Ash vs The Evil Dead Was AWESOME!!!!

"Hey ya...what's that you got on your face?"

This was worth the wait!  Army of Darkness has some of the best one-liner's in the history of cinema!

And now, we are going to be blessed with so many more!  Ash vs The Evil Dead premiered tonight, and it did not fail to disappoint.  It was basically an episode that re-introduced Ash to everyone, and had to lay down the ground wok for what the series is going to give us.  Those of us that are fans of the Evil Dead movies, we're just happy to get new Ash stories.

There was talk that they wanted to make a new Evil Dead movie, but when Starz approached them with the idea for a series, it made more sense.  With a series, especially on Starz, they could not only expand on the character Ash, but not cut back on the blood and gore that made the movies so much fun.  In the premier episode, we were introduced to a whole new group of characters. They were only touched upon, but with this being a series, there will be plenty of time for us to learn about them.  So who are they?

We were introduced to Amanda Fisher, a police officer that loses her partner in the first episode.  Then there's Kelly and Pablo that look to be Ash's new teammates.  Lucy Lawless made an appearance as Ruby, but wasn't really touched upon.  Expect more great things from her in the coming episodes.  One down, nine to go.

Even though we don't know much about Ruby, Pablo is a co-worker of Ash's, and so is Kelly.  Pablo believes that Ash has been sent to save the world from evil, and Kelly just thinks he's a creepy old man...until he saves her life and proves himself as more than an egotistical prick.  I'm guessing she'll be disappointed.  Can't wait for the next episode!  Sorry about not giving you more information, but I don't want to give anything away.  Even the littlest thing could be a huge spoiler, ya know?  So if you can, watch the show...and if you can't, then find somebody with a DVR and Starz so you can watch it!

If you're new to the site, check out my YouTube video of me at San Diego Comic Con.  They had a Ash vs The Evil Dead trailer that they used to promote the show.  Check it out in the link below:

I Would LOVE For This Marvel Marriage To Take Place!

How would you feel about Sam Raimi taking the helm of the new Spider-Man movie?

Raimi was the first to give us the epic comic book-superhero movie with Spider-Man.  He followed it up with Spider-Man 2, and it seemed that he could do no wrong...then came Spider-Man 3.  Even though he directed the film, all of the blame con not be placed at his feet for this horrible film.  Sony made him include Venom in the film, even though he didn't want to, and the rush to get the film out and start on a fourth film right away led to Raimi leaving.  He felt that he couldn't make their deadline for it's release while telling a good story and giving us a great movie.  Sony obviously didn't learn their lesson with Spider-Man 3.  They forced the sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man to have way too many villains and was short on good story telling.  Now that Marvel is getting involved in the second reboot of the character in less than a decade, there's a lot of hope in the direction that they are planning on taking him.  This isn't lost on the original Spider-Man director, either.

“I saw [both Marc Webb movies], they’re great. And I’m really glad that Marvel’s taking it to high school. I think that’s gonna be refreshing, and just like my favorite of the Spider-Man comic-books. And I have a lot of faith that they really know their stuff… The difficulty of going through high school is so unique to a superhero. It’s unique and that’s what Spider-Man’s all about, so that they’re gonna explore that head on is very exciting.”

He also takes the blame for Spider-Man 3 (even though he really shouldn't SONY!!!)  In an interview with MTV he said the following:

"I messed up on the third one. I think they're so complete now, Marvel. They probably don't need me anymore. But if they needed me? I'd love to. It's great to be wanted."

Even if he doesn't direct, it would be great to have him involved with the movie, considering he's the reason for Spider-Man being so popular.  Speaking of Sam Raimi, his debut of Ash vs The Evil Dead happens Halloween night on Starz.  Not only are they premiering the show tomorrow night, but they are also having an Evil Dead marathon before it airs.  Bring on the Deadites!

Could (SPOILER) Be Appearing In Star Wars: The Force Awakens?

Before I begin, I want to apologize.  I'm dialing this one in from my phone because the internet where I'm at is down. So if this seems a little more "choppy" than usual, this is why.  But I'm dedicated to bringing you news and updates, so please, bare with me today.

I just read an interesting article on Cinemablend.com that said that we may be graced with the appearance of another of the Star Wars universe's iconic characters.  Before I go any further, let me stress that this has not been confirmed, it is only a rumor.  If it is true, then HUGE SPOILER ALERT!!! Just giving everyone a chance to turn back if you don't want to know, okay?

Still with me? Good! Let's get started!

It's being reported that someone who has been working with the audio department for the film has let it leak that a certain Jedi Master will be returning in some form or another.  Before I reveal the character, let me rehash some of the other things we've heard about Chapter VII.  First, in one of the trailers for the film, we get to hear Luke talking with someone.  In it, he's talking about the force.  He says, "I have it. My sister has it. My father has it."  As I've pointed out before, Luke uses the present tense when referring to his father.  This has caused all sorts of speculation as to what the actual fate of Anakin really was.  It's been said that Darth Vader will be making an appearance in the film, but it'll be in a flash back sequence, but could he also be making an appearance in the films present?  Hard to say, but with less than two months to go before the movie comes out, we find out soon enough.

With everything I've been telling you about Darth Vader/Anakin, I'm sure a lot of you are thinking that this is the Jedi Master that I'm teasing will appear.  Well...no.  The rumored Jedi Master is none other than...(drum roll)...Yoda!  Like I said, it's been leaked by someone actually working on the films audio that Yoda will be showing up in one form or another.  My guess is it'll be as a "spirit," kind of like Obi Wan did in Empire and Return.  If he does show up, it will probably be to help guide Luke in staying away from the Dark Side.  Rumors about Luke in the film have him losing his way and drifting towards the Dark Side of the Force.  If Yoda does appear, let's hope it's not the CG Yoda, but the puppet version from the original trilogy.  That one seemed to be more "real" in my opinion.

So what do you think? Do you think it's possible that Yoda will show up in this next installment, and if he does, how do you feel about that?  Let me know in the comments section below!

Again, if there are a lot of spelling errors or things didn't flow, I'm sorry.  Typing it in on my phone, well, I'm all thumbs.  Literally.

The Big Guy Is Finally Getting Some Respect From FOX

Colossus is one of the biggest and baddest X-Men ever to grace the pages of the comic book.  And he's HUGE!  I still have a comic from the 80's that shows him getting into a bar fight with the Juggernaut...and he holds his own!  So why has a badass like this been relegated to being a supporting character in the X-Men movies?  So far, his character has appeared in three of the films, but you wouldn't know it from the lack of screen time and dialogue that he's been given.  Now, all of that is about to change.

The first big change that we've all been privy to is the fact that they are going back to Colossus' true roots.  Meet Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin, the Russian mutant that can turn his body into nearly indestructible metal.  FOX even hired an actual Russian to play the part.  His name is Andre Tricoteux, who started out in the business as a stunt man.  Most importantly, he's actually built like Colossus!  This guy is enormous!  And from what it sounds like in the interviews that the cast have been giving, he's been given a pretty big role in the Deadpool film.  Here's what Tricoteux said about the role in his own words:

“The Colossus you’re going to see in Deadpool is very true to the original character in the comic book. [Director] Tim Miller had a really clear vision, and the Deadpool people had a really clear vision of what they wanted. They wanted Colossus to be very traditional to the original story...I think you're going to get to see more of who Colossus is.  Like I said, we kept him really traditional to the comic book.  So yes, I think people will get a better sense of who he is.  But I think there's still a lot more to be told about him.  Colossus has been around in the comics since the 70's, so I mean, I think you could do your own movie on him.  Yeah, you're going to get to see a little bit more of who he is and kind of his outlook on the world...I can't give too much away.  We kept him traditional to the comic books.  Actually, we kept it exactly like the comics, so you could be able to derive your own conclusion from that."

Sounds like somebody's angling for his own spin-off! 

Deadpool is an important movie for both the title character and Colossus.  It will be undoing some of the greatest wrongs that have been done against Deadpool and Colossus in past movies, and is giving them both a chance at redemption.  Deadpool hits theaters on February 12, 2016.

What Do We Know About The Suicide Squad Movie?

One of the things that we've learned about the upcoming film is that the Harley Quinn character is going to be based more on the New 52 and Batman: Assult on Arkham, an animated film that came out last year.  So what does this mean?

This means that Harley isn't going to be going ga-ga all over the Joker.  That doesn't mean that she isn't in love with the Joker, but all signs point to the two of them having a fall out of some sort.  What that fall out is, I have no idea.  But she's still Harley, which means crazy-ex-girlfriend-times-ten.  How do you get even with a jilted ex-lover?  Start seeing someone else!  In this case, it's Deadshot.  Sound far fetched?  It really isn't.  In Batman: Assult on Arkham she hooked up with Deadshot and it worked for that storyline, so why not here?  Of course, this is all just speculation, but in some of the interviews that the stars have given, things seem to be pointing this way.

What else do we know?  We know that Jared Leto's highly-anticipated performance as the Joker is one of the most talked about characters from the film.  We don't know that much about his "version" of the Clown Prince of Crime, and I think that's intentional.  One thing that won't be able to be helped is his version of the Joker and how he compares to the late Heath Ledger's performance of the Joker.  Ledger's take on the character was awe inspiring.  His Oscar-winning performance is something that people still talk about!  So why add fuel to the fire?  If you give the audience too much of the character, then the comparisons are just going to start that much sooner, and may dissuade people from going to see the film.  See my point?  If you just give people little bits and pieces of the character, then you intrigue them so they want to see more.  It just makes sense.

With the Joker being in the film, I'm guessing that you think that he'll be the most dangerous character of the group.  Think again.  I know what you're thinking, you're thinking, "Who could possibly be more dangerous than the Joker?!?"  Simple.  The person that's pulling his strings in the movie...Amanda Waller.  Don't believe me?  Look at who she has on the Suicide Squad...there's Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, Killer Croc, Enchantress, Katana, and Slipknot.  I'm sure I'm forgetting a few, but those are the ones that I can think of off the top of my head.  Now think of the type of person someone would have to be to control all of those people.  You have to be smart, you have to lack compassion, and you can not feel remorse.  Granted, the little bombs in everyone's head helps her to control them, but to detonate one of them because someone gets out of line or disobeys an order is heartless.  Look, we know that this is going to happen!  The movie's called Suicide Squad for a reason!  If someone doesn't die in this group, I'll be surprised!

Suicide Squad hits theaters August 5, 2016.

200 Years Into Krypton's Past...

Last year there was news of a whole bunch of new comic book based television shows that were going to be making their way onto the small screen, and we've been hearing about the progress of each one...except for Krypton.  Recently, though, David Goyer began discussing the one-hour drama that will be airing on the SyFy channel in a little more detail:

"We're treating 'Krypton' like a historical piece.  We look to previous cultures on Earth to model what that would be like.  We scratched the surface in the film and, for me, that was the allure.  I was always fascinated, as a kid, with the books about Krypton and they've only shaded in a tiny bit, so we'll learn about the politics of the world.  We'll learn about the culture, the art, all the different guilds." 

When the Man of Steel was released, there were a lot of mixed reviews on how the public perceived it.  Most complained that the movie was too dark, and that they didn't like all of the destruction that was caused around the world, and more specifically in Metropolis, during the battle between General Zod and Superman.  One thing that almost everyone agreed on, though, was their fascination with the world of Krypton.  The opening story that showed us an enchanting world of science and technology, of battles and civil war, of architecture and beauty, drew audiences in like nothing else ever seen in a Superman movie...and we wanted more.  Even Russell Crowe said that he'd be up for making a prequel movie to the Man of Steel movie that would bring him back as Jor-El in a story that would take place years before the planets destruction.  When the news of a Krypton television series was announced, you can imagine the excitement that the news generated.

Something that should be pointed out is that this will be the first DC television show that will actually take place in the same universe as DC's movies.  DC has made a point of keeping their cinematic universe and their television universe separate, unlike their competition over at Marvel, so this is an unusual step for the comic book giant.

One of the things that have fans worried about the show is that since it's a television series, the budget will be much less than if it was a full-legnth feature film, and a lot of the amazement and grandeur of the world that we were introduced to in Man of Steel will be lost.  Goyer says not to worry.

"In terms of production value, you have to pick your moments.  Should we make the show there will definitely be some big moments.  It won't be wall to wall visual effects every single moment, spectacle, in the way that the film will be, but we'll also be digging into the characters and the culture a lot more."

One of those characters that are being discussed as appearing in Kal-El's grandfather.  This kind of surprised me, since the show will be taking place 200 years into Krypton's past, but then I realized that just because we mere mortals here on Earth only live to be in our 90's, Kryptonians may have a much longer life span.

No release date has been set for the show yet, but as more news makes it's way out into the public, I will keep you up to date.

Two New X-Men Television Series Are Coming To Television

First of all, don't believe all of the rumors that were being told about Marvel getting the rights back to the Fantastic Four due to some deal that was made between Disney and 20th Century Fox.  It was being claimed that the two came to an agreement that was similar to the one between Disney and Sony regarding Spider-Man, and that they would get the movie properties back for the Fantastic Four if they gave up the television rights to the X-Men.  It's not true, and Fox will continue to screw up the Fantastic Four movies in the coming years.

The rumors about two new X-Men television shows being in production right now are true.  They'll be shown on two different channels.  The first one will be appearing on the FX channel.  FX had ordered a pilot for a television show called Legion.  The show will follow a young boy named David Haller.  Haller has been diagnosed as a schizophrenic, and has made his way in and out of psychiatric hospitals.  While in one of these hospitals, he runs into a fellow patient and through their meeting discovers that the voices and visions that he has in his head, well...they might be real.  In the comic book, Haller is the schizophrenic son of Charles Xaiver, and has made a number of appearances in the X-Factor under the alias "Legion."

The second X-Men television show that's being made will appear on FOX, and it will be called Hellfire.  Set in the late 60's, the show will follow a young Special Agent that learns of a "power-hungry woman with extraordinary abilities" and that the woman "is working with a clandestine society of millionaires-known as The Hellfire Club-to take over the world."

Both shows have had pilots ordered, and we'll have to wait and see if they get picked up for series.  So what do you think?  Would either of these shows be something that you'd be interested in watching?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below!

This Could've Been The Best Comic Book Movie Ever!

David Goyer may have penned one of the best superhero movie scripts ever to be written.  Unfortunately, we'll never get to see it.  It passed away on the development shelves.

Back in the early 2000's. David Goyer, along with Justin Marks, wrote a script for a Green Arrow movie called, Green Arrow: Escape From Super Max.  In it, Oliver Queen was framed for murder and sent to prison.  The movie would follow him trying to escape.  The film also would have had cameos from a number of villains, like Lex Luthor, the Riddler, and the Joker.  This would've been the first movie based on a comic book character that not only focused on the hero, Green Arrow, but also the villains, kind of an early version of the Suicide Squad.  DenOfGeek recently sat down with Goyer and asked him about the film, and asked him if he thought that the movie was ahead of it's time.  Here's what he had to say:

"I think it absolutely was.  I think if that script had come over the transom a couple of years later… It was completely ahead of its time. By the way, everything I see about Suicide Squad looks fantastic and it’s a different story. But it was absolutely ahead of its time. You know, Marvel was considering doing the Sinister Six and at the time, God, I think this was eight or nine years ago that we wrote a couple of drafts, but it certainly was like this oddball project at Warner Bros at the time, they were like - even though the script was good - ‘why would we make a movie about a bunch of villains? That makes no sense’. The executive on it was really visionary, but the higher-ups, none of whom are at Warner Bros any more, just thought at the time, you know, we just want to make Batman and Superman movies. We don’t want to make any other characters. But this is before Marvel had really taken off, before more obscure projects like Guardians Of The Galaxy or Ant-Man or things like that had huge success, before the current gold rush I guess, if you will. It’s natural that eventually someone was going to make a villain movie, so that’s just what happened!"

I would've loved to have seen this movie.  It sounds like a sure fire winner in today's movie environment, but unfortunately it was created just a little too soon.  By the way, don't expect Goyer to be helming any DC movies any time soon, he said that he definitely won't be directing one of the upcoming films for the company.  That's a loss for DC, though.  I'm sure he would've given us an amazing movie to see.

Welcome To 2015 Marty McFly!

Today marks the day that one Marty McFly traveled to the future and arrived at...well, today.  So how does our future compare to the one that was given to us in the movie?  Let's go over some of the things that we saw in Back to the Future II's 2015.

The first thing that stands out in my mind when it comes to the movie's version of 2015 are all of the flying cars.  Where are they in our present???  Very disappointing.  It seems that unlocking the secrets to "anti-gravity" is still a long ways off.  Or is it?  One of the other things that we were shown were "hover boards."  Now, while we won't be able to run out to the store and pick up a "Pitbull" any time soon, there are some start up companies that are developing real, true-to-life hover boards.  While they are still in production mode, and they can only work over certain types of surfaces, it is something that is almost a reality.

How about that holographic movie advertisement for Jaws?  While that still may be years and years off from becoming an everyday thing like it was in the film, holograms have been making their way into the mainstream for a few years now.  Back in 2012 at Coachella, fans were treated to a performance by the late Tupac Shakur through the wonders of holographic technology.  Then, back in 2014, fans were treated to another performance by a late icon when Michael Jackson's hologram performed at the Billboard Music Awards in 2014.  While these are nothing like the amazing 3D holographic advertisements from the movie, it is one step closer to becoming a reality.

Next, let's talk about the future's huge reliance on the fax machine!  Huh?  This one they really dropped the ball on.  How could they not see the rise of the smart phone?  I mean, even Star Trek had communicators that were kinda like our smart phones of today.  But Fax machines?  Really?  Well, I'll let this one slide just a little bit.  We still use them in business, although there's not one in every home where you can get faxed a pink slip.  At least that's something.

The last two things that I want to talk about were actually influenced by the movie!  A few years ago, Nike announced that they were going to be making (in limited supply) actual self-tying shoes that looked like the ones that Michael J. Fox wore in the movie.  I haven't heard much about them since, but thought that it was pretty cool that Nike was getting in on the fun.  Finally, Pepsi has announced that they are making (also in limited supply) actual "Pepsi Perfect" bottles of soda (or "pop," depending where you live) in the same style bottle that was featured in the film.  You have to hurry to get one, though, thy are going fast!

As for the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series?  Well, we'll just have to wait and see how things turn out for them tonight when they play the New York Mets in Game 4.  Right now, the Cubs are down in the series 0-3.

So, although our future really doesn't look anything like the future from the film, it's still a pretty good future to be living in...just don't watch the evening news.

Let's Talk About The New Star Wars Trailer And Poster!

 

All I can say is...wow!  That was the trailer that everybody has been waiting for!  It was jam packed with space battles, as well as some scenes that actually showed interaction with the new and old characters!  We got to see Poe Dameron interact with Finn (makes me wonder if these two are going to be the next Han and Luke!), we saw an embrace between Han and Leia, we saw Rey doing her thing and rummaging through parts looking for something that was salvageable (most likely on the downed Star Destroyer), but most importantly...we saw space battles!  Oh my goodness, did we see space battles!  And land battles, as well!  And was that Kylo Ren using the Force on Poe Dameron?!? This has definitely got my juices flowing!  It was also interesting to hear that the tales of the Jedi and the Sith were "legends."  It was even cooler to hear Han tell everyone that they were actually true stories!  In fact, I just ordered my tickets for the Thursday night showing at 7 pm on December 17th, so I might even get a video uploaded on my review by the next day!  Keep an eye out for it!  It was also obvious that Kylo Ren did not use Darth Vader's helmet in his own, since we've now seen him wearing it while looking at the melted mask of the Dark Lord of the Sith.  Like I said, this was what everyone has been waiting for!  Pure adrenaline rush!!!!  The one person that was most obviously absent from the whole thing?  Luke Skywalker. He's not even on the poster?  Why?

Look, we all know that Mark Hamill is in the film, he's listed on the credits on the poster, and is even listed on IMDB.com as playing Luke...so why haven't we seen him yet?  The closest that we have seen to the Jedi (we assume) is him laying a mechanical hand on top of R2-D2.  There's been no confirmation that it's really him in that scene, though.  So why all of the secrecy?  One of the theories is that his appearance has changed so drastically that they are saving his reveal until the movie is actually released.  Others suspect that if you don't see him in the trailers, you may forget that he's supposed to appear, and then his big reveal will bring shock and awe.  I like the former, seeing as how it's been thirty years since we've seen him, maybe there's been such a big change in him that it'll take every one off guard, and they're trying to protect this reveal.  No matter what the reason, I'd like to see some Luke Skywalker in future trailers!  Now let's talk about that movie poster and the Topps Trading Card app!

Let's talk about the art card from Topps first.  In one of their The Force Awakens cards, it shows Rey piloting the Millennium Falcon, so is she the one piloting throughout all of those air battles, or is it Han, and this scene takes place later in the movie?  I don't know.  Now to the poster!  We get our first glimpse at the Starkiller Base!  It kind of looks like a streamlined Death Star that they created out of an actual planet.  This would make sense.  There are no thermal heating vents that the Rebels can drop stuff into that'll blow it up like in Episodes IV and VI.  That, and it looks to be a refueling station for Star Destroyers, so any attack would not only have to go up against an entire planet, but also have to deal with a fleet of Star Destroyers that hold a whole bunch of Tie Fighters in their bellies that could easily turn away any attack.  Like I said, I'm really getting jazzed for this thing to be released!

So what were your thoughts on the new trailer?  Did you like it?  Did you think it lacked something?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments section down below!  By the way, I posted a link to the trailer on my Twitter page, just go to @Comconoclast to watch it.  While you're there, go ahead and subscribe so you don't miss out on any of my blog posts, or on any articles that I link to!  And if you still have trouble finding it...well, here you go!

New Star Wars Trailer To Premier Tonight

It seems like ages since we've seen anything new from Lucasfilm and Disney regarding the soon-to-be released movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  Fans have been pouring over the first two trailers over and over again, trying to see if they missed something that might give them some insight on what's going to take place in the film.  This evening, those same fans will have some new material to go over!

Today, starting with ABC's Good Morning America, a small teaser trailer will be shown and it will conclude with the entire trailer being shown this evening during ESPN's Monday Night Football game.  This makes sense, seeing as how Disney owns both ABC and ESPN.  A couple of the few-second teasers have already made their way onto the web, with one showing both Finn and Poe making their way around some X-Wing Fighters.  Considering that the movie is getting ready to be released this December 18th, I'm surprised that we haven't been seeing more commercials for it on television and on the web.  The lack of material and information hasn't hurt them at all, though.  People are talking about it more than ever, and with the release of Marvel's Star Wars comic book titles, excitement for the film keeps growing with every day that passes.

the official movie poster was released over the weekend, part of which you can see up above, and I've also been hearing some interesting things that some movie theaters are getting ready to do for the upcoming launch.  Some movie theaters are going to be holding a Star Wars Marathon before the premier of The Force Awakens.  All six movies will be shown back-to-back, in the order of the episodes, not the order of release, even though that should be the way that they are seen.  If you watch them from Episode I through Episode VI, then you lose the shock and awe of learning that Darth Vader is really Luke's father.  You already know that from watching the first three episodes, but that's just my humble opinion.  Alamo Drafthouse and Birth.Movies.Death. are offering a special double-sized issue of their print publication, as well as a limited edition pint glass featuring the new Star Wars movie, and I even read that there are going to be special screenings of the film starting at 7 pm on December 17th, the day before the official release.

After all of these years of wondering what the movie is going to be about and whether or not it will be any good, we are finally entering the home stretch.  Soon we will all be able to see the film, and a whole new wave of discussions and speculations about the film and the other upcoming films in this newest trilogy and stand alone films will begin.  This is a Fanboy's dream come true!

The Hulk To Appear In Thor: Ragnarok

After the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Bruce Banner quietly slipped away from everything, and with his notable absence from the upcoming Captain America: Civil War it has fans wondering...where's the Hulk during all of this?

It looks like we will find out when Thor: Ragnarok is released, and from the sound of it, it won't just be a cameo appearance, either.  The movie is being billed as a "cosmic adventure" of sorts.  According to Birth.Movies.Death. the two will come across the Valkyries during their adventure, and it will also be the introduction of Brunnhilde to the MCU.  Here's what BMD had to say about the Valkyries:

"The Valkyries, in the Marvel Comics and Norse Mythology, are the goddesses who choose the worthy fallen warriors from the battlefield to bring them to Valhalla.  There they feast and prepare for Ragnarok (the end of the universe).  And from what Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige said last year when announcing the title Thor: Ragnarok, the movie will have a major impact on the Marvel Cinematic Universe as its name implies."

They also said that if Brunnhilde is introduced in the movie, this could solve Marvel's problem with the Thor franchise.  Chris Hemsworth's contract is up after Avengers: Infinite Wars, and if he doesn't resign a contract, then they could replace him with Brunnhilde, or introduce a new female Thor like they did in the comic book.  In the comic book, the new female Thor is actually Jane Foster, which is played by Natalie Portman in the films.  The chances of her taking over the role is pretty slim, though.  It was reported that Portman was upset with Marvel when they removed the original director, Patty Jenkins, from the film, so the chances of her renewing her contract with Marvel doesn't seem likely.  If they do go this route, they can use one of the Valkyries instead.

So what do you think about all of this?  Are you excited that the Hulk will be returning in 2017?  What do you think about a female Thor taking over the franchise?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Frank Miller's The Dark Knight III: The Master Race

I really like Frank Miller's work when it comes to comic books.  Not only does he push the envelope with his story telling, I mean he basically rewrote the entire mythos for Batman back in the 90's, but he doesn't draw his characters in the "classical" sense.  He exaggerates the features to fit the characters personality.  In some of the cover art that has been released for the upcoming series The Dark Knight III: The Master Race, Batman's fists and feet are way out of proportion to that of a regular person's, but it's to convey the fact that he will always stand his ground, and that he is a fighter.  You see what he's doing?  Not only is he telling us who his characters are through dialogue, but also through the physical appearance of the characters themselves.  He did the same thing with Superman in the cover art that he did for the upcoming mini-series featuring The Atom.  Here, check it out:





Look at his face.  He's got a huge jaw-line, his teeth are clenched, and his fists are huge!  This is to tell the reader that this version of Superman is a brute that only gets things done with his fists.  There's also a lot of controversy on the web about the fact that Miller drew Superman a, um..."bulge."  This was done on purpose.  To quote Devin Faraci over at Birth.Movies.Death., he says:

"This is an image of Superman as hyper-masculinity run wild, it's a critique of the character."

He also added:

"While Miller's post 9/11 politics have leaned decidedly neolithic, his TKDR (The Dark Knight Returns) Superman was always a government stooge, a brutal enforcer of the US will abroad.  Miller is leaning in to that, going cartoonish with it.  Superman's fists are exaggerated both to underline how he solves problems but also to bring to mind the forced perspective of Jack Kirby."

Faraci concluded his description by saying:

"His body is splayed in a way that denotes an utter lack of control.  It's messy and weird looking and I love that about it."


I thought he did a great job in explaining how he views Miller's work.  The way he critiqued his drawing makes perfect sense.  Let's go back to what I was saying about the Batman picture.  Not the one up above, but this one here:




Like I said before, do you notice how his fists and feet are exaggerated?  Also, look at how he's crouched down, making himself a harder target to hit if you are shooting at him.  He also looks like an animal ready to pounce on his prey.  His face is almost grinning, like he's enjoying the fight, too.  Absolutely incredible.

It should be noted that the while Miller did draw the Superman art up above, Miller is not drawing The Dark Knight III this time around due to his failing health.  This time around the art work is being done by Klaus Jansen and Andy Kubert, and they have been able to tap into Miller's style with incredible ease.  The comic will be an eight issue mini-series and is due to begin this November.

Will Michael B. Jordan Be The Next Boba Fett?

Now remember, this is all just rumor at this point.

It's being reported that Michael B. Jordan is in the running to play the next Boba Fett.  I don't know if his name got thrown into the mix because Josh Trank (director of the Fantastic Four flop) was set to direct the film before being unceremoniously released from the job and he enjoyed working with the young actor, or if this is a new development from more recent events.  Either way, I can already hear the complaints.  "This can't happen, Boba Fett was Jango Fett's clone!  Jordan can't play Boba Fett!"

Actually, he could very easily play the role.  What do we know about Boba Fett from the original trilogy?  Not much.  He only says one or two lines throughout both The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi.  How do we know that he's the same Boba Fett that we learned about in The Attack of the Clones?  Look, Boba Fett is said to be the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy.  He has a reputation and contacts that most bounty hunters wouldn't have.  Is it hard to believe that an adversary might kill Boba Fett and take his identity?  Think of all of the doors it would open for that person!

The second reason why this might be possible is the fact that in the book Star Wars: Aftermath, which is now part of official Star Wars canon, a guy named Cobb Vanth comes across some Mandalorian armor that some Jawas are in possession of.  They don't come right out and say that it's Boba Fett's armor, but they do say they it looked all beat up and pocketed with dents.  So does that mean that Cobb Vanth is going to be the next/new Boba Fett?  I don't know.  Maybe he dies during the storyline of what happened between Jedi and The Force Awakens.  My point is, Boba Fett doesn't have to be "Boba Fett."  There are plenty of ways for Jordan to make the role work, as long as the writers get it right as well.

So what do you think?  Would Michael B. Jordan make a good Boba Fett or not?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Will This Be The First R-Rated Batman Movie?

I've talked about how much I enjoy DC's straight-to-DVD animated films, and look forward to each one's release, so when I heard that James Tucker was sitting in on a panel at last week's New York Comic Con, I got pretty excited!  During the panel, an audience member asked Tucker about DC's shift from doing adaptations of classic comic book stories to more original stories for their animated films, and here's what Tucker had to say:

"At first, we were pretty much told that was what we were going to do, is do a new universe thing coming off of the New 52.  But having said that, I actually really enjoy what we're doing.  And also we do three movies a year, two of them are in continuity and one is an adaptation, or an original, or whatever we want it to be.  So we still do adaptations.  The Killing Joke is next year.  So you're kind of getting the best of both worlds, because there's a finite amount of adaptations really.  So doing one a year as opposed to three a year is probably going to make them last a little longer.  And you know, they said that we could make it an R.  Not saying that's what it will be, but we'll see."

Holy crap.  An R-Rated Batman movie?  That'll be a first!  Considering the story that they're making (The Killing Joke)  I'm actually glad that DC gave them this freedom.  I'm not sure if it would be possible to tell the story properly under a PG-13 rating.  It wouldn't do it justice.  And considering that this will be Mark Hamill's last hurrah as the Joker, let's give him the story that he deserves to voice.

Old Spider-Man Meets New Spider-Man In Upcoming Captain America: Civil War

I have to admit, there were a lot of stories that made their way onto the web over the last few days that it was hard to decide which one to write about first.  So, I figured I start with the oldest story out there, and then work my way forward from that.  This one I read about around the middle of last week.

Captain America: Civil War has grabbed everyones attention since it was announced, but has garnered even more attention now that Spider-Man is going to be making an appearance in it.  Even with the last three movies that have taken his title (Spider-Man 3, The Amazing Spider-Man 1 & 2) he still remains a fan favorite.  People were anxiously awaiting the announcement of who will be the next Spider-Man, and then it was revealed to us.  Tom Holland.  Even though he's only eighteen, he's got a lot of acting experience, and is sure to bring some renewed energy to the franchise.  His age was a pretty big give-away as to how old Peter Parker will be in the new movies, and then Marvel announced that it would take place during his high school years.  We also learned that they won't be doing an origin story movie for him, which is great, but with his first appearance going to be Captain America: Civil War, we can expect to see some growth in his character during that film so it can set up a ready-to-go stand alone movie for him the following year.  What are some of these "growths" going to be?

It sounds like most of the changes that take place with his during Civil War involve his costume.  Earlier this year we learned that Tony Stark is going to have a hand in helping him with his suit, and it was speculated that we'd be seeing an "Iron Spider-Man," but it seems more likely that Stark will be giving him his web-shooters instead.  That doesn't mean that we won't be seeing more than one Spider-Man costume in the film, though.  It's also being reported that there will be two Spider-Man outfits making there way onto the silver screen.  The first one is said to be more of a home-made costume, while the second one will be more modern.  The exciting news about the first one is that they may be going old-school with the logo.  Here's what's being said will be the design on the first costume:



Talk about old-school!  I haven't seen this logo in ages!  I think it will be a nice nod to his character and his creators if they do this.

Captain America: Civil War opens May 6, 2016, and the new Spider-Man movie will be coming out July 28, 2017.

Wonder Woman Movie To Span Across Time

With Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice all but complete for release next summer, the next phase in DC's cinematic universe, Wonder Woman, is getting ready to start filming this November.  Not much information is known about the movie, except that it will star Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, and also feature Chris Pine as Steve Trevor, Wonder Woman's love interest.

We've also recently found out that the movie will span three different time periods.  The first is most likely ancient times, with no specific date given, and will take place on Themyscira.  Themyscira is the home of Diana Prince (Wonder Woman's real name) and also the home of the Amazons.  The second will take place during World War I, specifically 1916, which would put her right in the middle of the conflict.  The last place that the movie will jump to is modern times, which is when (I'm assuming) she hooks up with Steve Trevor.  Since Chris Pine is playing him, I'm guessing that they'll want to bring him back for future movies, so his appearance will most likely happen then.  It's also being reported that in each time period she will be donning a different costume that reflects each era.

Wonder Woman will be filming in London, England, as well as on the island of Basilicata in Italy.  The movie's release date is scheduled for June 23, 2017.

New Animated Justice League Series Is In The Works

Of course it is!  I mean, why not?  What better way to get people excited about the upcoming Justice League movies and to introduce the next generation of kids to the World's Mightiest Superheroes?  Look, I'm no spring chicken (I guess that's obvious since I just used the term "spring chicken!") but I still love watching the old Justice League and Justice League Unlimited series, and Young Justice?  Absolutely incredible!  Why it didn't last longer than just a couple of seasons, I have no idea!  The best part about these cartoons were that they weren't dumbed-down for the kiddie market.  They had great story lines, and the animation was fantastic!  The problem is that the more recent DC cartoons have been dumbed-down to target the kiddie market, with the likes of Teen Titans Go! and Batman: The Brave and the Bold.  So which version are we going to get?  That's the million dollar question.

World's Finest Online recently contacted Cartoon Network about the new Justice League series and whether or not the rumors about it were true, and this is what they had to say:

"We will be premiering a new Justice League animated series, but not likely until next fall."

So it's confirmed that Cartoon Network will be giving us a whole new Justice League animated cartoon series next fall.  That still doesn't answer the question as to what direction they'll take in it's art and story telling.  Cartoon Network did give us both the old Justice League/Justice League Unlimited and Young Justice cartoons, as well as the tiny tots version of the Teen Titans with Teen Titans Go! so it could go either way.  I'm hoping that Bruce Timm comes back to help with this one.  Every time he gets involved with a project it looks amazing!  He still helps out with DC's direct to DVD animated movies, and these are definitely not the ones you get for your kids!  They are well thought out stories, and have huge amounts of violence and blood.  They stay true to the comic books that they are based on, and the transition from comic book to movie is nearly flawless.  One great example is DC's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns based on the Frank Miller comic book.  It's out right now on DVD and Blu-ray.  Check it out.

So we are getting a new Justice League animated series.  Will it be low-brow or not?  I guess we'll just have to wait until next fall to find out.  Don't screw this one up, Cartoon Network!

Is Miles Morales About To Make His MCU Debut?

When I first read the article that was dealing with this topic, I had to laugh to myself because earlier this week I had read an article that stated that Marvel didn't want to deal with any of the Spider-Man spin-offs yet.  They wanted to focus on Peter Parker and not get too far ahead of themselves.  In fact, Kevin Feige was quoted as saying the following:

"Well, there could be [spin-offs]. But the truth is, our job right now is that single Spider-Man movie based in the MCU. And that’s where all our focus is."

Now you understand why I had to laugh when I read an article titled, "Miles Morales Could Also Possibly Appear In Marvel's Spider-Man Reboot."  Kind of went against everything that the head of Marvel had just said.  So where did this rumor come from?  None other than the Spider-Man director himself, Jon Watts!

Okay, let me clarify...he didn't come right out and scream it from the roof tops!  He was asked a question in an interview whether there had been any serious discussions about Miles Morales appearing in the next Spider-Man movie.  Here was his answer:

"I can't talk about that, because, you know, that will reveal too much," he says.  "We're still writing the story...we haven't finished all the way through the story yet, so who knows."

Okay, that wasn't a strong confirmation that  he will, but it also wasn't a denial!  My guess is that if he does show up in the movie, he'll just be a "person in the background" type of character, not another web-slinger.  Still, if he does make an appearance in the film, however small it may be, what does that say about the direction that they are wanting to take these new Spider-Man films?  Would his appearance mean that they'll use him in the future as another, or the next Spider-Man?  It could make things a lot more interesting if they do...

The Reason Why Loki Wasn't In Avengers: Age Of Ultron

Before Avengers: Age of Ultron began filming, news of the upcoming film's character roster started to trickle out, and it was huge...with one exception.  There was no Loki.  The original statement as to why he wasn't going to make an appearance was that there were already too many important characters in the film and that an increased number in them could wear the plot line "thin."  This line of thinking seems to have followed Marvel, since they've scaled down the number of main characters appearing in next years Captain America: Civil War.  Wait...no they didn't!  Huh?

Maybe the feat was too much for Joss Whedon and it can be carried off better by the likes of Anthony and Joe Russo?  I mean, fitting all of those incredible characters into one movie is extremely difficult, and Whedon might have been in over his head.  It's not like he'd done anything like this before, right?  Oh wait...he already gave us the first Avengers movie and it was awesome!

So what was the deal?  Why did Tom Hiddleston not get to appear in the film?  He actually did film a scene for the movie, but it got cut.  Hiddleston is currently out doing the interview rounds to promote his upcoming movie Crimson Peak, and while fielding questions about the soon-to-be released film, he was asked why his scene got cut.  (The scene in question was during Thor's Norn cave dream sequence. In the original cut, this is where Loki makes his appearance.)

"When they screened it, audiences somehow believed that Loki was controlling Ultron, and [Kevin Feige] thought that was unbalancing the film."

This makes sense.  Loki is the God of tricksters, and it's completely believable that people would think his showing up in the movie meant that he was somehow controlling Ultron.  As a villain, Ultron was pretty weak, as far as what audiences thought of him.  Loki, on the other hand, is still regarded as one of the best movie villains of all time.

There are no plans for Hiddleston's Loki to return to the MCU any time soon, but with Thor: Ragnarok being released in 2017, we might just just get to see the trickster one more time.

Marvel Doing Damage Control

Yeah, the picture above doesn't really have anything to do with what I'm writing today, it's just a really cool "Marvel" picture that I wanted to use.

But to the matter at hand!  Have you ever heard of a comic book called Damage Control?  No?  Don't feel bad, I hadn't either.  The title never grabbed my attention.  It's been an on-again, off-again title for Marvel since 1988.  The idea behind it is it's about the "cleaners" of the Marvel universe.  When ever a Marvel character does damage, they're the ones that clean up the mess.  Thor accidentally destroys a small town while battling Loki?  The Hulk goes green and rampages through the city and wrecks everything in his path?  Who ya gonna call?  Yeah, I know, that was a Ghostbusters line, but it still works here!

Dwayne McDuffie and Ernie Colon, the co-creators of the comic book, pitched the idea of the title to Disney, and ABC picked up the script to produce a pilot of the show in Marvel's first ever attempt at a half-hour comedy show.  It will be developed by Ben Karlin, who does Modern Family, and it's executive producers will be David Milner and Marvel head of television Jeph Loeb.  Loeb is the guy behind the Marvel shows on Netflix (i.e. Daredevil, Jessica Jones.)  This is what Zap2It.com had to say about the series:

"The series will follow a cleaning crew who specializes in the aftermath of superhero conflicts.  When ray guns need to be returned to their owners, displaced animals need to be tracked down or new wedding venues need to be secured at the last minute because the original one was blown up by one of Hawkeye's explosive arrows, these are the men to call."

They say that the show will be shot with a single camera point of view, kind of like The Office, and that it'll be a half-hour sitcom.  This might actually work for Marvel.  Their movies have quite a bit of humor in them, so this doesn't seem that big of a stretch.  If this show does turn out to be a hit, it's characters could make cameos in the movies, adding a little bit more humor to the flick without taking away from it's main characters.  So what do you think?  Do you think that this could work?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Some Interesting New Star Wars Rumors

So like I stated up above, these are new rumors, so they should be taken with a grain of salt, but in case they turn out to be real, I should point out that there are potential
***SPOILERS*** ahead!

There has been a lot of speculation around all of the new characters that will introduced to us in the upcoming film Star Wars: The Force Awakens which is now just a little over two months away from being released.  One of the more curious aspects of these characters is that they all only have one name (i.e. Rey, Finn, Kylo Ren).  Okay, technically Kylo Ren is two names, but we've also learned that the name wasn't the characters birth name, but one he gave himself when he joined The Knights of Ren, a secret, shadowy group that we still don't know much about.  JJ Abrams recently said that he's withholding their last names until the movie is released, so the characters and their back stories remain a mystery.  Makes sense, I mean if Rey's last name happens to be "Solo" or "Skywalker," that would certainly give away a lot about the character.

Finn, on the other hand, really does have only one name in the film, and this is where the rumor comes in.  The name "Finn" is short for his Stormtrooper call signal, which is FN-2187.  After he bails on the First Order, he takes up the name Finn...you know, as in FN.  The rumor also claims that he has no memories of his past, so this could also be a huge plot point for the upcoming saga films.  One other interesting bit of information that was given was that the First Order Stormtroopers regularly train with lightsabers and shields.  This may answer the question as to why Finn is wielding a lightsaber in the woods opposite Kylo Ren in the movie trailer, and also explains how he'd be proficient enough to use it.  Cinelinx, the site that's reporting all of these rumors also makes an interesting point...if the First Order is training their Stormtroopers how to use lightsabers in battle, is the Resistance employing similar tactics?

I find the rumor about the lightsabers a little hard to take myself, and here's why.  We all know that the lightsaber is the Jedi's weapon of choice, but in order to complete their training in the ways of the Force, they have to build their own lightsaber, right?  And they are powered by very rare gem stones, so where could all of these lightsabers be coming from?  And who''s building all of them?  Maybe all of these questions will also be answered in the film if these rumors turn out to be true.

We'll just have to wait a couple of more months until we find out for ourselves!  Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits theaters December 18, 2015.

Marvel's Future Movie Plans For...The X-Men?

One of the things that has made Marvel's films as good as they are is that they have followed a certain plan.  It's been a long, well-thought out plan.  It all started with...well, It officially started with Iron Man, but the seeds for what they were wanting to aim for were shown to us at the end of The Incredible Hulk.  They built up each of their core characters, giving them their own individual movies to introduce them all to the masses, and then brought them together in one magnificent movie, The Avengers, and they've been growing ever since.

One of their plans is to retire these original characters and bring in new ones, like we saw at the end of The Avengers: Age of Ultron when were shown the new line up of Avengers with the likes of Falcon, War Machine, Vision, and the Scarlet Witch.  These obviously won't be the only new characters that they will be introducing us to, as we've seen with the release of Ant Man.  Other characters that we'll be meeting in the near future will be Doctor Strange, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel.  The big surprise out of the new crop of films is that another character that will be appearing in Marvel's films, that's Spider-Man.

This seemed like a pipe dream just last year.  Spider-Man is a movie property owned by Sony, and movie companies do not like sharing their properties.  There's no real good reason for them to do it.  They might get some money from loaning something out, but the other company that puts the money into the making of the film will reap in all of the box office gross.  In the case of Sony and Spider-Man, it became evident that with their failed reboot of the franchise with The Amazing Spider-Man and it's sequel, they needed to do something drastic.  What good is a property if it doesn't make you money?  The agreement between Sony and Marvel allows Sony to keep the rights to the character, but they are also able to use Marvel's guidance with their films, if they allow him to appear in some of their own films.  It's actually a pretty great deal for both sides.

If this deal works, and all signs are pointing to it working, why not start making plans for other properties that Marvel sold the rights to way back when?  Well, that's actually what they are doing.  Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios president, said that they are making contingency plans for if and when they get all of their properties back, which has been a dream of theirs for a long time.  That's not to say that there have been any talks with other studios, like 20th Century Fox, but considering how lousy The Fantastic Four reboot was, why not enter into an agreement with Fox like they did with Sony?  The fact that Feige said that these plans have been floating around outside of the actual movie story lines makes it sound like if they do get these rights back, they'll be ready to integrate them into their MCU.

So while we may not see an Avengers vs. X-Men movie in the near future, there's a possibility that we still may see one.