A Loss I Can’t Get Over Right Now

I have had a tremendous loss. My mother passed unexpectedly. This, after my close friend and brother’s father passed. My grief is quite strong, and I apologize I won’t be posting anything here in the foreseeable future. My mom was the world to me, and I will miss here every day. I’m sorry if I am letting anyone down who reads this blog. I’ll be back when laughter and fun has returned to my life. Until then, keep enjoying your passions, and keep writing me. I look forward to returning to this, I just can’t do it right now. Love to all, peace to the rest.

The Last Skywalker: Final Trailer

I know, I know...I've been gone a while.  My apologies, but life happens.  People die, you mourn, you work, you keep going.  Somethings get pushed aside, and I apologize that I haven't kept you all up to date, the fanboy stuff was one of them.  I'm done mourning, and I am back.

What better way to jump back into things than by breaking down the final trailer for the LAST   saga film.  Everything from this point on will be "new stories" that may refer to the Skywalker family, but will never deal with them again. Dun Dun Dunnn...

Okay, that may be too sinister.  Disney will find a way to make more money off of the three trilogies of this family.  Until then, let's break down the final trailer.

The trailer starts with Rey running through a forest. Could it be Endor?  She jumps over a ravine, and then lands on a metal structure that looks like something that she was scavenging off of on Jakku from The Force Awakens.  Could these two scenes be a Jedi "vision quest?"  Possibly, but we see her with a training droid on this forest planet.  That seemed pretty concrete, right?  That it was actually happening.  What if she is running a gauntlet of "visions" that came from herself and Luke?  Or what if she is traveling to places that Luke has been to learn and train from his Force Ghost?  Just something to think about.

The Rebels are returning to the fourth moon of Yavin.  We haven't seen this place since...well, Rogue One.  I was going to say A New Hope, but the show of this base in the "stand alone" movie kind of ruined this "surprise" for me.  Wow.  They went back to where the started.  Just doesn't feel as dramatic after it was featured in Rogue One.  But it is shown, so "Yay."

Here's where things start to get interesting.  Enter the Emperor!  Okay, we don't "see" him in this trailer, but we do hear him.  He says, "Long have I waited...and now, your coming together is your undoing". Is he talking about the Rebels, or is he referring to Rey and Kylo Ren joining forces?  Don't look at me, I'm just posing the questions!  We are going to have to wait until December 20th to find out.  But let's move on, there are other questions that need to be raised.

Rey, like the Emperor, has a spoken dialogue that is a "voice over."  She says that many claim to know her, but don't.  Then Kylo Ren jumps in and says that he does.  Is this before or after Rey turns him to the Light side of the Force? Do they team up against the Emperor?  We see them both striking down an object that is dark and human sized...much too obvious, but possible.  

Then there is C3PO.  They are talking to him like he is going to kill them.  This must mean that all of the rumors that we have heard are true, that C3PO turns "evil" when the First Order tried to discover a lost fleet of the Empire.  It seems that they find it, and that the Rebels are ready for them.  There seem to be a boat-load of spaceships in this final trailer!  And the most exciting one we see?  Lando reclaiming the Falcon!  Here's too Billy Dee Williams for making it back after 30/40 years!

So tell me what you see in the final trailer.  There is enough that anyone could possibly see what they want to see. I told you what I see, now tell me what you see.  Leave your comments in the section below, or reach out to me on Facebook.  Until next time, loyal followers! :)

The 3 Shells From Demolition Man

I have to admit that I have an unhealthy admiration for the movie Demolition Man.  I also have to thank DenofGeek UK edition for giving me something to write about on a freakishly slow day in movie news.

As the author of the article Simon Brew states, Stallone was more Judge Dredd in this movie than he was in the movie of the same name.  Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock and Nigel Hawthorne (may he rest in piece) all starred in this absurdly fun action comedy.  It really had no plot, except a killer wakes up from hibernation and sets out to kill and destroy.  My kind of film.  But there was one scene, well..actually it came up a couple of times, for the need for our recently thawed out hero to "use the facilities."  The problem was, toilet paper apparently was obsolete and was replaced by 3 shells.  The picture above is a scene where after Stallone can't figure out how to use them (famously mocked by Rob Schneider) he curses his way into enough tickets to wipe his ass.  When you are given a problem, you create a solution.

But the question has been, at least since 1993 when the movie came out, was how did you use the 3 shells to clean yourself?  The question was never answered in the film, and inquiring minds want to know..how did they work?

While we may not know the how they work, we are one step closer to understanding them.  We now know how they came into being.  Screen writer Daniel Waters explained their inspiration at a question and answer period in 2014 at a screening of The Adventures of Ford Fairlane ("My hair!")  Here's what Waters said:

There's a scene where Stallone has to use a restroom.  I'm trying to come up with futuristic things you'd find in there.  I was having trouble, so I called my buddy, another screenwriter across town, asked him if he had any ideas.  Ironically enough that guy was taking a dump when he answered the phone, looked around his bathroom and said, 'I have a bag of seashells on my toilet as a decoration?'  I said 'Okay, I'll make something out of that.'"

So we still don't know how the 3 shells work in the future so one can wipe their ass, but at least we know how the idea came to be.  Maybe in another 25 years the true meaning behind this world changing device will be known, and we can enjoy the 3 shells while listening to Bill and Ted's music changing the World!

Now Comic Book Trends Are Bleeding Into The MCU

When the Russos were asked why Tony Stark got a funeral and Natasha Romanoff didn't, Joe Russo answered,"Well, Natasha has another movie coming out.  Tony does not have another movie coming out." Simple answer, but what if there's more to it than this?

According to "inside sources," which tend to be quite reliable in these Disney matters, Marvel is planning on a Black Widow resurrection.  Not just with another actor taking on the title role of Black Widow, but Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow.  

How they plan on doing this is still a bit unclear, but considering that they have introduced time travel to the mix, I'm sure that this will play some sort of part into it.  After all, they brought back Gamora when she was supposedly lost for good.  If this indeed turns out to be true, it won't happen any time soon.  It sounds like they are aiming closer to the Phase 5 chapter as opposed to the upcoming Phase 4.

If this turns out to be true, I think that it would dampen her death in Avengers: Endgame.  I myself hope that they don't do this, but as in the comic book world, heroes never truly stay dead.  If they are popular enough, they always find a way to come back to life (hello Wolverine.)

What are your thoughts on this? Would you want to see her come back to the MCU?  Let me know your thoughts on this in the comments down below, or you can leave them on my Facebook page, The Comconoclast.

Resistance Reborn May Give Clue To Another Original Trilogy Character's Appearance

With this being the final movie in the Skywalker Saga, as many have come to name it, they seem to be pulling out all of the stops.  Billy Dee Williams is returning, as is Mark Hamill, the late Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, and Ian McDiarmid.  Now, there may be one more Original Trilogy actor that will be making an appearance.

There is a prequel book that is soon to be released that while on it's American cover doesn't lend to any rumors, however...the Spanish cover of the book Resistance Reborn has none other than Wedge Antilles on the cover.  Does this mean that Denis Lawson (the actor that played Wedge in the first three movies) will be in the finale? We are just going to have to wait until the movie is released on December 20th.

What do you think of this possibility?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or you can leave them on my Facebook page, The Comconoclast.

Screenrant Thinks Spider-Man Will Be Written Off In Avengers 5

I was reading Screenrant.com, and Thomas Bacon's article claiming that Spider-Man will be written out of the MCU with Spider-Man's second movie under the new Sony/Marvel agreement possibly being Secret Wars.  

The Secret Wars comic book mini-series began back in the 80's, but was more recently remade in 2015.  In the most recent adaptation of the series, the multiverse was collapsing so Doctor Doom fused different parts of different realities into one planet, dubbed "Battleworld."  It brought together different zones from different multiverse realities, such as "Old Man Logan," "Mile Morales," "Weirdworld" and others.  In the end, Franklin Richards broke through Doctor Doom's control and returned everything back to the way it was and recreated the multiverse.  Some of the characters from the other realities, however, stuck around in the main universe.

There was a mention of a Secret Wars movie by the Russo brothers, who said that they would come back to write and direct this movie if it was ever to be made, but that has been the only real talk about it.  So back to Bacon.  He knows that the first of the two movies that are going to be made will be Spider-Man 3, and there were rumors that Kevin Feige was planning ahead this time and working on a story that would write Spider-Man out of the MCU.  A Secret Wars movie would be the perfect way to do this, and that was Bacon's point.  However...

It was recently announced that Marvel was going to make Captain Marvel and Spider-Man the new faces of the MCU, now that Iron Man is dead and Captain America is old and retired.  If they are making Spider-Man one of the new faces of the MCU, wouldn't that suggest that they have bigger plans for the Web Swinger past the two movie deal?  They have already shown that they can work out agreements with Sony, and with Sony being able to use Tom Holland's Spider-Man in their own Spider-Verse, it seems possible that a third agreement will be reached.

Like I said, Bacon made some good points, but I don't think that his reasoning is sound with all of he new information that is coming out.  But what do you think?  Do you think that Spider-Man will be done with the MCU after his two movies are completed, or do you think that Sony and Marvel will continue their partnership?  let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or you can leave them on my Facebook page.

Is there something that you want me to look into that you want to know about?  Send me your questions in the comments section or on The Comconoclast Facebook page.  I will do some digging and do a post on them after getting all of the information.

TWO New Matrix Movies Are Coming...

When it was announced that Keanu Reeves had company had signed on for a new Matrix movie, it caused quite a little stir.  Rumors had been running around that Zak Penn had been writing a Matrix movie, and with the announcement that Lana Wachowski is producing a new Matrix movie, many thought that Penn's movie was getting pushed aside.  That, however, doesn't seem to be the case.

Penn took to social media to set the record straight.  Here's what he said:

"People keep asking, so let me clarify there are two different Matrix projects at WB.  I wrote one set earlier in the timeline of the Matrix universe.  Lana Wachowski is directing a sequel that I did not work on but can't wait to see.  Neither of them are reboots."

With these comments, it's easy to presume that WB is letting both creators produce their movies, with Wachowski making another chapter that will feature Neo, and Penn working on a movie that is more of a sequel.  Rumors have it that Michael B. Jordan will be playing a young Morphius in Penn's movie.

Whatever happens with either of these films, expect great things in the battle between humans and machines at a whole different level that the new Terminator movie will give us.  As more details emerge, I will keep you up to date.  Let me know your thoughts on this sequel and prequel.  Leave them in the comments section below, or you can leave them on my Facebook page.  Either way, I want to know your feelings on this.

A Number Of Marvel Actors Wanting A Piece Of The Star Wars Action

Captain America, meet the Galaxy Far, Far Away...

Okay, maybe not Captain America, but Chris Evans is showing interest in going Kevin Feige in his move over to Lucasflim.  Feige has recently been moved...well, he'll be doing double duty with Marvel and Lucasfilm, in the hopes of bring the fledgling series up to the prominence that Disney knows it could be.

Feige has done incredible work on the MCU, even through the battles with Marvel's former head honcho Ike Perlmutter.  Perlmutter was not one who believed in the comic book movie, and never wanted to spend the money on these films that ended up giving us some of the greatest story lines in the shared universe.  Perlmutter was demoted to running Marvel's television properties, and as you can see from the shows that he produces, they do not come close to whaat we would expect from Disney or Marvel in the sense of quality.  All of that is about to change though, as I have mentioned in a previous post regarding Marvel's television department and their upcoming shows on Disney+/  So let's get back to my main topic.

Feige has been moved over to Lucasfilm mainly because he can see the big picture and plan out a storyline years and projects in advance.  He has proved this with his work on the MCU.  With the current Star Wars situation, it a hodgepodge of different writers and directors trying to tell a unified story, and it's coming across as such.  With the conclusion of the Skywalker Saga,  Disney's next foray into a Galaxy Far, Far Away needs to be a cohesive  tale, one that has been worked through from beginning to end, and not just scrapped together in the hopes that something will work.  Feige will be able to bring this continuity to the Star Wars universe, something that it has desperately needed.

When I was a kid and began watching the Star Wars movies, I believed that I knew these characters, I was invested in them.  That isn't something that I have felt when watching these new movies.  They have the same number of movies to their trilogies, but I don't feel like I know, or even care, about any of them.  So what has changed?  I really don't know, I just don't feel the same connection to them that I did with the original characters of Luke, Han, and Leia.

Feige is good at fleshing out characters and making the audience feel an emotional response to what is happening on the screen. This is the one thing that I think has been missing in the most recent trilogy.  Now that he is in charge of the next series of films, Feige will need competent actors to help him flesh out his story, so why not dip into a pool that he already has access to?  Chris Evans and Brie Larson are both MCU alum that have shown interest in joining him over at Lucasflim..Having these two brought over would help his transition, as well as the audience's, into a new chapter of the Star Wars story by giving us actors that we are already familiar with and know we like watching perform.  While it's too soon to tell if either or both will be brought on board, the fact that they are showing an interest in sticking with the House of Mouse is a bit encouraging.

What are your thoughts on Feige's new role, and who would you like to see him bring on board? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section down below, or you can leave them on my Facebook page, The Comconoclast.

What A Silver Surfer Movie Means For The MCU

With the purchase of the X-Men and the Fantastic Four properties from 20th Century Fox,  there has been plenty of movement at Marvel moving these new properties into the MCU.  While the X-Men and the Fantastic Four seem to be getting the most attention, there is one character in the mix that could, and should, have a more significant impact on the MCU as we know it.  That character is the Silver Surfer.

If the only familiarity you have with the Silver Surfer is from the movie Fantastic Four: Ride of the Silver Surfer, then you really have no idea about the Silver Surfer.  The Silver Surfer is the "herald" of Galactus, a planet consuming cosmic force that needs the life force of planets to survive.  The Silver Surfer sympathizes with the people of Earth and turns against Galactus and stave's off his attack.  As a result, the Silver Surfer is imprisoned on Earth from an energy shield that Galactus creates.  The Silver Surfer ends up escaping his confines and travels the universe helping other worlds to atone for all of his previous misdeeds as the "Herald of Galactus," and all of the life he help eradicate.

Created by Jack Kirby, the Silver Surfer, named so because he travels the universe on a "flying surfboard," the Silver Surfer became one of Marvel's biggest hits, even though Marvel icon Stan Lee thought that the character was a bad idea.  Originally, the Silver Surfer was Norrin Radd, and alien who made a deal with Galactus to spare his world of Zann=La. In return, he was to be the "herald" of Galactus and find other planets for the Devourer of Worlds to consume.  He was given god-like powers and all of his memories were erased.  He ends up remembering his roots through his struggle and sympathy in dealing with the possibility of Earth falling to Galactus' hunger.

In his history with Marvel comics, the Silver Surfer has had dealings and partnerships with a number of Marvel characters, like the Fantastic Four and Doctor Stranger.  To incorporate him into the MCU, albeit with a tweaked version of his origin, wouldn't be too hard.  There has already been rumors that Galactus will be one of three different antagonists in the upcoming MCU films, and the Silver Surfer would be able to unite the Earth bound heroes with the rest of the galaxy far better than the Guardians of the Galaxy  have been able to do.  In fact, he would be able to bring the rest of the universe closer to Earth consciousness by having such a close connection to Earth after the battle with Galactus takes place.  And don't kid yourself, this battle WILL occur.

His inclusion will also open the door for a number of other Marvel characters to be introduced, who only have connections with the Silver Surfer, and will allow a number of other story lines to take place.  Let's be clear, the Silver Surfer was the true gem that will make this acquisition from FOX profitable for Marvel. The other properties are big, yes, but the Silver Sure will expand the MCU like no other character has.

Star Trek 4 Is Still A Hope For Paramount

With the popularity of Star Trek: Discovery and the upcoming Star Trek: Picard soon to be released,  Paramount is hoping that this will translate into s desire for a Star Trek 4.  There have been a number of rumors as to what the fourth installment would be about.  There is a rumor going around that Quentin Tarantino was wanting to write and direct a Star Trek movie, one that would revisit the character of Khan, but as interesting as this may be it doesn't sound like it's getting much traction.

Another rumored storyline, one that was actually in development before the dismal returns for 2016's Star Trek Beyond  involved time travel and would bring back Chris Hemsworth as Chris Pine's James Kirk's father.  As you will remember, Hemsworth's character died in the opening scene to JJ Abrams Star Trek reboot.

While both of these projects are in development limbo, word is that Paramount is still wanting to make another Star Trek film.  Right now, though, they are having to wait until Wonder Woman 1984 wraps up filming in order to have Chris Pine return as Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise.  They will also have to work around the schedules of Chris Hemsworth, who is in high demand for all types of films, and Zachary Quinto.  

It may be easier to get all of the returning actors together for filming than producing a film that fans will want to see. Both the second and third films of this franchise were not well received.  It will be interesting to see how they move forward with this movie.

Until then, fans will continue to be able to watch Discovery, and the buzz regarding Picard  has been tremendous.  CBS All Access is also developing an animated Star Trek series, a half hour Star Trek comedy, and the Star Trek Shorts that they have been producing.  So even if the fourth installment falls through the cracks...again...there will be plenty of Star Trek out there for fans to enjoy.

"The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes"

To be honest, I'm not sure how interested people will be in hearing that Suzanne Collins is writing a prequel to her best selling series The Hunger Games.  The reason I say this is because the final two movies that came out, The Mockingjay Part 1 & 2,  pretty much bombed at the box office with fans.  To be honest, I read the books before finding out that they were going to be movies, and I loved the first book, thought the second book Catching Fire was a decent follow-up, but fell asleep reading the third book.  It made the same mistake as Star Wars: The Phantom Menace  and focused too much on the politics of the world, and people tuned out.  Let's hope that this new prequel doesn't fall into the same trap.

The book is going to be titled The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.  The story will take place 64 years before the first Hunger Games story.  Collins said about the book, "With this book, I wanted to explore the state of nature, who we are, and what we perceive is required for our survival.  The reconstruction period 10 years after the war, commonly referred to as the Dark Days - as the country of Panem struggles back to its feet - provides fertile ground for the characters to grapple with these questions and thereby define their views of humanity."

Apparently excitement is growing over the announcement of this new chapter to the series, but until it releases May 19, 2020, and I see the sales numbers, I will tend to be skeptical.  It will be available in print, digital, and as an audiobook.  Is this something that you are interested in?  If it is, let me know why.  I'm curious how others are reacting the news of this Hunger Games prequel.

Netflix New $150 Million Movie

What do you get when you cross the writers of Deadpool and Zombieland with director Michael Bay and actor Ryan Reynolds? i don't know either, but I'm pretty sure that there will be explosions...

Fresh off his divorce with the Transformers franchise, Bay is going back to his roots from the 90's when he directed such films like The Rock and Bad Boys, the movie teams him up with writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick and stars Ryan Reynolds, Dave Franco, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Adria Arjona, Corey Hawkins, and Ben Hardy.  Check out the synopsis below for 6 Underground:

6 Underground Introduces a new kind of action hero. Six individuals from all around the globe, each the very best at what they do, have been chosen not only for their skills, but for their unique desire to delete their pasts to change the future. The team is brought together by an enigmatic leader (Ryan Reynolds), whose sole mission in life is to ensure that, while he and his fellow operatives will never be remembered, their actions damn sure will.

I watched this trailer and I have to say that I'm looking forward to this one coming out.  It's set to be released on Netflix December 13, but after watching the trailer I would actually pay good money to watch it in a theater instead.  The action is fast paced, the explosions are big, and the car chases look amazing.  All of the things that are better on the big screen. 

This is a refreshing change for a new release since it's not tied to an existing franchise, it's not a remake, and isn't a prequel or sequel.  It just looks like a lot of fun.  If you get a chance, head over to YouTube and check out the official trailer and let me know what you think.

Sony And The MCU Can Learn From Comics

This character is one of the better ones that Marvel Comics has given life to, only second to Miles Morales' Spider-Man.  Not only is she an amazing hero on the pages of comic books, but she might also be a hero in the real world by showing Sony and Marvel how their Spider-Man/Peter Parker can exist in two separate movie universes.

If you haven't been keeping up with Spider-Gwen (now Ghost Spider), she is an alternate universe "Spider-Man" who had her secret identity outed and now is known by everybody.  Sound familiar?  In order to maintain a somewhat normal existence and complete her college career, she enrolled to college...in an alternate universe.  So now she lives at home with her family and friends, while going to college in the "mainstream Marvel Universe."  Of course, in doing so, she dons her costume in both realities when the need occurs.  

Over in the real world, Sony and Marvel Studios have come to an agreement that will allow Sony's Spider-Man property to remain in the MCU for another two movies, while also allowing him to appear in their own Spider-Verse movies, which include Venom 2, Morris, and Kraven the Hunter,  which is rumored to be in the works.  The question had come up as to how Tom Holland's Peter Parker would be able to exist in two different movie universes.  With the Ghost Spider situation mirroring what is to happen in the cinematic universes, we might have a better understanding as to how this may happen.

Marvel Comics may have known that this was going to be a possibility prior to the whole Sony/Marvel Studios negotiations happening and did this to Ghost Spider to give a road map as to how it could be achievable.  After all, they knew that Spider-Man was only given to the MCU temporarily.  Agreeing to Tom Holland being able to exist in the two universes was probably what led to the agreement.

One thing that hasn't been reported on quite as much as it should have is the fact that Sony's Spider-verse characters will be allowed to make references to the characters in the MCU.  There are limitations to what they can say, and they can only be done in movies that Tom Holland appears in, but it might be one step closer to the combinations of the two universes.  I mean, after Sony establishes more characters and story lines, what movie would be bigger than a crossover event between the two studios?  Nothing on this front has been mentioned, I'm just thinking out loud here...but wouldn't it be something if this happened?

Let me know your thoughts on everything that's happening over at Sony and Marvel Studios, and let me know what your take is on my "brain storming" up above.

A Deadpool/Spider-Man Movie Could Still Happen

Things keep a changin’.

Right now, everyone is excited about the Sony and Marvel agreement that will allow Spider-Man to stay in the MCU, but while this excitement is well deserved, it may also be short lived.  In three to five years, we’re going to have to wonder if Sony and Marvel will come to a third agreement which will continue to keep Peter Parker in the MCU.  While it may be premature to dwell on this fact, there may already be negotiations starting with Sony eyeing some of Marvel’s properties to appear in their Spider-Verse.

It’s much too soon to consider any talks between the two companies right now as being serious.  Marvel will want to wait and see how sharing Spider-Man with Sony’s Marvel properties works. If it hurts their own brand, then I doubt a new deal will occur, but if it helps, then the requests I’ve heard that Sony will make of Marvel may not be that unreasonable.

I’m hearing that Sony would like Deadpool and the X-Men to appear in their Spider-Verse.  Since Spider-Man is no stranger to working with the X-Men, and he and Deadpool have a comic book together, this could work quite well.  A Spider-Man/Deadpool team up movie seems to be the top desire from fans of both characters.  Will it happen? Who knows, but just the fact that it’s now a real possibility of happening gives me hope.

What Marvel team ups do you want to see in the future?  Give me your dream teams in the comments below, or go to my Facebook page and let me know there.