Last night during the Super Bowl, there were a lot of movie trailers that debuted, and they all had a ton of new footage to show us. There was Captain America: Civil War, Independence Day:Resurgence, Jason Bourne, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Deadpool, just to name a few. But the one that I liked the most was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. In it, we not only got our first look at the cartoon favorites BeBop and Rocksteady, but rumored "big baddie" Krang made his first appearance, too.
This is really looking like a live-action version of the 80's cartoon. As you can see from the picture above, Krang is safely tucked away in is android suit, and it looks almost identical to the cartoon suit, all the way down to his visor. And in keeping with the 80's cartoon, we also got to see Krang's Technodrome. This had been hinted at through some of the leaked images of toys for the movie. Why do movie companies let that happen? I've talked about this before regarding Civil War and Legos. But I digress...
Along for the ride is Bebop and Rocksteady, looking like their cartoon counterparts as well. There was a pretty good clip of a fight scene between Rocksteady and Casey Jones (played by Arrow's Stephen Amell) that looks to be pretty intense. Rounding out the 80's cartoon nostalgia is the introduction of the Turtle Assult Van, with a manhole launcher in the front and giant nunchucks on the sides. They really want to push the merchandise for this one!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows hits theaters June 3, 2016.
When it was first announced that Supergirl was coming to television, and that it was going to have Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg as executive producers, everybody began to wonder if the show would take place in the "Arrow-verse." CBS and the EP's quickly downplayed the idea, and said that she would be apart of her own universe. I still think that's going to be true, even with the announcement that Grant Gustin's Flash is going to appear on Supergirl on March 28 this year. Here was the statement given by Berlanti and Kreisberg on the crossover, and then I'll explain how they'll still be able to keep their respective worlds separate:
"We are so incredibly excited to announce something that we have dreamed of happening since we starting making Supergirl – The Flash and Supergirl are teaming up! We want to thank Grant Gustin for making the time to come visit (on top of his already immense workload) and all of the folks at CBS, The CW, Warner Bros. and DC for working this out. And finally thanks to the fans and journalists who have kept asking for this to happen. It is our pleasure and hope to create an episode worthy of everyone's enthusiasm and support.”
So how will they be able to pull this off while keeping their own worlds separate? The Flash has introduced the reality of alternate universes, and it also seems that Flash is going to be traveling to these alternate Earths in his upcoming episodes. So...what if one of these Earth's will be the one that Kara Zor-El is apart of? Makes sense, right? This way, they can do the cross-over without screwing up any of their own story lines and making things more confusing in the long run for every show involved in the "Arrow-verse" (i.e. Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow).
I might be wrong on how they plan to handle the cross-over, but this is the one that makes the most sense. Also, The Flash is a better fit to use as a cross-over show, as opposed to Arrow, because The Flash is a "lighter" show that compliments Supergirl, unlike Arrow which is darker and more gritty. How ever they handle it, we won't have to wait long to see how it happens!
Don't expect to see Thanos before the Phase Three capstone films Avengers: Infinity War 1 & 2. At least, that's how I'm understanding it to mean from a couple of interviews that Josh Brolin has given while on tour promoting his new movie Hail Caesar!. From what he's said, he and Marvel haven't even sat down to talk about what his role in the films will be. But let's face it, from the title alone, we know that he'll be the central big baddie Mad Titan that takes on the entire MCU. Should he appear in any of the upcoming films for the MCU before that though? I don't think so, and here's why.
In each of the Marvel movies that have been released, the good guy always wins at the end. If he keeps showing up before the Infinity Wars movies, and gets thwarted in his attempts to get the stones each time, it will diminish his perception as being the most powerful being in the universe. To be honest, I loved his first appearance at the end of the credits of the first Avengers film, it was a great tease. His role in Guardians of the Galaxy left me scratching my head, though, and here's why. If you were the most powerful person in the universe, and you were attempting to obtain the Infinity Stones so you control all manner of life, death, time, and space, would you really farm this task out to someone else to get for you? Wouldn't you want to do it yourself so the power of these stones didn't fall into someone else's hands? You know, like it did with Ronan in Guardians of the Galaxy? Yes, I know that at the end of the second Avengers film, Age of Ultron, he says something along the lines of, "I guess I'll have to do it myself," but shouldn't he have wanted to do it that way in the first place? The only thing that it showed me was that he could have powerful people do his bidding for him, but it really made me question how smart of a move that was, and in doing so, question how smart he really is.
Of course, this is just my opinion on how Marvel should use him going forward before unleashing him on the universe in Avengers: Infinity War 1 & 2, but doesn't this make sense? How do you think they should use him going forward? Would you like to see more of him in the upcoming movies, or have them hold off until Infinity War comes out? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below and let me know what you think.
Avengers: Infinity War 1 & 2 comes out May 4, 2018 and May 3, 2019 respectively.
It may be possible that we will get a glimpse of a "Planet Hulk" storyline in the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok movie. I know, that sounds weird, since Ragnarok tells of the fall of Asgard, right? Well, according to a story that Screenrant.com posted, this just might be the case. Here's what they are reporting, and just to be clear, this is just a rumor as to what may be happening in the upcoming film, but just in case it turns out to be true, ***POTENTIAL SPOILERS!!!*** ahead!
In the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok, Cate Blanchett is going to be playing Hela, who is going to team up with Loki to destroy Asgard. While doing this, apparently she is able to destroy Mjolnir, Thor's hammer, and banishes him from his home realm. Instead of being banished to Earth, though, like in the first Thor film, he is sent to a planet that is the MCU's version of Planet Hulk. The report doesn't say if the planet is going to be called Sakaar or not. It does say that it houses a "gladiator-style arena" where Thor might get his hair chopped off and thrown into battle.
Thor, sans helmet, hair, and hammer, fights through a bunch of opponents until he meets the Hulk. They don't say how the Hulk gets to be there (the last time we saw him was at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron flying a jet off somewhere unknown) but it does say that he has been in Hulk-mode for a very long time. His inner Bruce Banner will eventually remind Hulk who Thor is, a friend, and they team up to save Asgard.
On their way back to Asgard, the report also notes that Thor is on a quest to find something that will help him with his fight to save Asgard. An Infinity Stone maybe? They don't say, but they will eventually get to Asgard and the final battle will take place there.
Outside of Guardians of the Galaxy, this looks like the first MCU film that won't deal with Earth at all, but focus on some of the other realms that were discussed in the first film. Of course, anything can change between now and the time the movie gets released. There could be rewrites, re-shoots, or things get left on the cutting room floor. But if this does turn out to be true, then this could be one of the best Marvel movies that will have been made so far!
Thor: Ragnarok hits theaters on November 3, 2017.
That's what it's starting to sound like. No, that doesn't mean that Jackman has decided to stay on as the character after Wolverine III, but it does mean that there are no plans to replace him in the role in the foreseeable future. Digital Spy is reporting that director Bryan Singer and writer Simon Kinberg recently sat down to talk about where to go with Wolverine after Jackman's departure, and they both agreed that they couldn't see anyone else play the role. And me? I have to agree with them on this one. Here's what they said on the matter:
"I do think you would want to figure out how to tell more Wolverine stories. So either we would try to entice Hugh to come back and eat more chicken and work out for a few months, or we would have to figure out a creative way to move forward. Honestly, I can’t imagine anybody else playing the part, and there’s not too many characters I can say that for."
That doesn't mean that we won't have anyone else popping their claws in upcoming movies. There are quite a few possibilities for a replacement Wolverine. They could use Akihiro (a.k.a. Daken) who was the son of Wolverine and who's mother was Itsu (deceased). Considering he was more of a villain than a hero, they probably won't go this route. The more obvious choice would be to introduce Laura Kinney (a.k.a. X23) who is a clone created from Logan's DNA. She has a lot of the same attributes as Logan, in terms of abilities and temperament, but as young as she is, she doesn't have his knowledge. Still, she would be the best choice for his replacement on the team.
So unless that chicken diet is too good for Jackman to pass up, expect his last appearance as Wolverine to be in the untitled Wolverine III, which is scheduled to be released on March 3, 2017.
One of the biggest complaints that Star Wars fans had after Disney purchased Lucasfilm from George Lucas was that all of the novels and comic book stories that had been created were no longer apart of Star Wars "official canon." The biggest loss to the official canon was the Heir To The Empire trilogy that was written by Timothy Zahn back in the 90's. It had all of the elements and feel of the original trilogy, and people quickly gobbled up the series after waiting for seven years for a new Star Wars story. The trilogy's main villain was one Grand Admiral Thrawn (pictured above), part of the Chiss species, he was the only non-human admiral in the Imperial Navy. But unfortunately, when it was in with Disney, it was out with Thrawn.
Except maybe it's not. According to Makingstarwars.net Disney is rumored to be bringing Thrawn back some time this season to appear in Star Wars Rebels. Now, like I said, this is just a rumor, so it might not be happening, but if it is taking place, this opens up a whole new door for Disney and their Star Wars property. First off, if he is going to be re-introduced to Star Wars "official canon" through Star Wars Rebels, which takes place after Revenge of the Sith but before A New Hope, could it be possible that he'll make an appearance in this year's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story? Second, if this re-introduction of Thrawn works, will they look to other characters from past works in comic books and novels...like Mara Jade?
Like I said, as of right now these are all just rumors, but they are interesting enough to mention. We won't know until this season of Rebels is over and done. If I hear anything else on this matter, I'll make sure to keep you posted. Also, if you haven't already checked it out, make sure you go to the Comconoclast Facebook page and give it a "Like". You can reach it by going to https://www.facebook.com/TheComconoclast1/?ref=hl.
The Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has to be one of the most discussed characters that they have. There have been questions as to when he'll get his own stand-alone movie, there were questions as to whether or not to show us the "Gray Hulk" during the last Avengers movie, and now they're discussing when/if we'll be treated to an intelligent Hulk. This question was raised after Mark Ruffalo made the comment, "The Banner/Hulk consciousness is beginning to meld a little bit," in an interview last month. So what does the director for Thor: Ragnarok have to say about this question? Here's what Taika Waititi (director) had to say on the matter:
"It's interesting, because at the moment, there's a big conversation that's happening about how far to push that, Whether or not The Hulk should be [verbal/conscious]. I think a lot of those conversations have more to do with what's going to come up in future movies. So I think a lot of those decisions are larger group decisions, rather than anything to do with just me or the writer. They have a lot of stuff that they have to consider. But I do think that's the best way to track it. I think we all want that, I think we all want to see that development and evolution of that character. I also think you can do it in a fun way."
That last line prompted HitFix, who was doing the article, to ask her about the level of comedy in the film. With the title of "Ragnarok," is the use of too much comedy appropriate? After all, it does deal with the fall of Asgard (according to legend).
"It's not going to be a crazy comedy, like over the top. But that's definitely my strength and that's what they were looking for when they approached me. So, I think that is the thing I can bring to it to give it a different spin and freshen it up a bit."
She also said that she wants Thor to be the main focus of the film, something that hasn't necessarily happened in his other films. Tom Hiddleston's Loki has stolen the show in each of his appearances, and supporting characters have almost had equal screen time as Thor. Waititi says that she wants the main focus to be on him, and that she will make him the best character that he can be. Let's hope that she's true to her word.
Thor: Ragnarok hits theaters November 3, 2017.
