The Force Awakens 2 LP hologram vinyl set when it comes out June 17, 2016.  Check out the video below to see why:

While vinyl LP's aren't nearly as popular as they were when Star Wars: A New Hope was released back in 1977, they are still made in limited production.  When Disney decided to release the John Williams score onto records, they wanted to do something special with it, so they reached out to Tristan Duke for help.  Duke is an artist and a holographer who founded Infinity Light Science back in 2008.  His company is a research laboratory that focuses on laser holography, hand-drawn holography, and other forms of light manipulation.  Duke was able to carve grooves into the vinyl that recorded light, and when the record was played, it gave them the images on the record that you saw in the above video.

On one of the records you're able to see the Millennium Falcon, while on the other one gives you a Tie-Fighter.  Both are done in amazing detail, and if you think about all of the intricate cuts that it took to create these images, it really is pretty awe inspiring.  So if you still own a record player and you haven't used it in a few decades, this might be the album for you to buy to convince you to take it out of storage and set it back up.

DC's Rebirth Bringing Back Some Old Fan Favorites

Okay, just like yesterday, I want to give you all fair warning...there are going to be ***SPOILERS!!!*** for the Rebirth story arc that DC comics is working on.


Every four or five years or so, comic book publishers like to shake things up in order to draw in new readers and bring back old ones.  Marvel is doing it this year with the release of their Civil War II story arc, and DC is going to be giving us Rebirth.  Not much had been said about what to expect from Rebirth, but then some information leaked over on Reddit.  After this happened, DC lifted their "press embargo" on some of the what we can expect, and it starts with the introduction of an old character that we haven't seen since before Flashpoint took place and gave us the New 52...Wally West.


Now, the Wally West that we end up following is the "original: Wally West, who used to be Kid Flash, and not the new Wally West that was introduced at the beginning of the New 52.  He's stuck in the Speed Force and is trying to find a tether to get back to reality.  While he's stuck there, they let the readers know what's going on in the current universe.  Here's a quick run down of things that I pulled from the story that Screenrant published:

Batman not only knows The Joker’s real name (following the events of the Darkseid War storyline in Justice League), he knows an even bigger secret: The Joker has three real names, implying that the Clown Prince of Crime may be three different men (or a composite of three different pre-Flashpoint possible origins for the original Joker.)

Jessica Cruz has become a Green Lantern.

The Legion of Superheroes (or at least a Legion flight-ring) have re-emerged.

Johnny Thunder, originally of the Justice Society of America (who aren’t supposed to have existed anymore) is alive and living in a nursing home.

Darkseid has been reborn in the body of Superwoman’s baby.

Aquaman and Mera are getting married.

Green Arrow and Black Canary are not together, but seem to be regaining their memories of a relationship.

Pandora, the “herald” of the New 52 era, has been killed by an unknown assailant.

The Atom is trapped in “The Microverse,” and Atom #2 Ryan Choi now remembers that he is Atom #2 again.

Wonder Woman has a twin brother named Jason, identity unknown but presumed to be someone she/we have already met.

Doctor Fate is back on the “main” Earth, rather than his doppelganger form known to be living on Earth 2.

Jackson Hyde (Aqualad) has returned and has come out of the closet as a gay man.

Superman (New 52 version) is missing, potentially setting up the character’s rumored death in issue #52 of his own series. Meanwhile, the original (pre-New 52) version of Superman is hiding out with Lois Lane and their son after having been willed back into existence during the Convergence event.

West is able to use Barry Allen as his tether back to the real world.  Allen is feeling guilty about everything that happened during Flashpoint, as some of his memories have returned that reminded him of all of the chaos that he created.  He thinks that he changed the timeline through his actions, but West tells him that he didn't...that they are still in the original timeline, except some all-powerful force has changed reality.  This being is changing memories and breaking down the bonds between superheroes, forcing reality to change in order to weaken them before the final confrontation.  They don't tell us who this being is, but the rumor around the web is that it is none other than Doctor Manhattan!  Why do they think this?

At the end of the issue, it shows Batman digging up a long buried object inside the Batcave, with Wally West saying, "We're being watched," in a voiceover to the scene.  The object?  The Comedian's blood-splattered smiley face badge from The Watchmen!


So what does this mean?  Is DC finally going to incorporate that universe of The Watchmen in with the regular DCU?  Who knows?  But it's a twist that I don't think anyone saw coming!  So what are your thoughts on all of this?  Are you excited to see this happen, or are you tired of all of these "universe altering" storylines?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments section down below.

Marvel Shakes Things Up With Captain America: Steve Rogers #1

Just a head's up, there are going to be ***SPOILERS!!!*** here if you haven't read Captain America: Steve Rogers #1 yet, so if you haven't read it yet, be warned!


So...wait...what???


So Steve Rogers has returned to the land of the living. What could be more exciting than that, right?  Well, on the very last page of the new comic book series, Cap does something that seems unthinkable.  After battling Baron Zemo, Rogers betrays his former friend Jack Flag by throwing him out of a plane.  Before doing so, though, he says to him, "Hail Hydra."  The first thoughts that go through your mind is that this isn't the real Steve Rogers, he's a Skrull posing as Rogers, or it's a Rogers from an alternate universe.  I mean, it wouldn't be the first time that either of these two possibilities have happened, but according to the writers, this Captain America is the real deal.  Here's what Marvel executive editor Tom Brevoot had to say about this new reveal:


“We knew it would be like slapping people in the face…His mission is to further the goals and beliefs of Hydra. If that involves taking down the Marvel universe, sure. (But) it may not be as simple as that. It’s not like he’s exchanged his white hat for a black hat – it’s a green hat.”


The issue jumps back to the 1920's, where a young Steve Rogers and his mother end up getting pulled into Hydra.  Red Skull is out recruiting poor and disenfranchised youths and adults and this is how they end up getting pulled into the mix of the Hydra organization.  It's being said that this newly revealed backstory to Rogers will somehow tie into Sam Wilson being christened the new Captain America, as well as his "Comic Cube-based rebirth."  With Rogers now a sleeper agent (apparently) for Hydra, Brevoot said this about where the story arc may go:


“Well, it puts the readers one step ahead of most of the characters in the Marvel Universe, so that, in Hitchcock tradition, they’re aware that the most trusted and most respected superhero within the Marvel Universe is now a wolf among the flock, who could strike at any time.”


The writer for this series is Nick Spencer.  He recently sat down with EW for an interview and threw in his two cents on the matter:


“Captain America is not just one of the most recognizable faces in the Marvel Universe. He’s an inspiring figure, somebody who brings people together. Everybody here obviously gets that. What you hope is that this story, in its own very different way, highlights those things and only continues to elevate the character in importance, and only serves to illustrate how powerful that symbol is.”


With sales of comic books slightly dipping and the popularity of the MCU soaring, it's not surprising that Marvel is doing something like this.  Good guys die, then come back to life, they turn evil then get redemption, it's nothing new.  This is the first time that Cap has been the bad guy, though.  Whatever the storyline here ends up being, it's pretty certain to say that what happens here will have a big impact on the upcoming Civil War II story arc that Marvel is in the process of making.  Not a lot is known yet where they are going with Civil War II, but a possible plot line (and this is purely speculation on my part) is that Cap is able to sway certain heroes over to his line of thinking and then they go head to head with the ones that see him as a traitor. 


So what do you think of this surprising turn for Rogers?  Do you like it?  How long do you think it will last?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments section down below.

DC Says Dead Robin Really Is Jason Todd

I think it's safe to say that the DC Extended Universe has gotten off to a bit of a rocky start, although they do seem to be turning things in the right direction.  Their choice of just throwing superheroes into the mix without introducing viewers to them through origin story movies opens up a whole world of backstories that they can pull from and use in their current story arcs.  Yes, I know, it looks like Wonder Woman will be an origin story, but then look at Aquaman and The Flash.  Both of their solo movies will have stories that take place after Justice League comes out.  They've just existed in the DEU...like Batman.  In the movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, we're introduced to a Bruce Wayne that has been fighting crime as Batman for two decades now, and now is a rougher version of the cleaner-cut versions that have come before him.  One of the things that seems to weigh heavy on Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne is the loss of his partner, Robin.  Nothing is said about it in the movie, but we do see him staring at the Robin costume in the Batcave with the Joker's scrawl all over it.  Fans of the comic book have assumed that the Robin in the DCEU that died was Jason Todd.  


Jason Todd was the second Robin to fight along side Batman after Dick Grayson left to become Nightwing.  In a powerful and popular story arc titled "Death in the Family," the Joker kills Todd by bludgeoning him with a crowbar and then blowing him up.  This was a great story, and fans even got to decide whether or not Jason Todd would die.  DC made two different comic books, one where he survived and one where he died.  Readers then called a 1-800 number to vote on his outcome.  In a very slim win, fans decided that they were tired of Jason Todd.  But, like all things in the comic book world, nobody stays dead for long.  Years later, we learned that Jason Todd was brought back to life, and that he had become the Red Hood, but that's a different story altogether.


Okay, back to the DCEU.  A video was up loaded to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood Facebook page, and it shows a tour of an exhibit that features actual props and costumes that were used in making the film.  The guide points out that one of the big things from the film was Jason Todd's Robin costume.  A subtle way for Warner Bros. to confirm it was Todd's, but it's a confirmation none the less.


So what does this mean?  Are we going to get a version of Under the Red Hood for the solo Batman movie?  No idea, but announcing this does open the door for a lot of possible story arcs for the Caped Crusader.  No word on when the Batman movie will be released yet, but you'll be able to see him make an appearance in this August's Suicide Squad movie.  And as always, let me know your thoughts on this in the comments section down below.


 

Spider-Man: Homecoming IS Going To Sign Michael Keaton

When it was first being reported that Spider-Man: Homecoming was trying to sign Michael Keaton on as it's villain, I held off on saying anything about what I'd heard because it didn't sound like Keaton was on board.  I can't say that I blamed him for passing it up.  From what it sounds like, The Vulture is going to be the main bad guy in the film, and Keaton just finished a role playing Birdman, which kind of looked a lot like The Vulture in appearance.  So he passed on the role...or did he?  It now sounds like Keaton is going to join the cast of Spider-Man, and he is going to be playing The Vulture.  Or at least, that's the rumored villain for the movie.  Here's what's being said about the upcoming Spider-Man movie...


It's being reported that Keaton will play Adrian Toomes (a.k.a. The Vulture) by website JoBlo's sources.  They say that he builds his Vulture suit using alien technology that was recovered after the battle in New York from the first Avengers movie.  He doesn't build it alone, though.  It's being said that he'll have the help of another Marvel villain, the Tinkerer.  But it's not like Peter Parker doesn't have help of his own, though.  Tony Stark will be showing up, returning to his "mentor" role for the young superhero.  Something that he may introduce to Spider-Man's costume?  His "web wings."  See the picture below:





Even though Keaton hasn't actually signed on the bottom line just yet, they say that they are in the final negotiations for the film, and an official announcement will come soon afterwards.  So what do you think?  Does this sound like Spider-Man is moving in the right direction/  Leave me your thoughts in the comments section down below.


Spider-Man: Homecoming hits theaters July 7, 2017.

X-Men: Apocalypse Post-Credit Scene Details Leaked

The movie X-Men: Apocalypse opened to international theaters this past weekend with a whopping $103 million, and even though it won't reach the U.S. theaters until this weekend, details about the movie have already been making their way online.  One of the most talked about scenes being discussed is the post-credit scene.  Before you read any further, let it be warned...***SPOILERS!!!*** coming up!


The post-credit scene takes the viewers back to the Weapon X facility that we see Jean Grey, Cyclops and Nightcrawler at during the last trailer that was released.  This is also where Wolverine was being held before he escapes and kills a bunch of Stryker's goons.  The scene shows someone stepping over all of the bodies until he comes to what he's been looking for...a vial of Wolverine's blood.  He picks it up and places it in a briefcase that says, "ESSEX CORP" on the outside.  Now if you're unfamiliar with the name "Essex," that's the last name of Nathaniel Essex, also known as Mister Sinister.  So does this mean that Mister Sinister is going to be the big baddie in the next X-Men related feature?  Maybe, maybe not.


A couple of things should be mentioned at this point.  One, we don't know what this post-credit scene is setting up for.  Is it leading us to things that are going to take place in Wolverine 3, or another X-Men movie?  There's Gambit, or it could be setting up for the New Mutants movie or X-Force.  There hasn't been an announcement as to whether or not they are going to jump back into the X-Men with another trilogy or not, so it would seem that they are trying to build up something for another one of their franchises, a la Marvel.  The second question that gets raised is, who is the vial of blood for?  Is it going to go to Mister Sinister, or is this how X-23 gets to be made?  If this is the case, then this is a scene that's building up towards Wolverine 3?  Too many questions from such a short scene.


What do you think all of this means?  If rumors about X-23 appearing in the final Wolverine movie are to be believed, then this would be a great way to introduce her, or at least explain her existence.  They're going to be wanting to find a character to replace Wolverine, since Hugh Jackman is retiring from the role.  They'll want to bring in someone that is comparable to Logan, without replacing the actor in the role.  To be honest, I don't think fans would be open to someone else playing Wolverine for a very long time, but that's just me.  If you have any different theories about how this scene works in the bigger picture leave them in the comments section down below.

Josh Duhamel To Return For Transformers: The Last Knight

Even though critics continually tear these movies apart, Michael Bay is coming back with a  fifth installment to his Transformers franchise, and he's bringing back a familiar face along with him.  Josh Duhamel is set to return as Lieutenant Colonel William Lennox and will join Mark Wahlberg's Cade Yeager.  I don't know how these two are going to meet, but having these two characters share the screen will be pretty cool.  And oh yeah, the movie has a title.  It's going to be called Transformers: The Last Knight. 


Do you remember how Age of Extinction ended?  Look, if you are a movie critic and you're reading this, letting me explain to you that yes, these movies do have plots.  They may not be great stories, but they do follow a plot none the less.  Anyways, at the end of Age of Extinction we saw our Autobot leader Optimus Prime flying off into space in search of the creators.  They were kind of touched upon by the bounty hunter robot Lockdown, but little else is known about these creators.  Lockdown said that the Autobots and Decepticons were too busy fighting one another to understand the true purpose of their creation.  So Optimus Prime flies off to find them.  He was also sporting some pretty cool new equipment at the end of the film, too.  Along with his updated armor, he carried a sword (the Sword of Judgment, maybe?) that could lead people to think that the movie title could be referring to Optimus himself.  Of course, these titles are often misleading, so maybe the last knight refers to the creators, or "creator" if there's only one left?  I don't know, this is all speculation. 


Besides Duhamel and Wahlberg returning, Tyrese Gibson is letting us know that he's interested in making a return to the franchise as well, but no word on whether this will happen or not.  It should, if Col. Lennox is coming back, he ought to have his trusted number two around, right?  Maybe this will be a new trend for the franchise, bring back the actors from previous films and mix them in with the new bunch?  They could bring back Megan Fox (Yay!) and Shia LaBeouf (Boo!) and get the band back together.  I doubt that will happen.  Fox is too busy with TMNT's franchise that I don't see her coming back.  Plus, she was pretty much just eye candy in the series, and she said she'd done with roles like that, so don't expect her to return any time soon.  As far as LaBeouf goes, his exit was probably the best thing for the series.  Look, say what you will about the guy, but he is a good actor.  It's just that this wasn't a role that fit him very well.


This might be Bay's last go around with the franchise.  Directing five of these films is pretty impressive for any director.  Paramount has said that it wants to do some spin off movies to the series, maybe focusing on Bumblebee or one that takes place on Cybertron.  Regardless of their plans, if the movie makes a lot of money you can expect to see more of these in the future.  Just an F.Y.I., the franchise has banked $3.75 billion at the box office so far.  Transformers: The Last Knight will make it's debut June 23, 2017.

Harley Quinn To Get Her Own Spin Off Movie

Yesterday I talked about X-23 and today I'm going to talk about Harley Quinn.  Do you know what these two characters have in common?  They both first appeared in animated television shows before making their way to comic books.  Both have become fan favorites, but Harley Quinn has shot to super-stardom.  She's one of the most popular characters that you'll see women cosplay as at comic book conventions, and even people not familiar with comic books recognize her.  She's spanned television, comic books, and video games, and now she'll be making her big screen debut in Suicide Squad which comes out this August.  Margot Robbie will be playing Harley Quinn, and even though this is a movie that has a large group of characters competing for screen time, she seems to be the main focus of trailers and promotions.

Since Warner Bros. had signed Robbie to a muti-picture deal, it was assumed that this would mean that she would appear as a supporting character in a Suicide Squad sequel and/or the Batman solo film, but now it's being reported that she may be getting a solo movie of her own...kind of.  Robbie approached Warner Bros. with an unnamed female writer to pitch their idea for a Harley Quinn movie, and from the reports going around, Warner Bros. loved it.  Robbie will not only be starring in the film, but will also produce it.  She has her own production company called LuckyChap Entertainment, which is currently in post-production on their first feature film called Terminal.  Here's where things get interesting.

The movie won't just be a solo outing for Harley Quinn, but will include a whole array of female-centric DC characters.  While nothing has been confirmed (obviously) word is that it would also feature the likes of Batgirl and the Birds of Prey.  I can see why Warner Bros. is excited about a movie like this.  With Marvel ruling the box office, Warner Bros. is trying to work their way into the comic book movie conversation with their own universe.  While Man of Steel  and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice have failed to be the blockbusters that they had been hoping for, don't count them out yet.  Suicide Squad seems to be tracking good with fans after releasing three different trailers for the film, and Wonder Woman has been getting good word of mouth as well.  Wonder Woman is particularly popular with fans because this would be the first female comic book character to get her own solo movie.  This is something that Warner Bros. has an edge over Marvel with, and if they were to make a Harley Quinn movie, too, well...that would give them an even bigger edge over Marvel in drawing in younger female audiences.

Like I said earlier, nothing has been confirmed yet, possibly in case Suicide Squad bombs at the box office they can walk away from the deal and pretend it never happened.  With Harley Quinn's popularity, as well as Margot Robbie's, I find this happening hard to believe.  That, and Suicide Squad has something going for it that Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice didn't...it's not being directed by Zach Snyder!

New X-Force Script May Feature Female Wolverine

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know that 20th Century Fox is doing everything that it can to expand their X-Men property into multiple movie titles.  X-Men: Apocalypse will conclude the second of the X-Men movie trilogies, and Wolverine 3 will be Hugh Jackman's last appearance as Wolverine, so where do they go from here?  They've already branched out when they gave us Deadpool and they're also working on a Gambit solo film, but these movies just follow one character (even if others might show up).  What they want is another mutant team that can give them more characters to feature.  You know, like their own version of Avengers or Justice League.

Two projects that have been mentioned as moving forward are New Mutants and X-Force.  Out of the two, New Mutants seems to be moving along faster than X-Force. Fox has announced three release dates for unannounced X-Men projects, and it's being assumed that they are for the Gambit movie, Deadpool 2, and New Mutants.  That's not to say that they aren't working on the X-Force movie.  In fact, Simon Kinberg is current working on a script for the film, and some interesting news that's being said about it?  IT's going to feature a female Wolverine.

I've talked about X-23 in previous posts, so I won't go into the details of who Laura Kinney (a.k.a. X-23) is, but if you aren't familiar with her, just go to my old posts and you'll find her information there.  Getting back to her, though, if this information is true, then I think it's a good decision on Fox's part (which is surprising in itself).  The main reason why I think this is a good idea is that trying to replace Hugh Jackman as Wolverine just a few years after his stepping down from the role would be stupid.  Too many people would be comparing the new actor to Jackman, and it would take away from the movie.  Jackman has been playing Wolverine for the past 16 years, and fans love him in this role.  I just think that people would be unwilling to accept anyone else as Wolverine, and a movie with a new Logan would bomb.  So what do you do?  You stay true to the comics, and instead of replacing the actor, you replace the character...just like they did in the comic books. 

There have been rumors that X-23 will be making an appearance in Wolverine 3 (coming out March 3, 2017) so will this give us our first look at the actress that will be possibly appearing in the X-Force movie?  If the movie does well and the fans accept her as Logan's "daughter," then that might help sell the X-Force movie for when it comes out.  That, and if Cable does make an appearance in Deadpool 2, then that would give the movie studio two characters that fans are already familiar with to help in promoting the X-Force movie.  Of course, all of this is just speculation, nothing has been confirmed, not even that the movie is going to get made.

So what do you think?  Do you like the idea of X-23 becoming the new Wolverine, or do you think they should try focusing their attention on other mutants in the X-Men universe?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments section down below.

A Few Things Happened Last Night On The CW...

Before I talk about everything that happened last night on television (and some other things) let me just point out the obvious...***HUGE SPOILERS*** if you haven't watched last night's DC Legends of Tomorrow. 


Still with me?  Good.  So last night was the first season finale for the show, and it left us with a bit of a shake up.  First, Hawkgirl and Hawkman both split.  Not from each other, just from the team.  Now that they were rid of Vandal Savage after the team defeated him last night, they wanted to go off and live free from his grasp for the first time in 4000 years.  Can't say that I blame them.  But then the unexpected happened...at the very end of the show, a second Waverider shows up and out comes Rex Tyler (a.k.a. Hourman) and tells them that he was sent from the future and that he was part of the Justice Society of America (JSA).  Didn't see that one coming.  Nice touch on leaving the show with a cliffhanger, though.  Marc Guggenheim has already said that we can expect to see some more new DC characters in season two of the show, so it looks like Hourman is just the first of many that are going to be introduced.


Something else that surprised me while watching Legends last night, I saw a commercial for Supergirl season two on the CW.  They didn't waste any time letting people know that she'll be joining the other DC television shows over there.  It was a good commercial, too.  It was able to blend Kara in with the Green Arrow and Flash, like she's always belonged there.  To be honest, she should have been there all along.  CBS was not the place for that show.  But now that she's over on the CW, the network's head, Mark Pedowitz, has confirmed that next season we can expect a massive four-show crossover event.  It hasn't been confirmed whether it will span across all four shows, or if it will only feature characters from the four shows on just one or two of the programs.  It's way too early for them to be deciding that just yet.  It has been reported, though, that it will take place some time this December.


DC is doing something with their television properties that Marvel hasn't been able to do with theirs.  They've managed to successfully blend them all together into one shared universe.  Look, I know that Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to take place in the same universe as their movie properties, but even so...the show just seems isolated from everything.  Marvel is just now starting to do the same thing as DC with their Netflix shows, but it's much darker and doesn't appeal to as wide of an audience as the CW's shows.  They also aren't getting the same ratings as the CW's shows.  As far as money goes, Marvel still trounces DC in that area, but as far as enjoyable television?  DC wins that hands down.  Now if they can only get their DCEU on the same track...

Kevin Smith Pitches Buckaroo Banzai Television Series

Two of my favorite movies growing up were Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins and The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.  These were both classic and campy 80's movies that were a lot of fun to watch.  And even though they both seem to indicate by their titles that there are multiple movies with these characters (i.e. "The Adventure Begins", "The Adventures of...") these were the only ones made featuring these characters.  That soon might change...well, at least for one of them.  And it'll be on television.


It seems that writer/director/podcaster Kevin Smith has gained some confidence with directing television shows after his first go at it with The Flash.  He stepped out of his comfort zone by doing it, but now he seems to have caught the bug.  He's not the only one that's gained confidence in himself.  Production studios have also taken notice.  Because of this, Smith is looking to move forward on a project that he's been wanting to do, a television remake/reboot of Buckaroo Banzai.  He's already pitched the idea to MGM, and they seem to be on board with the project.  Now they just have to shop it around to different television companies.


The movie followed a "physicist/neurosurgeon/test pilot/rock musician" named Dr. Buckaroo Banzai, played by Peter Weller.  He's out to save the universe with the help of a team of fellow adventurers by traveling across space and time in a supped-up Ford F-350.  They're out to stop a band of interdimensional bad guys that are led by Dr. Emilio Lizardo, played by John Lithgow.  Smith's pitch for the television show would follow the same story from the movie and have it take place all through season one.  This is a good idea, considering that one of the main complaints of the film was there was way too much going on that it made it hard to follow.  Season two would then go on to a new adventure (if it gets picked up for a season two). 


It's easy to complain that this is just another attempt at Hollywood going back to old ideas and trying to bring them into the present culture and make money off of them, but I don't think this the case here.  Well, at least about the first part, everybody is looking to make money in that business.  With Smith's fanboy credentials and love of comics, I believe that he'll stay true to the original movie's characters and story.  He'll just be able to define them both a little more than the movie was able to.


No word yet on if it'll get picked up by anyone for a pilot yet, but if I hear anything else, I'll make sure to post it here once I do.  If anyone else out there remembers this movie, let me know what you thought about it in the comments section below.

Coulson's Big Break Came From Thor Writers

Sometimes good things happen for all of the wrong reasons.  That's kind of the case when talking about Clark Gregg's Agent Phil Coulson.  Originally written as a throw away character that was only to appear in the first Iron Man movie, a strange sequence of events led to him becoming one of the most beloved characters in the MCU.

Zack Stentz, one of the two writers for the first Thor movie (the other writer being Ashley Miller) recently sat down with Kevin Smith for his Fatman on Batman podcast to talk about being tasked by Marvel to do a re-write for the film, and only being given a few weeks to do it.  Here's what he had to say:

“This was a page one re-write, based very loosely on story beats that they gave us… there were beats that they had, and beats that they didn’t have, and we were kind of working them together. At one point it was like ‘Okay we want S.H.I.E.L.D. to be in there’ and they’re like ‘We can’t have S.H.I.E.L.D. as the bad guys!’ ‘No, not the bad guys, just the people opposing Thor; they’ll be the good guys by the end, trust us.’

“And then they’re like ‘Well, you can have S.H.I.E.L.D., but Sam Jackson’s holding us up in negotiations so we don’t know if we can have Nick Fury. And we’re like ‘Well, how about that Clark Gregg guy from the first Iron Man, he was great and he popped! Can we have Coulson?’ And they’re like ‘Coulson, Coulson, Coulson… oh him! Yeah, you can have him.’… They ended up giving him a bigger role in Iron Man 2 because they liked how he was popping in Thor. Clark Gregg actually sent us t-shirts as a thank you.”


So Samuel L. Jackson holding out in negotiations is responsible for Clark Gregg's rise in the MCU.  See what I mean by good things happen for all of the wrong reasons?  Even though it was his charisma and talent that made him memorable to the writers, it was Jackson's contract negotiations that actually led to his becoming a main player.  Funny how things work out.  Oh, and Gregg's not the only MCU character that should be thanking Stentz and Miller.  Stentz went on to say:


“You want to know who owes us and hasn’t said ANYTHING? Part way through [the script] there’s ‘the SHIELD Sniper takes aim’ and we identify ‘Barton’. And [the producers said] ‘But if we get Hawkeye, we’ll have to get a real actor.’ And then they realized we can just shoot the A-Side, and then when we cast for The Avengers we’ll just go back and shoot a thing with that actor. So, Jeremy Renner: You’re welcome!”


It sounds like some clever camera shots were made to Renner's Hawkeye to get into the film before making an appearance in Avengers.  Like I said, funny how things work out sometimes.

Michael B. Jordan To Join The MCU

It was recently announced that Michael B. Jordan had been signed on to the Black Panther movie that Marvel is outing out, and it sounds like he'll be playing the villain.  This is a huge win for Marvel, since Jordan is fast becoming a bankable star...even with his appearance as Johnny storm in 20th Century Fox's poor attempt at a Fantastic Four reboot.  The Black Panther movie is getting some stellar talent for the film.  Besides Jordan signing on, Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong is also reported to have a role in the film, as well as Chadwick Boseman, who we all were able to see play T'Challa, the leader of Wakanda, in this month's Captain America: Civil War.  His role, as well as Tom Holland's Spider-Man, were shinning moments in the film, and the buzz for his solo movie outing is starting to reach fever pitch.  But let's get back to Jordan...


With Jordan joining the film, this will mark his third film working with director Ryan Coogler.  Jordan and Coogler teamed up back in 2015 to make a little movie called Creed, which helped the star and the director become A-list talent, the prior in front of the camera and the latter behind the camera.  They had also worked on Fruitvale Station together.  Does this mean that Coogler had a hand in getting Jordan signed to the film?  I'm sure it didn't hurt.  When directors find actors that they enjoy working with, they tend to continue to working with them in other projects.  Christopher Nolan is one of these directors.  Go to IMDB and see how many times he's worked with the same actors.


On the negative side of this announcement is that it pretty much dooms any sort of possibility of Marvel and Fox coming together for a crossover event with their Fantastic Four property.  I know that it doesn't completely rule it out, but in order for this to happen, first, well...they'd actually have to sit down and agree to it.  But second, they'd have to do what Sony is doing with Spider-Man and recast and reintroduce us to the team all over again.  That won't happen any time soon.  Why do I say this?  Simon Kinberg (Fantastic Four and X-Men writer-producer) says that he still sees a sequel to the Fantastic Four film happening, and promises that it will be more light and fun.  If Fox is really considering doing this after the terrible going that the FF had last time around, they must really be desperate.  You also have to consider that the cast may not want to come back and take another beating at the box office.  It sure wouldn't help them being considered for any future projects.  I even read that some of the cast didn't even watch the final cut of the movie that they starred in!  If they didn't even want to see it, why would we?  And why would we want a sequel to that movie?


So Jordan's Johnny Storm might not be coming back, but at least Jordan is.  I'm looking forward to seeing him back with Marvel, but actual at Marvel where he truly belongs.  Black Panther hits theaters February 16, 2018.

Booster Gold Movie To Get A Flash Of Writing Talent

One of the best things going for Warner Bros.' DCEU is the fact that they are hiring different directors for their movies featuring individual heroes, such as Wonder Woman, Aquaman,  and The Flash.  Another one of these movies that now seems to be moving forward is the Booster Gold movie, and one of the people that Warner Bros. has brought on to help with this project is Greg Berlanti.  While we don't know what his role is as far as this film is concerned, we do know that he helped bring on Zach Stentz to write the screenplay.  Stentz has plenty of experience with superhero films, having been the writer for Thor and X-Men: First Class.  More recently, he wrote an episode for the television show The Flash.  The episode he wrote was "The Runaway Dinosaur," which was directed by Kevin Smith.  Both Smith and Stentz appeared on Screen Junkies' Movie Fights, and had this to say:


“I am jumping into the DC Universe with both feet, and I am at least, until they fire me, I’m gonna be writing Booster Gold — for the big screen, for all of my Flash friends.”


So, we have a screenwriter for the film, but who is going to direct it?  One person that is interested in the job is Greg Berlanti himself, who said,  “I’d probably direct that, or I would want to.”  While this doesn't mean that he'll be the one that they hire, he would be a good choice for the film.  Berlanti knows a lot about the DC universe.  At one point, it was rumored that he was going to produce a Booster Gold television show.  When that fell through, it was rumored that Booster Gold might appear on his other television show DC's Legends of Tomorrow, but as we now know, that never happened.  Warner Bros. may have nixed that idea so they could save him for their DCEU family. 


While Warner Bros. haven't "officially" announced that this project is being worked on, it does seem to be one of the projects that they are focused on making happen.  The next question to be asked is who will they get to play Booster Gold?  Someone that has been mentioned and who has also showed interest in the past of playing Booster Gold is Nathan Fillion.  Now that Castle has been cancelled, this could free him up to play this role if it indeed is moving forward.


Who would you like to see play Booster Gold?  Are you even familiar with who Booster Gold is?  If you aren't, just ask me, and I'll do a future post explaining who he is in the DC comic book world.  You can leave your questions and comments in the section below.

Main Villain In Justice League Movie Rumored To Be...

It should be mentioned that there are ***POTENTIAL SPOILERS!!!*** ahead...


It's long been rumored (and assumed) that the main villain in the upcoming Justice League Part 1 was going to be Darkseid, but a new report from Heroic Hollywood says that's just not the case...at least right now.  The script has gone through a number of rewrites, and is still being put together.  Even though the script does have Darkseid appearing in the Justice League film, it will be Darkseid's uncle, Steppenwolf, who will be the main bad guy in the movie. Okay, he's Darkseid's uncle in the comic books, but who knows how Zach Snyder will change him in the movie.


Let's jump back to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice for a moment.  There is a deleted scene from the film that recently made it's way on to the internet.  Chances are, it will be included on the special edition rated-R version of the movie that will be available on DVD and Bluray later this year.  In the scene, Lex Luthor meets a monster while he's in his Kryptonian warm bath.  The monster was rumored to be Steppenwolf, even though it barely looked like him.  However, it's now being said that's exactly who it's supposed to be.  Now let's jump ahead to Justice League and the potential spoilers.


According to Heroic Hollywood's sources, there's a scene that's going to be in the Justice League movie that will take place on Earth around 30,000 years in the past.  It shows us that Darkseid had attacked the planet during this time.  He was defeated in his attack by a coalition of humans, Amazonians, and Atlanteans.  During his escape from Earth, Darkseid leaves behind the motherboxes.  These are the boxes that Lex Luthor finds in the deleted scene that I mentioned before, and you can see in the picture above.  This prompts Steppenwolf to head back to Earth to retrieve them, and sets off the fight between him and his army against the Justice League.


I don't know if this conflict will only be the plot for the first Justice League film, or both of them.  I think that a safe guess would be that this storyline will just cover the first of the two films, and then the second one will feature Darkseid coming back to Earth to either aid his uncle, or exact revenge on the planet that defeated him before.


So what do you think of these possible revelations about the Justice League films?  Leave me your thoughts on this in the comments section down below. 


Justice League Part 1 is set to hit theaters November 17, 2017.

If You Want To Kill A Great Franchise, This Is How You Do It

It seems like superhero crossover films are all anybody is wanting to do these days.  Go big or go home is the attitude.  Marvel has been doing this for years, and Warner Brothers recently got into the mix with their Batman/Superman movie.  So why should things be any different over at 20th Century Fox?  They see the money that can be made, and they want a part of it.  Of course, they kind of started the whole "multiple heroes in the same movie" fad that's going on right now when they introduced us to the X-Men.  The problem is, they haven't built off of the X-Men properly.  Yes, they've given us stand alone Wolverine movies, but even the first one of these movies was a flop and ticked off a lot of fans of the comics by screwing up Wade Wilson.  If it wasn't for Ryan Reynolds and the writers of Deadpool (Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick) pushing Fox to redeem themselves for the mess they made of Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Fox would still be sitting on this property not knowing what to do with it.  Now that Deadpool is a HUGE success, there's now talk of trying to figure out how to do a crossover film with the X-Men and Deadpool.  I think Deadpool's "Oh no!" expression in the picture above describes my feelings about this idea quite well.

A lot of people out there are fans of Bryan Singer's X-Men movies...I'm not one of them.  Yes, I love the X-Men.  They were some of the very first comic books that I ever bought as a kid, but Singer's interpretation of the comic book that he's given us in theaters is lacking, in my opinion.  I know I'll get crap for saying that, but that's how I feel about it.  the first X-Men film wasn't bad, I really liked it, but the second one just didn't seem to work.  He was trying to throw in too many characters and storylines that, in my opinion, he wasn't very familiar with.  The third movie sucked, but he had nothing to do with that one, and I'll credit him for walking away from that one.  X-Men: First Class revitalized the franchise, but again, he had nothing to do with that one either.  Singer came back for X-Men: Days of Future Past, and even though the story was pretty good, I don't think he did a very good job of handling all of the characters from the future and the past very well.  Now his X-Men: Apocalypse is due to come out this month, and the reviews are mixed, with critics leaning toward the side of "not his best work."  Color me surprised.  But even with these mixed reviews, that hasn't stopped Singer and 20th Century Fox from thinking about the future.

As Singer is going around doing interviews to promote Apocalypse, questions about Deadpool joining the X-Men cinematic universe have been popping up all over the place.  I'm sure that this has been irritating for Singer, considering that Deadpool has out-grossed all of his X-Men movies he's made, but he seems to be gracious about the whole thing, even answering questions about a possible cross over with the Merc with a Mouth.  Here's what he had to say:

“If you take a character as irreverent and meta as Deadpool and connect him to something as grounded and serious as X-Men, you have to do it carefully and gently. When you drop them all in together it can be a disaster. That has to be done delicately, but there’s plenty of room to do it.”

First of all, I'd like to commend him for realizing and understanding that the two different movie tones might not work well together.  What I'm worried about, however, is that he thinks it could be done.  This would be the worst possible thing for a brand new franchise like Deadpool to do.  He has the potential to go on to make plenty of movies as a stand alone character (with another character to play off of like Colossus or Cable) and doesn't need to join a "team."  I know he has in comic books, but this is different.  A lot different.  Deadpool interacting with the audience, or "breaking the fourth wall," helped this movie be a hit.  To try and mix that flavor with a moody X-Men movie is a recipe for disaster, and unfortunately, Fox doesn't seem to realize this.

So to finish this rant, I'll just say this...if you think this will help you score big at the box office with a crossover, then go ahead and try it, but know that you'll be killing off your most profitable movie franchise that you own.

X-Men: Apocalypse Receives Mixed Reviews

Critics had been given an early screening of the movie X-Men: Apocalypse but hadn't been aloud to write about it...until now.  While the reviews are mixed, they are mostly positive.  All the critics agreed that Evan Peters' Quicksilver steals the show again, and the scene that features Wolverine was, to quote one person, "f**king bananas!"  After going through a long list of reviews, many of which are magazines or websites that know nothing about comic books, I put together a few of the reviews of the most fanboy-centric sites.  Here's what they said:




We Got This Covered

X-Men: Apocalypse does nothing to discredit an already enormous franchise, and will appease fans who want more of the same mutant thrills. Comic diehards get their dug-in references (Wolverine mirrors an entrance straight from illustrated pages, Jubilee flashes her legendary yellow jacket, Xavier finally goes bald), movie lovers have some tremendous set pieces to gander at, and X-lovers spend more time with earlier versions of characters they already enjoy. The film isn’t underwhelming, it’s just same old free-wheeling, Cerebro-smashing, Wolvie-berserker style antics that basely sustain franchise advancement. The X-Men are back, without a doubt. I can’t say they’re better than ever, but they’re certainly back! Rating: 3 stars out of 5

 ComicBook

X-Men: Apocalypse has a lot of action, balanced with humor and emotion that make you think of more than just “When’s the next superpower?” There’s a ton of fan-service, especially for longtime fans of the X-Men (whether from comics, videogames, the 90s animated series, or the films) and in-jokes (including one laugh out loud one at their own expense) that should make X-fans extremely happy. From the climactic battle all the way through the final scene of the movie, my inner ten-year-old was screaming out loud. The audience of oft-jaded press and guests were whooping and left the theater smiling – a telling indication of a flat-out fun time.

 Den Of Geek

X-Men: Apocalypse is by no means a terrible film - the quality of the cast, from Fassbender to McAvoy to Lawrence to Kodi Smit-McPhee to Evan Peters (again great as Quicksilver) ensures there’s always someone worth watching in the quieter moments. But compared to this year’s last big superhero movie, Captain America: Civil War, Apocalypse feels less assured, less fleet-footed at moving between the earnest, the dramatic and the outright camp. When a superhero gets all these elements right, the result can seem effortless; when the balance is wrong, the difference is plain to see. Rating: 2 stars out of 5

 Empire

Messier and heavier than Days Of Future Past, this is not so much the next step in the X-Men’s evolution as a failed callback to past glories. Rating: 2 stars out of 5

Bleeding Cool

But for the most part, X-Men: Apocalypse weaves its ongoing plotlines from previous films and new characters in a fun and spirited manner. Anchored by Isaac’s strong performance as En Sabah Nur, the film also has a momentum as the essential group of characters form up to face down the threat of Apocalypse. And with these characters, the X-Men film series finally feels like the X-Men comics of the era … even if some of the mutants are younger or older than they should be.

 JoBlo

At this point the X-MEN movies have really settled into a predictable rhythm; while you could of course say the same for some other big franchises, these particular movies just don't inspire a lot of excitement in me. That said, if you really enjoyed the last two films, you'll likely find plenty to appreciate in APOCALYPSE, even though its villain is a drag and the heroes are going through the motions once again. I'm giving it a 6, but you may well bump the grade up higher if you're an X-Men fanatic.

I wouldn't put too much stake in what other people say about the movie.  My best advice to you is to go out and see it for yourself.  If you like it?  Go see it again.  If you don't?  Well, then don't go see it again.


X-Men: Apocalypse comes out May 27, 2016.

 

Okay, NOW It's Official! Supergirl Renewed For Season 2 On The CW

Why this show was ever on CBS is beyond me, but Supergirl is finally going to join the rest of the television DC universe over on the CW.  It was announced yesterday that it was picked up for a second season, and that 22 episodes have been ordered for the show.  This is great news for the freshman series and it's cast.

CBS had said that it expected to renew Supergirl for a second season, but with a huge budget for the show ($3 million per episode) and falling ratings, they decided that it wasn't worth it.  CW, on the other hand, did.  Of course, with the show moving to the CW, it will also be moving it's production company to Vancouver, Canada, where the other DC shows are filmed.  This will help cut costs for the show, which had originally been filming in Los Angeles, California.  The move might give the show a different look or feel as far as the city goes, but it's a smart move.  Filming in L.A. is just too expensive.  Not only that, but the other shows on the CW (Arrow, The Flash, and DC's Legends of Tomorrow) all have a "big" look to the show, while working with a much more modest budget, so I'm not expecting that big of a change.

Supergirl's move to the CW should help her ratings improve with younger audiences, too.  The CW has shows that aim towards young female viewers (The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, The 100) that feature strong female leads in each one, but will also appeal to the younger male crowd, too.  This is one of those shows.

This move will also make it much easier for it to do crossover episodes with the other shows in the "Arrow-verse."  One of the highest rated episodes that Supergirl had was when Barry Allen popped into her universe.  I saw it, it was an amazing episode.  I'm not sure how she'll meet up with Team Arrow, since they're in different parallel universes, but that's why they have writers.  Let them figure out the how or why.

So fear not, Supergirl and DC fans!  This is the best news that the show could have ever received!

Professor X Could Possibly Be In The New Mutants Movie

"Right now, as the movie exists, Professor X would be a part of a New Mutants movie."


That's what X-Men franchise producer Simon Kinberg said during an interview with Collider.  Kinberg, who also wrote both Days of Future Past and Apocalypse, has been making his rounds promoting the upcoming X-Men film.  Even though he's out talking about X-Men: Apocalypse, he's been asked where 20th Century Fox plans to go with the X-Men universe after the finale to their second trilogy comes to an end.  The movie company has no plans to stop making movies that deal with the X-Men universe.  Right now, filming is taking place for Wolverine 3, a sequel to this years surprise hit Deadpool is in the works, and a spin-off movie for Gambit is still being hashed out, but as far as an "X-Men team movie" is concerned, the New Mutants movie seems to be the only one that has been confirmed.  In fact, things have been rolling along so smoothly for the film that they believe that filming could begin for the movie as early as next year.


Other than James McAvoy being mentioned to be apart of the film, other mutants that are being hinted at as appearing are Wolfsbane and Magik (two team members from the comic book) as well as the possibility of Storm (the Storm from Apocalypse) showing up as a teacher at the Xavier school, Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) and Cyclops (Tye Sheridan).  The movie is going to be directed by Josh Boone, who directed The Fault in Our Stars, a wildly popular young adult (YA) movie.  Boone is also co-writing the film along with Knate Lee.  Fox is hoping that their movie will appeal to the YA crowd, and not just die-hard fans of the comic books.  This would ensure Fox a younger audience that can grow up along with the characters in the movie, and hopefully continue to pay to see them in future films. 


All of this talk of spin-off movies doesn't necessarily mean that we won't be given any more X-Men movies.  Direct Bryan Singer has indicated that he'd like to return to the franchise after Apocalypse and do an X-Men movie where they go into space.  Even though the X-Men do travel around the universe at times in the comic books, I'm not so sure if this is a great fit for the cinematic universe.  Before Singer decides to do this, he may want to wait until his Apocalypse movie comes out and sees how it does.  It's hard to tell if it'll be a hit with fans, or have a huge opening weekend and then drop like a rock the following weekend like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice did.  From what early reviews are saying about the film, it may be the latter.  But what do critics know, right?


X-Men: Apocalypse arrives in theaters May 27, 2016.

Wonder Woman Solo Film Completes Filming

After the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the movie was hit with a lot of criticism, some of it warranted, some of it just plain petty.  But two things about the film that fans could agree on were the introduction of Ben Affleck as Batman and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.  Gal Gadot in particular stole the show every time she appeared on screen.  Her portrayal of Diana Prince/Wonder Woman won fans over and now there is a lot of anticipation for her first solo film in the DCEU.

Principle filming for the film had begun well before the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but after her impressive debut as Wonder Woman, Warner Bros. moved up the release of her film from June 23, 2017 to June 2, 2017.  That may not seem like a big deal, but whenever a movie gets moved up, it's because a movie studio wants to capitalize on it's popularity, and in this case, it's Gadot's portrayal of Diana Prince.  The only other movie that takes place in the DCEU to come out this year is Suicide Squad this August.  Gadot won't be making an appearance in this film, but it is rumored that Ben Affleck will appear as Batman in some form or another.  To keep her fresh in the minds of movie goers, they're moving her movie up to the beginning of June.  That still gives the director Patty Jenkins more than a year to get things finished up in post production.  Even with all of the post production CGI and visual effects, that should be plenty of time to put together a great movie.

One of the things that it has going for it is that it can learn from the complaints of BvS.  I know that I said that it started filming before BvS had even been released, but they were able to hear reactions to early screenings of the film, and more than likely made adjustments to their own script.  I also know that it takes place during World War I at some point, but it's supposed to be "lighter" in tone than BvS.  Yeah, and oxymoron...I'm aware.  A "light World War I film."  Still, this has a lot more promise to be a box office hit than you'd think.  From what I've heard around the web, people don't know what to expect from this film.  That's a "plus" for the film.  Let me explain.  When it was announced that Batman and Superman were going to be on the silver screen together for the first time, people's expectations shot through the roof.  They wanted more than they got, to be blunt.  With Wonder Woman, people really don't know what to expect.  The closest thing that we've been given as far as a Wonder Woman movie goes was the direct to DVD animated movie Wonder Woman (which was amazing, by the way.  If you haven't seen it yet? Rent it!)

So what are your thoughts on the upcoming Wonder Woman movie?  Are you excited?  Do you even care?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments section down below.