U.S. Air Force And Their Desire For A Hypersonic Jet

For the longest time, the fastest plane that the U.S. Air Force had in it's fleet was the SR-71 Blackbird.  The Blackbird served the U.S. Air Force between 1964 and 1998 when it was "retired."  I say "retired" because after they retired it, they didn't have anything to replace it...or so we were to believe.  Why would you retire the fastest plane ever if you didn't have something to replace it with?  My guess is that they did, and just didn't tell the public about it.  Now let's jump ahead to 2013...

In that year, the U.S. Air Force tested  the X-51 WaveRider hypersonic plane, but it wasn't to introduce it to us as the Air Force's new elite plane for service, but more of a tech demo.  Since then, it's creators have further developed this tech, and the Air Force now plans on getting the next generation of hypersonic planes into service by the year 2023, and these plans are said to reach speeds of Mach 5.1.  They want to create an entire fleet of these planes, but may end up just creating a few "flagship" planes due to the expensive nature of this endeavor.

Air Force Chief Scientist Mica Endsley told Military.com that the new plane will incorporate the new tech that they've gathered from the X-51 so these new planes are "capable of operating at the kind of temperatures you have when you are going at hypersonic speeds."  To make all of this possible, they are also currently developing a guidance system that can still function at speeds of Mach 5.

The Air Force's goal is a lofty one, to say the least, but it is a good thing that they are giving themselves nearly a decade to get this project off the ground.  The X-51 was the culmination of many failed attempts at a hypersonic plane, and a "recent test of a hypersonic missile didn't even make it through takeoff."  So, yeah, they still have a few bugs to work out, but still, it all seems pretty cool!

Is Han Solo REALLY (SPOILERS!) ???

Wait...what???

Ever since Marvel reacquired the Star Wars comic book brand from Dark Horse Comics, they've been using it to fill in the gaps between the films to give us a better look at what took place during this time, and explain how we arrived at the start of each film from the ending of the previous one.  All of this is also "official canon" for the Star Wars universe.  So what they dropped on all of us in Star Wars #6 was pretty huge!  Like I said in the title...SPOILERS!!!

Still with me?  Good!  Check this Out!




Holy crap!  Really?!?  It looks like our favorite scruffy smuggler is a taken man!

Ever since the title began its run, Jason Aaron and John Cassaday who are writers for the comic, have been teasing a mysterious woman hot on the trail of Han Solo.  Her face was first released to the net in a teaser for Star Wars #9 which made its way online, and as soon as it hit, the rumors and speculation on who she was kicked into high gear!  One of the more popular theories that people were talking about was that it might be Salla Zend, an ex-girlfriend of Han Solo's, as well as a fellow smuggler, that was introduced during Dark Horse's Dark Empire series.  How cool would it have been if a hold-over from the old Expanded Universe made her way over to the Official Expanded Universe?  Well, as you can see, that didn't happen.

So what does all of this mean?  How long have they been married?  Are they actually still married?  We know that he's pursuing Leia pretty heavily in The Empire Strikes Back, so will this all be resolved before they reach Hoth?  Only time will tell, but I can honestly say that I'm really looking forward to seeing how this all plays out!

Second Star Wars Anthology Film Details Revealed

This really is an exciting time to be a Star Wars fan!  Currently, Disney is busy putting together four...count them...four Star Wars films!  We all know that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is nearly complete and will be released in December of this year, and we've also seen a teaser trailer for Star Wars: Rogue One which will be released late next year.  A year after, we'll see the currently untitled Star Wars: Episode VIII, and one year after that, the second of the Star Wars Anthology films will be released.  Like I said, it's a great time to be a Star Wars fan!

There have been a lot of rumors surrounding each of these films from what they will be about to who will be in them.  There have also been a lot of rumors of things that have been going on behind-the-scenes that have made their way onto the web.  One of the biggest rumors involves the second of the Anthology films, and the departure of it's director, Josh Trank.  Trank told everyone that he was leaving on his own accord, but sources close to the project said that there had been some bad blood brewing between Disney and Trank.  You can read my previous blogs for more details on their split.

So where does that leave the second of the Anthology films?  First of all, Disney needs to find a new director, and it seems that they have narrowed their list down to two people.  The first is Matthew Vaughn, who directed Kingsman: The Secret Service, and the second (and my personal favorite!) is John Favreau, who has a ton of movies under his belt, both as a director and an actor.  You may know him as the director that helped launch Marvel's Cinematic Universe!

Second, they need a story.  Right now, Simon Kinberg (Fantastic Four) is writing the screen play, and it was rumored to be a Boba Fett origin story.  However, it's now being reported by Schmoes Know that it will be a film that focuses on how the Han Solo/Boba Fett rivalry began.  The film is said to be taking place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, and it's rumored that Chewbacca and Lando will also be appearing, as well as the bounty Hunter Bossk.

This is still a number of years away, so it's possible that all of this could change, but for the time being, I'm pretty excited to see another movie with Boba Fett in it!

Old Man Logan And Secret Wars

Last week Old Man Logan joined the Secret Wars universe!

The story picks up after the conclusion of Mark Millar and Steve McNiven's critically acclaimed story which follows Wolverine 50 years into the future of one of the possible Marvel universes.  Logan is essentially the last of the superheroes due to all of the big baddies of their universe pooling together to take them all out.  In Logan's case, Mysterio convinces him that he's taking out a bunch of villains that have attacked Professor X's mansion, but it turns out Mysterio tricked him into slaughtering all of his friends.  Logan vows never to shed his claws again, and settles into a passive life.  The United States is then divided into separate territories between the biggest of the bad guys. 

I won't go into more of the story just in case you haven't read it yet, and if you haven't, you really need to!  This first issue to be released was a little slow, but I'm guessing that they just needed to set everything up for where they are going to go with the story.  Even though it was a little slow, the art work is, again, fantastic!  This is definitely one of the comic book titles that you should be collecting!  If you are familiar with the original storyline of Old Man Logan, and you've read the new issue that came out last week, let me know your thoughts.  Instead of leaving them in the comments section below, though, email me at comconocave@gamil.com.  That way if people reading this aren't familiar with this story, we won't give anything else away!

Is Stephen Amell Going To Face Off Against Stardust?

I have to admit, this used to be a guilty pleasure of mine.  I used to watch "professional" wrestling every Monday night.  Over the years, though, I've watched it less and less.  Not because I don't like it anymore, but it's on way too late with the job that I have.  I might have to make an exception for this feud, though!  Or at least, DVR it!

A few weeks ago, Stephen Amell was in the audience, and Stardust got right in his face!  Amell jumped up and threatened to throw a punch at him.  Since then, their Twitter accounts have been blowing up with smack talk from both of them!  Then came the rumor that Stephen Amell was going to be fighting Stardust in the upcoming SummerSlam!

...but hold on a second...

Stephen Amell post the following on his Twitter account:

"Lots of rumors circulating that I'm fighting @StardustWWE at SummerSlam.  Not true.  Cody wants no piece of me."

Here's Stardust's response from his Twitter account:

"No Stephen...Cody doesn't & I don't want Stephen.  There must be someone else, SOMETHING else...#SummerSlam."

This has led some to believe that there won't be a match between them after all.  Others have speculated that this means that Stardust will be fight the Arrow in SummerSlam!  And why not?  Canadians make incredible wrestlers, so why not Amell, er...the Arrow?  Do you follow the WWE?  If you do, what are your thoughts on this feud?  Let me know in the comments section below!

They're About To Ruin Another Classic!

I think that this picture says it all (sob!).

According to Comicbook.com, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is in negotiations to play Jack Burton, a role that was originally played by Kurt Russell in the John Carpenter film from 1986.  Jack Burton is a truck driver that finds himself caught in the middle of a mystical fight between two warring factions in New York City's Chinatown.  Do yourself a favor, watch the original before this ever makes it's way onto the big screen!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again...Hollywood is now filled with talentless hacks that can't come up with an original idea if their life depended on them.  Don't believe me?  Let me give you some examples:

Total Recall

Poltergeist

Godzilla (the one with Matthew Broderick!)

The Karate Kid

Psycho

Footloose

Rollerball

Do I need to go on?  And let's not forget:

Friday the 13th

A Nightmare on Elm Street

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Halloween (maybe...)

I'm not looking forward to this one, but I know others are.  Heck, even Ken said that he thought it would "Rock."  Yeah, I know.  Made me groan, too.  But it was funny!

Mark Millar On A Stand Alone Hit Girl Movie

I have to admit, I loved the movie Kick-Ass.  The story was good, the actors that they chose to play the roles were spot-on, and the gore factor of some of the fight scenes actually made me laugh!  I never went and saw Kick-Ass 2, though.  I didn't want to ruin the first movie by watching a lousy sequel...that and Jim Carey was in it.  Judging by the returns the movie made, I'm not alone in my feelings about the sequel.  The only reason I would've considered going to see the movie was to find out what happened to Hit Girl after the first movie.

It sounds like Mark Millar also has a soft spot for this character, as well.  Here's what he had to say on the matter when he recently sat down for an interview with JoBlo and the topic of a stand alone Hit Girl movie was brought up:

"I love the idea of there being Hit Girl movies, it has to be the right story though," Millar stated. "We have a crazy idea for it, and every now and then I think, is this too crazy? Because it's kind of insane. Would the world accept this? It makes Kick-Ass look like Finding Nemo. Matthew [Vaughn] and I have chatted about it in the pub, and it's fine in the pub, but when we're being interviewed two years later, is it going to be terrifying? So I don't know, it seems a fun thing, though."

He went on to say:

"It's funny, because Hit Girl was slightly pre-dated by about a year, before those kick-ass action heroine characters like The Hunger Games and Hanna and those kinds of things came along. And now I feel is a great time for her, so it could be really interesting."

He makes a very good point, especially with people still giving Marvel grief about it's lack of female led movies.  Yes, we have Black Widow, but she still hasn't got her own movie, and her back story is probably to the most interesting out of all of the Marvel characters in the movies to date.  Instead, they're going to give us a Captain Marvel film, someone that we have nothing invested in, and if you don't read comic books, know nothing about.  It is a step forward for them, though.

So what do you think?  Would you go and see a stand alone Hit Girl movie?  Chime in down below in the comments section and give me your thoughts!