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junebugwriter · 5 months

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Loki Season 2 Doesn't Understand Loki

The fundamental flaw in a season that means nothing

Spoilers below.

I think we need to talk about Loki.

People who know me know that I don’t like superhero and comic book movies. I love them. And that’s why I’m so critical of them. I can blame my brother on getting me into comics in high school, but the fact that long after that I keep coming back to the well speaks to what I love about them. Comics are the blending of prose and visual artistry, of character and medium. Every comic is a conversation between artists. Television and film, likewise, are another variation on that same theme.

However, like any other kind of media, its greatest strengths can also fall victim to their greatest enemy: the companies that own them.

Marvel Studios and the Marvel Cinematic Universe began as a simple concept: translate the idea of comic book universes onto the big screen. Let the comic company own the movies that bring their stories to the masses. When Disney bought Marvel, lock stock and barrel, it also brought truckloads of cash and prestige with it. This proved to be a Faustian bargain in the end, because what happens when the infinite money machine begins to grow too large to handle? Things begin to break down.

Loki Season 2 is this metaphor brought to life.

Everything Will Be The Same Ever Again

The first season ended promisingly enough. Loki and his alternate timeline gender swapped variant Sophie finally find He Who Remains, the man behind the curtains that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been building up to. He’s the one who pulls the strings, paves the road, and decides the Sacred Timeline ™—in other words, this is the man who decides Marvel Canon.

Season 1 ended exactly as I hoped it would: Sophie, tired of being controlled, did the thing that gods of mischief and chaos are supposed to do. She killed the man behind the curtain. In so doing, she unspooled the Sacred Timeline ™ in the name of free will, allowing for infinite universes to be borne from the infinite choices made every moment by every being in existence. She gave birth to the multiverse. She broke the system.

Obviously, this could not last.

Loki season 1 promised that the universe would be forever altered by the actions of Loki and Sophie, and for a while, this seemed to be the case. Most of the recent phase of Marvel output has revolved, for better or worse, with the introduction of the concept of multiple realities. This has been used somewhat as more or less a vehicle for Brand Integration ™ and less as a vehicle for, you know, good storytelling. Yes, we’ve been promised Fantastic Four and X-men movies, but those aren’t even really in the works currently. They’ve been stuck in development hell for years since acquisition. All we’ve gotten is a couple of winks and nods, a musical sting, and N’amor, which all things being fair, was great, but N’amor has always been his own thing and a mutant in name only, story-wise. Otherwise, it’s been fine, but far from the promised chaos that Loki season 1 alluded to.

Additionally, there’s the problem of character. Loki in mythology is less a villain but more of an antagonist, a trickster character that causes problems and meddles in the affairs of others for little reason else besides “he wanted to.” He’s mercurial by nature, and that works very, very well for mythology. It works for the purposes of “this is how the world is, this is why things are the way they are, and this is how the world will end.” Loki’s presence is not malevolent, but rather genuinely chaotic. He will do what he wants, and usually only to satisfy himself. He often seems unable to really control himself, let alone anyone else. He does things because he loves just making things happen, and if he winds up with what he wants, it’s all the better.

In the comics and the films, he’s much more cast as a villain. In the films, he desires the throne of Asgard, to be the rightful ruler of people. Failing to win Asgard, he seeks out Earth as an agent of Thanos. Failing that, he meanders long enough in the background to have fun when dealing with Thor, and that’s about it. He finally dies an ignoble death by Thanos, and that was to be the end of him. Loki the TV series is not the same Loki we saw die. This Loki is an alternate timeline variant, and after having his ego broken by the Time Variance Authority, he seeks out another variant, Sophie, who has been causing problems for the TVA.

If all that gives you a bit of a headache, don’t worry. That’s just the comic fan experience. Comics, and superhero stories, are of a kindred spirit with Soap Operas: not only are they highly melodramatic, often made up on the fly, and filled with colorful characters, but they’re also designed to go on FOREVER. That’s the beauty of them. The characters, and the universe, frequently default to a certain status quo. Sure, every few years, something comes along that promises to Change the Universe Forever, but that often amounts to one weird tweak and then it's back to the races as usual. The bad guy comes along to challenge the hero, hero must thwart whatever plan the villain has, and all is well. That’s the rhythm of the comic book story, and that works quite well for executives... to a point. So, what happens when people start to get tired of the same old story? They change the status quo on paper, and hope nobody notices that the structure of it all is still intact.

That was the promise of Loki Season 1. See? We have a multiverse now! Please, be distracted by this CHAOS long enough to not realize that we are still in control of everything, and everything is fine.

That last sentence? That’s the plot of season 2. See, Sophie killed He Who Remains, and the multiverse exists. The TVA is designed by HWR to maintain the Sacred Timeline ™. With the Sacred Timeline ™ now in chaos, everything in the universe is going haywire. That means timelines are unraveling. The plot now follows Loki, his hetero life mate Mobius, and a cast of fun, colorful characters, racing against time to keep time from unspooling, and the multiverse from completely falling apart.

Mr. Loki’s Wild Ride

“Loki” is a show meant to turn Loki from the god of mischief and chaos to... a hero, somehow. One who wants to fight to maintain an autocratic, bureaucratic organization that wasn’t very good at its job in the first place because the alternative is... chaos. According to the plot, this chaos takes the form of nothingness. Lack of existence. See, without an imposed order, nothing can exist! Therefore, reality NEEDS someone or some entity to maintain order in some way so that everything can keep on existing.

But why is this the case? Why does reality need a temporal loom or a man behind the curtain? The show doesn’t do a very good job of explaining why everything ceases to exist the moment that the Temporal Loom, the machine that maintains the Sacred Timeline ™ other than “that’s just how it all works,” and really, it doesn’t even tell us that. It just shows time unraveling, sans explanation. How did time exist before the Temporal Loom, you ask? Loki, for all its technobabble and endlessly recurrent exposition, is not actually interested in explaining that bit. You see, it was chaos and war and death before, or it’s nothingness. Which is it? Why is it? It’s a nihilistic and frustrating bit of worldbuilding that leads to nothing.

This nihilism is a kind of narrative reinforcement technique. By the end of it, Loki has figured out how to control time itself, after much trial and error, as well as another conversation with He Who Remains. Yet in that conversation, he learns a fundamental truth about the MCU: He who makes the difficult decisions gets to sit on the throne. He Who Remains is supposedly one such person. In his stead, at the end, Loki does the same. He wrests control of the timelines, bundles them up into a cape, and seats himself on the throne of He Who Remains. As such, he recreates Yggdrasil, the world tree of Norse mythology, the tree upon which all the realms rest. You see? Everything goes back to normal, now that someone is in control.

But wait a minute. Why would Loki ever make this choice? Loki early in the show figures out he doesn’t want a throne. He doesn’t want control. All he ever wanted was to be loved and known and understood. That is the true desire at the heart of his character. It’s beautiful, and poignant, and speaks to my own heart. In Sophie, he found someone who does know and understand him. Is it narcissistic to love a gender variant of yourself? Probably! But it makes sense for him. Because he is a mercurial person. He doesn’t really understand even himself, and because of that, it results in mischief and chaos. That’s who he is. He is a chaos god.

By the end of the show though, he’s learned and grown... what? To love order? To love bureaucracy? To love control? That’s what it’s saying when he takes the throne! I understand that this is Loki learning what it means to be a hero, but is that really what it means? To let go of your defining characteristic? To lose what makes you... you? To undergo true ego death so that the world itself can keep on spinning upon your skeleton? For all its over-explanation, Loki the show isn’t interested in answering much of anything. It’s poetic that he gives up his life so that reality can continue, but this seems rather pointless, in the end. Instead of embracing himself, he denies his identity to sit on a throne he doesn’t want. That’s no god of chaos and mischief. That is the god of stability, order, and the status quo.

That’s not Loki.

Pay no attention to the executive behind the curtain

I understand the mercenary reasons for these choices. I understand that the universe must keep spinning, and the infinite money machine must keep on making money. But to do so, they need to kill the defining characteristics of their beloved characters, and that just makes it all so thin, flimsy and frustrating. There are some amazing moments in this show! Everything with Sophie, Mobius, and Ouroboros is excellent. The characters make this nonsense story shine, long enough to make you hopefully realize that it doesn’t even make internal sense.

As someone who analyses stories for a living, it’s impossible to see this apart from the concept of capitalist realism, whose central maxim is this: It’s easier to believe in the end of the world rather than the end of capitalism. Substitute “capitalism” with “the underlying bureaucracy upon which the world rests and runs itself” and that becomes just the text of Loki. It’s easier to imagine the end of reality than the end of the TVA, and the end of the autocrat who sits on top of the pyramid. The Universe is run by a corrupt pyramid scheme, but it’s that or nothingness! So, you NEED someone to run things like this, otherwise it’s all void.

That’s what this story is saying—but why does it need to say this? Why do we need someone sitting on a throne? For a character like Loki whose entire character is anarchy incarnate, this simply just rings hollow.

And so, I am frustrated. I want to like “Loki.” It has some great moments and is a lot of fun. But at the end of the day, it does the character of Loki wrong but having to reinforce the status quo, and when your central character who is defined by causing mischief, maintaining the status quo is a terrible way to end your series.

#blog #tv #television #loki #marvel #marvel cinematic universe

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uomo-accattivante · 2 years

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At this point in its history, Marvel isn’t known for tinkering with its proven superhero formula. And yet “Moon Knight,” the studio’s current Disney+ series, has taken some unexpected chances.

Its debut episode introduced Steven Grant, a maladroit museum gift-shop clerk with a dodgy British accent, played by Oscar Isaac. Isaac also plays Marc Spector, a grizzled American mercenary who shares the same body with Grant — and who is also Moon Knight, the crime-fighting avatar of an ancient Egyptian deity.

As the story of “Moon Knight” has revealed, Spector has had dissociative identity disorder, or D.I.D., since childhood, and Grant is an alternate identity he created to shield himself from trauma and abuse.

“Moon Knight” was a risk for Isaac, too, even though his résumé already includes some of the biggest fantasy franchises Hollywood has produced. While he has made a whole career of projects that are many orders of magnitude smaller — performing “Hamlet” and “Romeo and Juliet” for the Public Theater and starring in intimate dramas like “The Card Counter” and “Scenes From a Marriage” — he has also been featured in film series like “Star Wars” and “X-Men.” Those blockbusters elevated Isaac to greater levels of recognition, but the grueling work they require and lack of input they typically allow made him hesitant when Marvel sought him for “Moon Knight.”

As Isaac, 43, explained in a video interview last week, the pleasure of “Moon Knight” was getting to explore the title character in a way that felt right to him, even if his approach did not always fit the Marvel mold.

Whether Moon Knight moves on to his own movie or a superteam like the Avengers “doesn’t matter so much,” Isaac said from the offices of the production company that he and his wife, the writer-director Elvira Lind, operate in Brooklyn.

“It’s a new character that we’re taking a chance on,” he said. “The nature of the story is this investigation, this slow-reveal mystery.”

“If it goes somewhere else, that’s great,” he added. “I’m glad it’s not just an advertisement for synergy.”

Ahead of the “Moon Knight” finale on Wednesday, Isaac spoke about the making of the series, of which he is also an executive producer. He also spoke about the unexpected oscillations of his career and about working for Disney while the company weathers a political firestorm. These are edited excerpts from that conversation.

Do you get two paychecks for playing two roles on “Moon Knight”?

I should, man. It’s funny because that’s what I was apprehensive about: I didn’t want it to feel like this masturbatory thing. When I started off, I was very adamant that I didn’t want to do the gimmicky, switching back and forth, Jekyll and Hyde part of it. I really segregated Marc and Steven, even asked if we could shoot them on different days. Just do it through reflections and don’t ask me to put on a different hat.

Some actors say they accept immediately when Marvel comes calling, but you didn’t. Why not?

I wasn’t, at that point, super eager to jump into a big production. I wanted to fall in love with acting again. I was a bit tired. I’ve got two young kids, and I was ready to take a step back, do smaller films that weren’t as big of a commitment. When this came, my immediate sense was, ugh, this is bad timing.

As a comics fan, did you feel like you were getting a B- or C-list character foisted on you?

Yeah, they’re pretty much down to the dregs. Although people said that for Iron Man, too — then it changes cinema forever and what an amazing performance that was. Part of the attraction was its obscurity, to be honest.

What were your inspirations for how you play Steven Grant?

It’s an homage to the things I love, like Peter Sellers and the British “Office” and “Stath Lets Flats” and Karl Pilkington. I was also watching “Love on the Spectrum” — these people are going on these dates, who are autistic, who are feeling all the same things that we all would feel, but they haven’t developed these masks to hide it all. It’s all out there in the open. There was something I found so moving about that. I started doing the character at home, and my kids were asking me to do him all the time

You spoke of feeling burned out on big-budget projects. When did you start experiencing that?

Toward the middle to end of the run on “Star Wars.” The commitment of time was such a long one, and the windows of availability were very specific. I started to get hungry for those character studies and working with those great directors.

You had worked professionally as an actor for several years and had some prominent theater roles. But did you find that big-budget films gave you some breakthrough opportunities?

There were a few supporting performances that gave me the opportunity to do really different characters on these big stages, like “Robin Hood” and “Sucker Punch.” What was fun was that nobody had any idea who I was. I played the King of England in “Robin Hood,” and nobody had a problem with that. Now that I’m more known, suddenly it’s like, can he play English? Should he play English? In this age, we know everything about everybody, and of course people have a problem with suspension of disbelief.

So as a Juilliard alumnus and a veteran Shakespeare performer, you didn’t think these types of films were somehow beneath you?

No, I didn’t feel like that. I wanted to make a living as an actor. I didn’t have the luxury of ethics; I didn’t have the luxury of integrity. [Laughs.] I felt like I could bring my point of view to whatever came my way. Early on, I was like, “If I had the one shot, I could prove …” And then I would get a chance, it would come and it would go, and I would realize, Oh! I guess I need another shot now. After a while, it was clear the only thing you can control is your craft and staying curious, and exercising that craft in whatever comes your way that you think is good.

Did starring in “Inside Llewyn Davis” feel like one of those opportunities for you?

That was completely life-altering in every single way. That was my first lead role. It was a Coen brothers movie. I played music. I still can’t believe that happened. I wanted it so badly and just worked my ass off beforehand. It was the serendipity of the moment that I did what I intended to do and the Coens took the risk on someone relatively unknown.

Was it strange that it led to even more fantasy franchise roles? Like, this is what they think of me?

I’ve been doing it long enough to know that there’s no “they” — it’s just people trying to make movies, whether they’re on a huge scale or a small scale. J.J. [Abrams] wanted to meet me [for “The Force Awakens”] while I was still shooting “A Most Violent Year.” I remember because Albert Brooks [his co-star on “A Most Violent Year”] left me a really funny message pretending to be J.J. before I went to go meet J.J. You take a leap of faith. And sure, had I not done that, perhaps I would have been available for some other thing that would have come my way. But no one ever knows.

You got an earlier shot at comic-book adaptations with “X-Men: Apocalypse.” It wasn’t well received, though I think it gets a bad rap. Is that a role you’ve disowned?

No, I don’t disown it. I know exactly what I went in there wanting to do and the reasons why. There were these amazing actors involved that I really wanted to work with, [James] McAvoy and [Michael] Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence. I collected X-Men growing up, and I loved Apocalypse, I just found him such a freaky, weird character. And then you get there and you’re like, Oh my God, I’ve got all these prosthetics on. I’ve got a suit on. I can’t move. I can’t see anybody. All these actors I wanted to work with — I can’t even see who they are. I still think back to that time with fondness. I wish it would have been a better film and that they would have taken care of the character a little better, but those are the risks.

Would you count your time making “Dune” with Denis Villeneuve as one of your typical franchise film experiences?

Denis was the reason to do that. When he came to me, he actually didn’t have a role in mind for me yet. He was like, “I’m doing ‘Dune,’ are you interested? What role is interesting to you?” We decided it was Leto. It was challenging to be a very specific sound in a big symphony.

And you knew, going in, that it’s a character with a limited life span?

Yes, that was part of the attraction.

Was “Star Wars” your closest frame of reference when Marvel sought you for “Moon Knight”? Was that what made you wary?

They are such big, huge films. As fun as they can be, you’re outputting a lot of energy and then you leave and you’re just exhausted. That was part of the fear. I didn’t anticipate how much creative flexibility there was going to be — how much energy it gave me back.

How so?

Once Mohamed [Diab, a director on “Moon Knight”] and I started talking about what it could be if we could put our lens on it, we were like, it’s way more important that we’re true to D.I.D. than to some kind of comic-book back story. When you do the research on what causes D.I.D., it’s not like one thing. It’s not, you watched something horrible happen and suddenly you break out into all these different personalities. It’s from sustained trauma and abuse over time. This is a survival mechanism that clicks into place for someone who’s experiencing that. That they’re able to fracture their mind to survive it is kind of astounding.

For much of the series, Marc and Steven would interact in discreet ways, like talking to each other in a mirror’s reflection. How did you handle the sequences we saw in last week’s episode, where the two were often standing side-by-side?

I had my brother, Michael [the actor Michael Benjamin Hernandez], who is a great actor and shares my DNA, stand in as my alter. Other times, it was a huge challenge technically as sometimes, especially in the wide shots, I’d have to act with no one and remember the blocking I had done as the other character and respond to the lines being fed to me in an earpiece I wore.

Was D.I.D. a subject you knew about before making “Moon Knight”?

I didn’t. I had just done “The Card Counter,” which was all about trauma and living with P.T.S.D. I had been doing some research into that, and there was something that felt organic about seeing what’s on the other end of the spectrum.

Does “Moon Knight” speak to why stories about alternate identities and multiverses are becoming increasingly popular?

We live in a post-reality world. Things used to feel a lot clearer, and now they’re not. Nothing can be true or authentic anymore, and I think that’s being reflected in a lot of our popular culture.

You’re a prominent ambassador of Disney’s brand at a time when the company is experiencing conservative backlash and political retribution for its opposition to Florida’s “Parental Rights in Education” law, which its critics call “Don’t Say Gay.” Is this something you feel a personal investment in, and does that backlash affect you individually?

No, I’m not experiencing that. I’m not on social media, so luckily, if that is coming my way, I’m ignorant of it. But everything has a political undercurrent at the moment. Disney was forced to take a stand, and I’m glad that they took the right stand there. Sometimes silence or neutrality is just not going to work. It’s astounding to watch a vindictive politician try to own the libs. I grew up in Florida, and I recognize how dysfunctional the state is. But it’s an interesting time where everything is parsed, and if Disney is going to own so much of the entertainment industry, they’ve got to expect to come up against some tough decisions.

Are these the kinds of considerations you’re going to have to make now whenever you work for a major studio?

I’d rather not. [Laughs.] That’s going to require me to do a whole lot of research beforehand that I’d rather not do. I’d rather spend that time figuring out a good character.

There has to be some conscientiousness about it, but at the same time, you’re also trying to make a living and you’re trying to live in the world. I just want to make good stuff and hopefully try to do it in a responsible way.

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#oscar isaac #moon knight #marvel #mohamed diab #disney #star wars #dune #inside llewyn davis #x men: apocalypse #michael hernandez #mike hernandez #the card counter #a most violent year #robin hood #new york times

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twistedtummies2 · 7 months

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Fifteen Days of Disney Magic - Number 7

Welcome to Fifteen Days of Disney Magic! In honor of the company’s 100th Anniversary, I am counting down my Top 15 Favorite Movies from Walt Disney Animation Studios! Today’s entry might be called an Underrated Mouse-terpiece. Ha Ha. Number 7 is…The Great Mouse Detective.

This is one of at least two films on my list where, if you don’t know me well, the movie being in my Top 15 – let alone my Top 10 – will probably be a surprise. However, if you DO know me well, then you probably won’t be surprised at all. “The Great Mouse Detective” is one of those hidden gems in the Disney canon: it’s not exactly a hated movie – I don’t know anybody who dislikes it outright – but it’s a film that frequently seems to get overlooked. It’s the very definition of a cult classic: a movie with a small but devoted fanbase, and a lot of other people just sort of go, “Oh, yeah. That movie exists.” There are a few reasons for this, I think; one is that the film, in its own time, wasn’t necessarily a smash hit. Oh, it was a successful film, don't get me wrong, and a much-needed one, at that. The previous movie, “The Black Cauldron,” performed so poorly at the box office it lost to the bloody Care Bears Movie (yes, seriously), and didn't exactly get a lot of critical praise. This film was a modest commercial hit, and critics seemed to like it both then and now, but it wasn’t something that revolutionized the company or made people suddenly become die-hard Disney fans again.

The other reason is merchandising: this film just hasn’t had the level of ATTENTION a lot of other films, both before and since, have gotten, or so it feels to me. Disney doesn’t exactly make a lot of toys, coffee cups, t-shirts, and so on based on this movie today, and I’m not sure if they ever did. Even the characters seem to be quite forgotten in the annals of Disney moviemaking; I think Bongo and Lumpjaw from “Fun and Fancy Free” have made more subsequent appearances in comics and cartoons than any of the characters in this film. Heck, outside of a cameo in an episode of “House of Mouse,” and a few obscure children’s books, I actually can’t think of ANY real subsequent appearances for these characters, off the top of my head. Whatever the cause for all this, it’s fair to say that “The Great Mouse Detective” isn’t a movie with the same level of enthusiasm, from fans, critics, and the company itself alike, as something like “The Little Mermaid” or “Big Hero 6.” Which is a shame because, very obviously, I think it’s a great film! Admittedly, a big part of my love for this film stems from the story itself, and what it's inspired by. The film is a pastiche of Sherlock Holmes. The movie was based on a series of books called “Basil of Baker Street,” which I’ve admittedly never read; from what I understand, however, the film has almost nothing to DO with those books, and instead treats itself as a more or less straightforward Sherlock Holmes movie. It just so happens that the names are different, and all the characters are now mice, rats, dogs, cats, and so on. As a kid, this was my introduction to the concept of Sherlock Holmes, and anyone who knows me well knows how much I love the Conan Doyle classics and their titular detective. So you can absolutely blame this movie for that obsession: I wouldn’t care about things like “Sherlock” or “Moriarty the Patriot” if I didn’t first see “The Great Mouse Detective” many times while growing up. In fact, as an adult, my love for this movie has only grown, because I now love it for both different and similar reasons to when I was a child. The main thing that I marvel at with this movie, now that I’m older and have so much more experience with the source material, is just how much this film pays homage to the stories. Some elements are quite transparent, like the characters: Basil is very obviously Holmes, Dawson is very obviously Watson, and Professor Ratigan is very obviously Professor Moriarty. They are the three key examples. Another is the battle atop Big Ben, which is a transparent riff on the climactic duel atop Reichenbach Falls from the books.

However, some details are surprisingly subtle. For example, the whole sequence with Basil and Dawson disguised as sailors is based on a specific episode of the probably-just-as-obscure-then-as-it-is-now 1950s Sherlock Holmes TV show. Unless you happen to have seen that show, you won’t pick up on that detail. Another example is the use of Toby the Bloodhound: he actually does appear in the Holmes story “The Sign of Four,” where Sherlock uses him to track down a peg-legged villain. While I knew of Toby’s origins, it wasn’t until earlier this very year that I realized that’s EXACTLY what Basil does with the pooch in the film: use him to track down a peg-legged villain, albeit one unrelated to the tale. A direct reference to one of the books I somehow never picked up on before! When even a die-hard Holmes fan like myself can be surprised by the film all these years later, it’s clearly doing its job well! Even if you AREN’T a major Sherlock Holmes fan, however, the movie is definitely worth looking into. It has wonderful characters, with a superb voice cast behind them (VINCENT PRICE IS THE VILLAIN, PEOPLE), an atmospheric setting, a couple of good songs, and a lot of fun, adventurous shenanigans from start to finish. While at first it may seem like just a typical “cute little mouse movie,” it’s actually got some real nail-biting moments, including one of the best and most action-packed climaxes of any Disney motion picture ever made. If you haven’t seen it before, find time to do so. And if you have seen it already, watch it again: I can promise you there’s always something new to uncover with this wonderful little crime story. The countdown continues tomorrow with my 6th Favorite Disney Movie! HINT: “Most Everyone’s Mad Around Here.”

#disney #disney 100 #disney 100 special #list #countdown #top 15 disney animated movies #fifteen days of disney magic #number 7 #great mouse detective #sherlock holmes #basil of baker street

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thezfc · 9 months

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Succession anon again! Hi!!

You brought up Matthew & Brian but the fact is both those men have been doing non-stop projects. Matthew’s been doing TV & film since his career began. Not all of them were heavy hitters, obviously, but his agents have always kept a remarkable pulse on the market & managed to fit him into his niche. Kieran’s done indie projects with obvious breaks inbetween given he’s a well adjusted child actor. Sarah & Jeremy have also been working hard since they started their careers, Sarah’s been a local aussie talent for a while now.

Tom & his agents to a degree don’t seem to want to put in the work that leads to being offered better deals because they assume marvel accolades are enough to get by nowadays (as do a lot of MCU alumni but I digress.) The truth is, if he wanted to, he’d buckle down and audition like everybody else does. And perhaps he has! Then it’s just the question of why the market no longer seems interested to push his projects forwards. (i.e White Stork looked rather promising but it seems they never fully locked down Claire Foy for the co-lead role and left the project in developmental hell with Netflix at the helm post-covid.)

As someone who’s a fan of Tom’s more indie & less multiconglomerate disney work it’s kind of depressing that he’s either got Loki, a project that’s never past the concept stage, or the apple tv show that made absolutely no dent in media or even a dent with the “booktok” & general social media reader communities. Makes me wonder if perhaps he should take a tab out of some other actors’ pages and start his own production company to get the work he wants to commit to and see to fruition without having to wonder if the company will ever go through w/development.

Yeah I guess my point about the cast of Succession is that they weren’t super famous and not everything they did was a big hit before that, so the fact that the Essex serpent didn’t do much and these other things may not happen is par for the course sometimes. I just wish he was in MORE projects that had the possibility of being good or well received.

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arizonaconservativegal · 2 years

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I know you will 100% disagree with me but Disney has ruined Marvel with their gay agenda. Eternals, Doctor Strange 2, Shang Chai 3 movies I was going to watch but found out about their gay agenda in those movies. They also fired Johnny Depp the way they did Gina, so fuck them. They also ruined Starwars forever with their woke shit, That Solo movie can fuck off because the only Han Solo is Harrison Ford. Don't be a hypocrite and watch that shit on Disney plus and claim you hate them.

I don’t know that I’d go so far as to say I disagree 100%. I’m still bitter about how they treated Gina, but I’ve decided to put most of that energy into supporting her future endeavors because I’d like Disney and Hollywood both to see her be successful without them. I can’t comment on whether they “ruined” Marvel, because I’m really not a Marvel fan so I don’t know enough about it to have an opinion one way or another. I am a big enough Star Wars fan to comment on the claim that they ruined that and I will disagree with you there. And I’m sorry but you’ve touched on a couple mild pet peeves of mine, so polite rant below the cut:

Don’t get me wrong, I am straight up ignoring the sequel trilogy, because I just didn’t like it at all. And Solo wasn’t great but it wasn’t awful either and it’s really no one’s fault that Harrison is about 60 years too old to play a young Han Solo (although, honestly, I’d still watch that) and I don’t know if you followed any of the behind the scenes drama with the production of that movie, but the fact that it even made it to the screen in any condition is a miracle. But Rogue One was a damn near perfect movie and I’ve been very pleased with what they’ve done with the live action and animated streaming series so far. Publishing has been hit or miss but there’s really only one author whose stuff I could accuse of being woke.

Are there things I would do differently if I were in charge of Star Wars? Of course. Every Star Wars fan has those things. We’re notoriously hard to please. But let’s not pretend we weren’t that way even before the sale to Disney - and rightly so, because even George’s stuff wasn’t always great.

If you don’t count the animated stuff, Disney has put out more hours of Star Wars content than George ever did (and I’m not going to add it up right now but even if you do count the animated stuff, Disney still might be ahead). Of course it’s not all going to be fantastic. But here’s the thing: that’s okay. It doesn’t ruin the rest unless you let it. If you want to spend all your time being mad about the things you didn’t like, I guess that’s up to you, but I am happy as a clam pretending that the Thrawn series is the only sequel trilogy ever made.

So yeah, I’m still going to watch Star Wars and I’m still going to pay for Disney+ because I want to encourage them to continue to make new Star Wars content for me to enjoy. As long as they keep doing that, they can have my $7 a month for a subscription that I share with four other people.

Maybe I shouldn’t give them that. Maybe I should be stingy about where my money goes in every part of my life so that I never give any support to a liberal. Maybe it makes me a hypocrite that I don’t do that. But you know what? I spend 60-80 hours a week on my politics. At the end of that, I need a break or I’m going to burn out and be of no use to anyone. I don’t have the energy to worry about whether every dollar I spend is going towards politically upstanding causes. I just want to relax and enjoy something fun for one hour.

And you know what else? I don't hate Disney. Not really. I think they're kind of a shitty company most of the time but I don't hate them. And I think they are no more guilty of being stupidly woke than any other megacorp. Big companies like that don't really have political opinions except for the ones that impact the bottom line. I love what DeSantis is doing to push back on their cowardly activism and I think they are slowly learning their lesson. If nothing else, DeSantis has given them enough cover to stay out of things they wouldn't otherwise bother to get involved in and I'm optimistic that will have a big impact on other companies like them - a lot bigger impact that me cancelling my Disney+ subscription would.

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renegade-chaos-druid · 2 years

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Prey (Predator Movie) Spoiler Free Review

Overview: So, I have had my expectations subverted you could say.

That is to say, everything I thought was going to be wrong with this movie wasn’t really ‘wrong’ and everything I expected to be good was bad. If I had to give this movie a sarcastic title it would be Trope Hunt.

And really that’s Prey in a nutshell. The culmination of when a franchise that has been traded back and forth and has gotten progressively less entertaining and further from it’s source material since the first instalment established it, gets handed to a direct to streaming service group that takes some...liberties, with the look and idea, and spits it out as a mess of tropes derived from various portions of the franchise in a big muddled directionless mess.

And it’s a shame, because the general idea was a good idea, it’s just simply wasted. So onto the review. Spoiler free of course.

Plot (2/5) Your general Pred plot. Hunter is dropped off on Earth to hunt, ends up encountering group of humans. Mayhem ensues. Problem is, its all done wrong.

Why is the Pred hunting in what looks like a fairly mild temperate snow capped mountainous area devoid of major conflict? Don’t know, guess the whole “Only hunts in the hottest of times and where there is conflict” stuff gets tossed right out the window. Why is the Pred dead set on killing hapless animals right in front of obviously more intelligent humans and revealing itself? Don’t know, we need scenes of animal dismemberment I guess. How do the random Euro trappers know its there? Never explained, just shut up and watch ‘ugly bad white man from Europe’ trope and don’t ask questions. Why does the main character want to be a hunter? Because everyone in this fucking movie except her mom is a hunter, I guess.

Characters (1/5) I’d give this a 2 if the movie had been about the older brother, because he’s the only character in this that has kind of an arc. All I’m going to do is list the characters as tropes because that’s what they are plain and simple.

Wants to Hunt- Main character, you can tell Disney owns the company that owns this license. Princess like trope of quirky snarky above average intelligence girl, wants to hunt real bad because reasons, with an animal sidekick. Upside is, despite what the trailers made it seem, she’s not the standard OP “Strong Female” trope. She just has no character beyond Wants to Hunt Older Cool Brother- Should have been main character. Spends movie doing what everyone else says they are good at doing but he is the only one good at it. Why? Because he’s the older brother. I mean, obviously right? Asshole to main character for no reason 1,2 and 3-side characters that are obnoxiously mean and critical to Wants to Hunt, because they are. Fuck-Ugly Euro dudes 1,2 and 3- Also Assholes, kill buffalo needlessly because Dances with Wolves said that’s what they did all the time. Needlessly shitty to everyone, obviously bad, because, well, ummm... White Man in Native American movie? Predator: Well...its there. It kills shit. Often times pointlessly.

Effects (0/5) Shitty streaming service original CGI. I mean its worse than the average for this type of thing. I’m not expecting Marvel level here, but at one point The CGI bear literally loses it’s fur texture and runs like its got a corn cob in it’s ass. Also Pred has random CGI moments (and its face) Complete shit looking. Half the kills in this movie happen in the blink of an eye or off screen with little to no gore. Not even sure how this movie got an R rating. I think AVP was more violent.

Action (3/5) Highest score of the movie. Some of the scenes are well done, and the part with the Pred chasing Wants to Hunt and Asshole #3 through the field was actually a bit frightening. Beyond that, tame killing sequences and lack luster jump cuts. Most of the blood in the movie seemed to come from the Pred as it literally makes a habit of getting skewered, shanked, stabbed, shot, wolf trapped and bit every time its on screen. Also what the fuck perfectly balanced stone tomahawk with matrix physics. Because...that’s a thing.

Music (1/5) This movie has music, I think...

Predator (0/5) Remember when I said the things I thought would be good where what turned out to be bad? This is the crux of that. Even at the worst lowest points of the other Pred movies, we have always been assured of having a badass alien hunter who will eventually spawn lines of collectable figurines and cool gif memes. Not so here. The “redesign” is atrocious. No more ‘Predlocks’ just basic bitch hair, and a weird gaping hole of a maw face with stubby mandibles that was so terribly animated and designed I wanted to claw my eyes out every time it was on screen without a helmet.

This Pred also had to have been the participation award kid in hunting school. Not only does it needlessly reveal itself by pointlessly killing less dangerous creatures in front of people (or leaving its kills randomly around to be found), but this cat takes more damage for no other reason than it jumps right into traps, and in front of armed and dangerous foes just so it can get...injured, I guess?

Remember when Jungle Hunter could see all the traps laid out for it? Remember when City hunter stalked down and killed a bunch of heavy armed Special Forces dude in a meat factory without a scratch? Well this guy cant even kill a random wolf without getting hurt. And jumping into a circle of French trappers armed with muskets? Well apparently that was an off day given how hard of a time it had with that.

Final Score/Summary (Worst Pred movie ever): Prey is, at the end of the day terrible. I wont even score it because it shouldn’t even exist. Every character is a One Dimensional Trope. The Pred looks, hunts and fights like shit, and the plot gets lost in a slew of derivative clichés that go no where, and exist in the movie because “reasons”

If I had to guess, I would say this is the result of a bunch of Streaming Service no names, who one night got together, binged all the pred movies (And also the B-movie knock offs) then went and read a bunch of random fan-wiki articles, slapped a bunch of the tropes together and said “This is what Pred fans like right?”

Look! The Pred skinned something! That’s a thing! Look, some one said a One Liner from the other movies! That’s a thing! Look, Wrist Blades coming out in front of the camera! Look, the tri-laser sight! Look, People setting traps! Look he loses his helmet at the end! wE mAkE gOoD pReDaToR mOvIe! What? What’s that? What’s the movie about? Ummm hey look Native Americans! Awesome movie right? Right?

Total garbage. Not even a guilty pleasure like the AVP movies. I may even make a ‘how to fix it” post at some point because I feel the need to correct this pile of fail in my brain so I can sleep, and Natives battling Preds in the distant past deserves better.

#prey #predator #movie #new movie #review #spoiler free

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taki118 · 2 years

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Thoughts on the Chip n Dale movie

So i finally watched and I think i can best summarize my feelings up with “If this wasn’t by Disney I’d like it more.” cause like there is a lot of good commentary here on animation and hollywood but because it’s Disney those things feel kinda wrong.

- The animation: Sooooo there is 2D animation in this for background characters but its not traditional, its likely flash but anytime these characters have to do anything of substance they are made into a cell shaded CGI. Why? cost saving most likely and because Disney doesnt really have a 2D department anymore. Yeah so like the CGI surgery joke is kinda funny until you remember that Disney basically forced their 2D movies in the 2010s to fail because they wanted to invest more heavily in CGI animation due to Dreamworks success in the medium. After the Princess and the Frog sold poorly in theaters compared to Tangled (mostly due to poor marketing and timing mind you) that gave Disney all they needed to drop the department, with all the projects and employees in it, which also kinda killed the medium in the country at least on a big projects. All the references to Roger Rabbit feel a little gross as that was a marvel of 2D animation and Disney themselves see no actual value in it so blatantly that their “2D” characters arent actually 2D.

- Ugly Sonic: First off there is the implications the studio didn’t actually get permission since they have to thank their lawyers for him and don’t want to talk much about the acquisition. Which makes you question the other non-Disney cameos. But also you have to wonder if this were another studio would Disney so willingly allow a character like this be used in such a way? Like yes he’s a hero in a sense but does that out weigh how much they make fun of his design?

- The Rescue Rangers: Outside of the base premise the other characters are really just window dressing. While you can see the difference in Chip and Dales stage persona and actual personality the same can’t really be said of the other characters. The only one who feels different is Zipper mostly for a joke. I also just need to throw this out here Chip and Dale were staples of Disney before and after the series. In fact the original premise of Rescue Rangers was an entirely new cast Chip and Dale did not exist in the original pitch. Higher ups suggested using them for marketability. I dunno what my point is here but the Rescue Rangers are such an after thought of the film that they make a joke about Gadget as a person and character are basically the same thing.

- Bootlegging and Reboots: The movie constantly makes jokes about Reboots but never out right condones them cause lets be real out of all the companies utilizing nostalgia and re-using old IPs Disney is the worst. Instead they shift the focus to bootlegs as being worse. It’s depicted as disgusting, criminal practice that destroys the integrity of a work for a cheap buck. Yet you can say the same of reboots. Also its not surprising a company like Disney that clings to their IPs would approve of a script that makes bootlegging this horrible fate for characters. (even though Disney’s actual reuse of characters has done more damage to their IPs than any bootleg) Again were it another studio making fun of bootlegs it’d be funny but with Disney mmmmm yeah not so much.

- Sweet Pete: So this is the big one, I feel like everyone has heard of the Bobby Driscoll parallels to their take on Peter Pan but if not. The child actor for Peter Pan Bobby Driscoll was promised a long career with the company and signed a contract only for then to retract it when he hit puberty, he then fell into a downward spiral and eventually died of a drug overdoes. So um yeahhhhhhhh. Either it was an accident and someone checking the script wasnt doing their job or they overlooked it. Or they knew but didn’t care. Either way not a good look, a really disgusting look honestly. According to an interview the intent for the villain was commentary on child stars and had considered using Charlie Brown. But um yeahhhhh thats not much better. Cause see there is NO sympathy for the character, no real introspection on the lives of child actors or the practice. And I can only assume thats cause Disney has a LONG and on going history of child actors. So much like the reboot statements you can’t really condone a practice you actively engage in. I mean with all we know about child actors this kind of character would be repulsive no matter what but when you know about the company it came from, and this bit of history its just so much worse.

Overall any messages the film makes are undermined by the Disney company and their history. I think a lot of people have over looked these things because the film is a competent nostalgia grab, and its sad how low the bar is.

#disney #chip n dale 2022 #chip n dale movie

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ben-solo98 · 2 years

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Just going off the first episode I thought this might be the best MCU show to date, it was a wild ride that definitely left me wanting more, which could be good and bad (mostly good). This show changed what it wanted to be every other episode. Sometimes it was a psychological thriller, then it was a dramatic character study, at one point it turned into a pretty good remake of THE MUMMY, then it wanted to be a stereotypical superhero story. Somehow all of these things worked and never felt out of place, but I still kind of wish they would have just picked a lane and stuck to that. I know a lot of the hardcore comics fans don’t like some of the changes they made to the source material, which is a valid criticism, but I thought it all made sense for the story and some of it was pretty ballsy for a company like Disney to do. I don’t know who decided all of the Marvel shows can only be 6 episodes, but that’s too short. This finale didn’t feel as rushed as previous MCU series but the story could have used at least 2-4 more episodes. As a big fan of this stuff, it was still very refreshing to not hear a single reference to any other Marvel projects for a change. I also didn’t mind that the second half of the season didn’t feature a lot of Moon Knight himself, the penultimate episode was the best and there wasn’t an ounce of super heroics, just Oscar Isaac acting off himself for an hour, he’s amazing and deserves two Emmy’s for it. May Calamawy is fantastic as well and someone I want to see again in the MCU ASAP. Ethan Hawke is always great, he gets to play two different versions of his character, I preferred the doctor over the cult leader, but both are good. F. Murray Abraham as the voice of Khonshu never disappointed. I need a second season or a movie right now! 8.9/10. #MoonKnight #Marvel #TVReview https://www.instagram.com/p/CdLjgmruwJB/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#moonknight #marvel #tvreview

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traincat · 3 years

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I know the comic piracy debate is a never-ending cycle, but in India where I live, you can't get western comics (or manga for that matter). There aren't comic book stores. Sometimes on Amazon you can find collected editions worth more than INR 1000 at least, for the paperbacks. Most older collections, even from the early 2000s, will be upwards of INR 6000. And sure, it's because the exchange value is so low for Indian rupees, but that's still a LOT of money to Indian citizens. You can get digital editions of random odd issues for approx. INR 150, so that's there. But overall it's really a huge investment to buy a physical comic. So yes, I pirate. But I get so guilty when this debate rolls around, every time. I just don't see any other alternative.

I debated whether or not to answer this considering I haven't really addressed the comics piracy issue before so I'm not sure I'm the right account to talk about it, and also because my askbox is not a confessional and I am not a priest, but then some Spider-Man news broke that I feels ties into it this so whatever, we're going for it. The comics piracy debate comes up every couple of months and will probably continue to come up every couple of months until forever and all of these points have been stated before by others because nothing in this debate is new. First things first, you shouldn't feel guilty. I'm going to suggest actually that nobody should feel guilty, unless you are like, a millionaire and you're exclusively pirating indie books. The prices you're quoting are prohibitively expensive but I have some unfortunate news for everyone involved: the prices are really bad in the US, too. If you want good collected editions, especially in hardcover, they're going to run at similar if not quite equal prices. Comics have gone from a cheap hobby to an overwhelmingly expensive hobby.

This is a good article comparing to the cover costs of American comics since the 1960s adjusted for inflation which I think puts some things in perspective. Comics currently cost roughly $5 USD per issue, which doesn't sound that bad, even though most of my monthly streaming services are roughly that price for a whole month's access to a library of content. But it only doesn't sound that bad if you're not buying special issues (the Marvel Pride book retailed for $10), and if you're only reading one or two books a month. The problem is, American superhero comics are specifically designed so you're not reading just one or two books per month -- this is why we have events! And crossovers! Not for the story potential but because it forces the consumer to purchase more product. This is why there's constantly an event running with a checklist of tie-in issues in the back. So now you're spending probably at least $20 a month. If you're a fan with a lot of interest in different titles, and in different publishers, this can easily hit triple USD digits. It's a money pit. It's not affordable to most people. And this is where that new Spider-Man news comes in, because it was announced today that Amazing Spider-Man is going back to a thrice monthly schedule like it used to operate on during Brand New Day. Which sounds good at first -- more comics, yay -- until you realize that's probably going to be $15 USD a month for a one title. That's $180 a year for one title, not including annuals or special issues. That's not feasible for a lot of fans -- young fans, poor fans, fans with other financial obligations etc. And most people aren't reading just one title. I don't know how the X-Men fans are currently financing their Krakoa habit and I'm afraid to ask. There are services like Marvel Unlimited, which make things slightly more affordable, but I imagine the wait for newer issues to hit the service can be alienating for some fans who want to join in current discussions, the library has some incredibly massive holes in it which is unacceptable when it's coming from inside the mouse house, and I believe, although I could be wrong, that it is not available in all countries. Comics are no longer an easily accessible hobby, if you're paying for everything you read.

"But the creatives deserve to get paid" is the common argument and yeah, they do, I'm not arguing that point. They should absolutely get paid and they should get well. I'm a writer, I'm a published writer even, and I want to be a published novelist, and I definitely want to get paid, and I'm reserving the right to be a complete hypocrite about this, as I do with everything in my life, but this is where the difference between indie publications and Marvel publications comes in: Marvel is owned by Disney. There is absolutely no excuse for Disney not to pay their creatives. If they are not getting paid fairly, it's not because you pirated a book -- it's because Disney has a vested interest in not paying their creators, as evidenced by Alan Dean Foster's lawsuit claiming that they are withholding royalties from him. Fans pirating these books are not the reason the creatives are not getting paid fairly -- the creatives are not getting paid fairly for the same reason that Disney park employees experience homelessness, and it's because Disney would rather put that money into the pockets of their executives. There is no debate on that subject. It's easier and perhaps more convenient to blame fans for pirating comics rather than putting all of their money into what has been for years now a prohibitively expensive hobby to keep up with, but the fact of the matter is Disney could pay all of their creatives what they're worth without hurting their bottom line and instead chooses not to. That is not on you, as an individual reader. You have no reason to feel guilty about that, no matter what your circumstances are, and you do not have to justify your actions to either me or the House of the Mouse. I'm with you, and Disney ultimately doesn't care. They're making that money up elsewhere and then not distributing it fairly to the people who create the properties their media empire is built off of. But especially if you're buying older books, you should know that your money is not going to the creative team -- once it's out of publication, they're not going to get any of the money you spent on it. The argument then becomes that you should be supporting local comics stores which yes, is true, but also doesn't apply to everyone, like anon who doesn't have access to local comic book stores. And again, this can become prohibitively expensive -- collections are expensive. Older, hard to find collections can be very expensive. Once something is out of print, all bets are off on what it might be selling for. Buying single issues is only affordable if the single issue isn't desirable or sometimes if it's in exceedingly bad condition. For the sake of transparency, I have a fairly big single issue collection because it's my preferred format, but I had the time to bargain hunt, access to local comic book stores and large comic conventions, and I'm very good at sniping eBay auctions. The most I have ever dropped on a single issue was expensive for me -- and still under three digits USD -- and it's for an issue from the '60s that is not in great condition.

The problem with this debate is that it is generally a nuanced issue that always gets boiled down to "piracy bad" in a way that makes a lot of well meaning and well intentioned fans, especially the ones with extenuating circumstances, feel bad. It's not your fault. You shouldn't feel guilty. There are a huge amount of reasons why someone might pirate something that are not bad reasons and do not make you a bad person who is personally withholding money from the creators -- because you're not. I don't publicly tell people where to pirate comics, mostly because I really don't think it's that hard to find out for yourselves especially because several creators involved with Marvel themselves have, I suspect accidentally, posted pages of their work to social media WITH THE BANNER OF A WELL KNOWN COMICS PIRACY SITE STILL IN THE IMAGE please learn how to crop, so maybe my standpoint on the issue wasn't well known, but there it is. I think readers should, if they are able to financially and otherwise, support the creators they like, but that it should be acknowledged that this is a more complicated issue than it's commonly made out to be on Twitter and that the largest part of the blame needs to be put on the companies making these comics inaccessible to many and who refuse to pay their creators fairly, not on individual fans. Don't feel guilty, anon.

#traincat talks comics #*replies

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collettemyheart · 3 years

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Here is why I personally have an issue with allos using the excuse of “well there are asexuals who have sex” “there are aromatics who are in relationships” excuse as a reason to validate them fetishizing aroace characters. Allos you will never in your life be able to understand the complexities of aspec relationships. Sex positive asexual relationships are insanely different than a typical allo relationship with sex. Relationships work differently for us. So I’m reality all you end up doing is writing for your own myopic lens of how you think our relationships work but end up completely getting it wrong and just writing an allo character. Being Aspec isn’t this thing you can tack on when you feel like it and then take it away because you don’t know how to write aspec relationships. You might think you know but you don’t. It’s the same way how if you are not a person of color or trans you think you have an idea about how people who are operate the world and society and how they are treated but you don’t actually know because you have never experienced it or taken the time to do the actual research and listen to people in those communities when they talk about their experiences so you end up writing a character who was obviously written by a cis white person. Saying “oh well you can be aro ace and still be in romantic or sexual relationship” is the same thing as saying “you can be bisexual and be in a relationship with someone of the opposite sex as you”. Both of those statements are factually true and represent real people. But in the same way bisexual is opposite sex relationship navigate the world differently so do aspec people in their relationships. And writing a character that you say once that they are bi but then not having any mention of it ever again and sticking them in a opposite sex relationship that you write the same way you would two heterosexual people in a relationship is not you positively representing bisexuals. So you taking a character like Yelena Belova and saying “I know she is aroace but aroace people can still be in relationships” and then writing her the same way you write someone who is allo is not aspec representation and aspec people are allowed to call you out on that. Because that’s us you are claiming to represent without knowing anything about us. That’s us you are claiming to represent but when we step forward and correct you or ask you to not fetishize or erase our representation you get defensive and say that you “fight for representation everyday yet you are allowed to perceive characters anyway you want”. if you actually were you would just, idk, stop talking for 5 min and take a moment to actually listen to us educating you on something you know nothing about because you clearly aren’t doing the research yourself. And then maybe after that you start to realize that the way you operated the world in your position of privilege lead you to being uneducated on a topic and instead of speaking on something you aren’t educated on again you will do your own research and take steps to make actual change. So many of you like to think that your silly fanfics won’t do anything and that these big companies aren’t paying attention to what fans want. After was a one direction/Harry styles fanfic posted on watt pad and it turned into a New York Times Best Selling published book series and then had its own movie. Fifty Shades of Grey was twilight fanfics that turned into a New York Times Best Seller which then turned into a movie series where the first movie alone made US$569.7 million worldwide. So many marvel fans wouldn’t shut up about wanting Disney to release Black Widow for premier access on Disney + because it has been “pushed back enough” when it was public knowledge that Scarlet was meant to be getting a percentage of the Box Office sales and that’s why it kept getting pushed back so it could have a theatrical release so Disney made it premiere access and it end up screwing Scarlet over. Stop saying these companies don’t listen to fans because the fucking do.

#yelena belova is aroace #yelena is aroace #yelena belova #listen to Aspec people for once again please

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thelastraigeki · 3 years

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My Thoughts on Predator 5

It’s been a long time since I talked about anything in relation to the Predator franchise. To me, the franchise has been steadily going down hill with the release of Robert Rodriguez’s 2010 sequel PREDATORS and there didn’t seem to be going back after that movie whatsoever. Bad ideas had begotten more bad ideas in the expanded universe material with the idea that there were Predators who were bigger and badder than the original concept which Stan Winston came up with, that the idea of the original Yautja species was outdated and no longer iconic.

And for nearly eight years, I struggled to hold onto the franchise as a loyal fan. And then when 2018′s sequel, The Predator was released under the direction of Shane Black and written by Fred Dekker... I considered the franchise dead in the water, and that there was nothing short of saving it save for a full on reboot or a massive retcon which kept Predator, Predator 2, and both AVP films in continuity... But I knew I was never going to get that. A fan would have to be hopeful or deluded to think that would happen. Perhaps I was the former, perhaps I was the latter, perhaps I was both.

And then the Disney purchase happened. My greatest fear was finally realized, as the Mouse devoured another company in the film industry and now owned the intellectual rights to both the Alien and Predator franchise. I saw what they are doing to Star Wars, or rather what they were doing-- and I saw what they are doing to Marvel comics-- the MCU being a success but the comics not so much with Disney pandering to the Tumblr and Twitter crowd.

And with the Disney purchase I knew that they were going to do to Alien-Predator with what they did to Star Wars. And that was the erasure of the existing expanded universe material which was published by Dark Horse, the first stewards in creating what used to be a shared universe which was birthed in the comics. Marvel acquired the rights, and so far it doesn’t seem like as if they plan on continuing the continuity laid out by Dark Horse.

In hindsight, I consider this a blessing as I hope they NEVER touch the beloved characters of Dachande, Machiko Noguchi and many other characters that are so beloved by the fandom.

And then I had read that after the DISASTROUS performance and fandom reaction towards Shane Black’s The Predator, that a Predator 5 was going to be put into production. A part of me was hopeful in that this could be a full on retcon of Shane Black’s movie, and maybe Robert Rodriguez’s movie-- or a full on reboot of the franchise. But instead, what we were getting was a prequel to the 1987 John McTiernan movie...

So, this was a movie which... everyone wanted to see. It’s something that’s never really been explored, unless you count the first AVP: Alien vs Predator movie, but those were flashback segments in the film.

Then the details of the movie started coming out, and already it was just... stinking of Disney’s agenda. It would serve as a complete antithesis to what the original movie was-- which let’s face it, was a testosterone injected and masculine 1980s action movie with memorable one liners. The story for this upcoming movie was about a Native American young girl who decides to go up against the tribe patriarchy while also fighting against an enemy never before encountered on Earth.

Now, I am not saying that an action movie cannot have a female protagonist. The Alien films show this and they do it BEAUTIFULLY. But bare in mind, this was handled with care and focus on the story first from both Ridley Scott and James Cameron for the first two Alien films. This could most certainly be done for Predator if in the right hands...

But Disney is NOT what I would consider the right hands, especially considering what Disney has done to Star Wars with the sequel films-- which I now hearing, are about to be retconned out of continuity by the efforts of John Favreau and company much to the displeasure of Kathleen Kennedy.

But this movie just screams everything Anti-Predator. Many fans have even said that this is just Mulan but with a Predator in it. And I have to agree with them.

And then word got out that the Thomas Brothers were fighting for the acquisition of the franchise from the hands of Disney. I say good luck to the Thomas Brothers, especially since they are fighting to get the franchise which they have a major hand in creating from the clutches of Mickey Mouse, but we all know the Mouse has a crack team of lawyers who are going to do whatever they can for their company to keep the franchise.

And then the news gets worse, as now the word is that Predator 5, now titled as Skull, is going to be about the FIRST hunt on planet Earth-- the first visitation by the Predators in a pre-colonial era America. So when this was announced, this was an indicator that both the AVP films were going to be ejected out from the Predator canon, as they were ejected out from the Alien canon with the arrival of Prometheus.

This would mean for both the Alien and Predator franchises, that thirty years of storytelling, thirty years of character development, thirty years of developing the Predator culture, thirty years of a shared universe... Is now destroyed. It’s put on the chopping block, ready to be axed and when that happens... the past has been destroyed. Yes, that pun was intentional as it’s a reference to what Kylo Ren said in one of the Star Wars sequel movies.

And the upcoming movie is rumored to be released only on Hulu because of the legal disputes between the Thomas Brothers and Disney... It might not even get a theater release. And I hope it doesn’t.

To me, the golden era of Alien and Predator has long since passed with the 1990s when Alien vs. Predator was a big thing-- to where even children’s toys were produced by Kenner for it and a side-scrolling beat’em up by Capcom was released. I am quite happy with the 2004 and 2007′s AVP films-- regardless of what anyone else thought of them as I felt they were true to the original source material-- which was the comics and novels, as they spawned the idea of a shared universe.

2010 was where it ALL started falling apart... And now Disney owns it all.

The franchise is dead. Now it’s being desecrated for the greedy corporate shills who just don’t care about the lore and want to see nothing but dollar signs... Of course, Fox wasn’t doing any better with the franchise. It’s been dead since 2018.

I’m not going to see this movie. What made it special is going to be killed off a second time. And I hope it doesn’t release in theatres and that the Thomas Brothers get it back.

#Yautja #Predator #Predator 2 #Alien vs Predator #AVP #Alien #Aliens #Alien 3 #Alien Resurrection

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ethanredotter · 3 years

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My ideas for Zootopia 2

Ah, Zootopia. It broke the record for the biggest opening weekend for an animated film, went on to be Disney Animation’s third most profitable film ever, became the second highest grossing original film of all time, and was nominated for and won innumerable awards including many for best animated picture, and rightfully so. It introduced us to a beautiful, creative, and lovable world populated by amazing characters, and had a poignant message that was conveyed, in my humble opinion, in the best possible way. I liked it a lot when it first came out, but after recently getting into stuff with a similar concept (Beastars), and being subsequently recommended various fan content on YT (Savage Company, Return to Zootopia), I got back into the film again and absolutely fell in love with it to the point that it’s joined my top three films alongside Coco, and The Land Before Time.

Which is why I am really, really craving a followup of some kind.

Seriously, of all of Disney Animation’s recent films (or heck, films in general), I feel like this one has the greatest potential for a sequel. The setting oozes creativity from its every pore, has so many nooks and crannies that we didn’t manage to explore in the film, its two main leads were perfect and I really feel still have plenty of room to grow, and there are still so many ideas old and new that can be explored. So far we’ve received a few tie-in books, a hidden object game which is no longer available, a few comics, including a series about stories from Nick and Judy’s childhoods, a very large and intricate land expansion under construction in Shanghai Disneyland and a game starring Nick and Judy in Epcot, and a Disney+ original series focusing on various characters from around the city. All of these are fantastic, but four years after the film’s release, we’ve received no official confirmation of a proper continuation to Nick and Judy’s story like a sequel or TV series, just a few rumors here and there.

We’ll get some kind of proper followup eventually, that’s for sure, but what could it do? What kinds of places could they take us to? What ideas could it explore? What could happen to our leads, and what kinds of new characters could they befriend or combat? Well, I’m gonna give my ideas right here; buckle up, because I have a lot.

The City

Let me start off with the City itself. I mean… It’s marvelous. The architecture, like the Oasis Casino, central station, first precinct, the various neighborhoods. The accommodations like the sprinklers, water tubes, Little Rodentia, and the climate wall! The city of Zootopia is a star in and of itself with just how much care, attention, and creativity was put into its every crevice, and we barely got to see half of what it has to offer, as we only got a proper look at five of its twelve districts. They’ve revealed a few other districts via some maps and books (Meadowlands, Outback Island, Canal District) but there are a bunch of others yet to be revealed, and plenty unexplored.

Let’s start with what could be done with the ones already revealed. The Canal District could accommodate the city’s highly aquatic residents like hippos, otters, muskrats, beavers and manatees, and also be one of the city’s primary trade hubs. In terms of layout, it could be like Venice meets the Mekong Delta on steroids where the citizens live and make their living either in boats, or in buildings whose entrances are right on the water. There could be some walkways for less aquatic animals, but most of the transportation is through the water; either via swimming, or via motorboats, riverboats, jet skis, and ferries. And indeed, this is possibly what they had in mind judging by the concept art of the canals. I hope to see them implement something like this in the future; this stuff is just insanely cool! In terms of infrastructure, alongside the various docks and warehouses, I’m thinking that it could be a place for aquaculture where all manner of freshwater seafood are raised, as well as plenty of touristy stuff like river cruises. Maybe we could have a boat chase here, or perhaps just a relaxing moment between our leads, or maybe both.

The meadowlands would be a place for more temperate grazers like sheep, horses, bison, and various kinds of deer. It could be akin to a massive park district with plenty of recreation and places to enjoy a bit of fresh air, and its buildings could possibly be like hobbit holes and built into the hills. I’m thinking it could also be a place with a lot of mills to process both food and textiles, and its overall atmosphere could be quite agricultural and country while being in the middle of a city and not having much in the way of crops.

Now on to potential districts

Credit to @florenze

The one that I and many others have thought of the most is a nocturnal cave district. This would be located beneath the rest of the city, and would, of course, have little to no light in order to accommodate its main inhabitants such as moles, mole rats, and bats. This place could have homes on the ceiling and walls for the bats, with various cranes and elevators for the non-bats to get around both to visit, and do maintenance. I imagine bat homes could be quite atypical compared to other species since they’d likely sleep upside down and crawl on walls a fair bit, and if they need to get anywhere they can just fly, so much like the canals, they might not have much in the way of front yards and instead just have elevators and sheer drops on their front doors. Likewise, the less residential buildings could have entrances at higher floors for the bats as well. Entrances to the district could be drive-in cave mouths, as well as big openings for the bats to just fly straight out of to see the other districts at night.

As an opposite to that, I was thinking that a central mountain district would also be cool to see. This would accommodate mountain sheep and goats, takins, pikas, llamas, as well as snow leopards, brown bears, and other mammals who like high and rocky locales. This place could be even more vertical than the cave district, and require either elevators, stairways, or surefootedness to get around, as well as perhaps some oxygen tanks depending on how high it goes. Therefore, cars would be nowhere to be seen, and if anyone wants to get in, they’ll need to park outside, or better yet just take public transportation to allow room for residents’ vehicles. Buildings could possibly be carved out from the stone, and the overall atmosphere could be a mix of the Himalayas and the Andes, and also a bit of the Rockies and Urals.

Regardless of what districts they show us, I would like to see a few more angles to the city than just a bright and clean middle class. Show off its dirty underbelly too, and I don’t just mean more of the street hustlers and thieves like Nick, Finnick, and Weaselton. The first film did an excellent job of showing us that Zootopia wasn’t some perfect society with its discrimination and criminals, and while we did get a nice glimpse of its dirtier side, I want to see more of the run down neighborhoods and their residents. Heck, maybe make poverty an aspect of the plot and a motivator for the villain. Although, they also could also easily cover it with Nick due to the fact that his family was struggling back in the day. Alongside that, I’d like to see high society too, especially the oasis casino that they really wanted to show off, but couldn't find a way to. Show us just how both lavish and run down this city can be.

New Characters

Of all the things I love the film for, its characters and their arcs are probably the biggest things, especially those of the leads. This film has a very diverse cast from a big old cape buffalo to a tiny little fennec fox, and they’re all quite memorable and fun. Now I know what some of you are thinking, “why are you covering new characters before the old ones”? Mostly because I have fewer ideas, but also because the ideas I have for some of the old characters are quite big.

Firstly, I’d like to talk about Nick’s family, starting with his mother. Yes, Mrs. Wilde is already an established character, but I’m still putting her in here since I want to talk about Nick’s family in the same section, and she’s gotten very little characterization; heck, we don't even know her name. She seems like a very nice and supportive vixen from what we saw from the flashback, there was a tweet from Rich Moore that we can infer a fair bit from, and the end of a comic that showed her being a very nice mother and a massive fan of a rock band made of rabbits. Nick is seemingly an only child since no siblings are mentioned anywhere, and they certainly seemed to be financially struggling at some point since he said that his mom “scraped up” the money for the scout uniform, and in the comics he was always extremely short on money and didn’t even have an allowance. Rich referring to her as “Mrs. Wilde” as opposed to “Ms. Wilde” shows that she was/is married and that the husband was probably Nick’s father. The last line of the tweet highly indicates that she and Nick are in contact and on speaking terms (although it really begs the question of where she was during his graduation as there’s not a fox in sight (although there were plenty of seats out of sight and obscured)), and also potentially hints at, uh… Things we’ll get to later. Unfortunately, we don’t know anything more about her. Did she know about Nick’s bad behavior? Did Nick even tell her about the incident with the scouts? Was she ever estranged from him? I’d like for it to be talked about, preferably with her present. I don’t want her to just show up in a call or something, I want her to actually have a scene with her son, and I’d love for her to meet Judy as well.

At least we know a thing or two about her, but we don’t know a thing about Nick’s father that has been confirmed. In one of the original cuts of the film, Mr. Wilde was a tailor who wanted to start up a company with his son called Wilde and Son’s Suitopia and give his kit the best future he could possibly have. Unfortunately, after many attempts at getting a loan to start it up, Nick tried to stop some lemming bankers from denying their loan by trying to grab the stamp from them, was spotted by a guard, and was forcibly and permanently separated from his dad because the city in that cut was was a horrible place full of horrible prey who thought that predators were nothing but horrible monsters ready to blow at any time to the point that they were forced to wear shock collars that would zap them whenever they got even remotely excited. Seriously, screw this setting, it made Beastars look like a freaking paradise. Anyway, back on track. Nick only mentions his mom, so where is his dad? Again, a fair bit can be inferred from the sources on his mother. The simple fact that he wasn’t mentioned in the flashback or the comics seems to indicate that he was out of their lives at that point in Nick’s childhood. Go figure, fans have gone nuts with the possibilities. I’ve seen depictions of him ranging from dead, to estranged, to a genuinely good dad who’s back in their lives now, and a psychotic criminal mastermind who wants Nick to be his heir… Yeah. Out of all those depictions, the loving father one is my favorite. Sure, Rich didn’t mention him in the tweet, but that could have been a simple omission since the question was about Mrs. Wilde. I’ll be honest, my perfect version of this idea is from the fan comic It Should Have Been Me, in which which his backstory and character is almost exactly what it was in the original cut: he was a fabric worker who moved to Zootopia with his wife and son in order to make it big on a tailor business, as he strongly believed in the ideals of the city and wanted to show Nick what a fox could become. He was repeatedly denied a loan, and eventually his obsession with making the business made his wife leave with Nick. After some time, he finally realized that being a role model was not the same as being a father and returned to them. I adore this interpretation for how it shows a family that struggled to stay together for reasons mostly within their control, but still managed to, and are now seemingly happier than ever, something I can’t recall seeing at all in any of Disney Animation’s films (if you know any examples, please list them), and also the fact that Mr. Wilde is a great, likable, and kind of complex character here who is a good man who just messed up as opposed to a simple deadbeat dad I've often seen him depicted as. I want to see something like this out of his father in an official follow-up, but even if he is still separated from his wife, I’d like to see him, and if he’s dead, still give us something; I want to know who this guy is and where he is now, and if there’s anyone else in the Wilde family, I’d love to meet them too, and I want to know how they feel about Nick turning his life around and bucking expectations and stereotypes. His mother is probably exceedingly proud of him, and his dad probably is too if my preferred version is used. Either way, give us a lovely father, mother and son scene (or just mother and son scene, because you know, she’s the only one confirmed to still be around).

On to the villain! The villain should be as opposite to Bellwether as possible; big, male, predator, and not trying to fool anyone into believing that he’s not the mastermind behind anything. We’ll know, at least partially, who this guy is from the moment he’s introduced and what his motivations are early on. Unlike Bellwether, we’ll dive into his character more and more as the film goes on and see what makes him tick. So, what could he want? The idea I’ve conjured up was that he could be a segregationist extremist who sees the founding principles of Zootopia as foolish, believes that this all mammal society is unsustainable, and that all species should completely separate from each other. Perhaps he just wants to get back at the city that he believes wronged him and/or his kind, or perhaps he wants to go back to the wild square one where it’s every species for themselves, and perhaps he thinks that will genuinely be better for everyone. Regardless, I think that this idea would be an interesting continuation of the first film’s ideas of prejudice and living in peace with your neighbor, where this villain would want to bring down the city because he hates prejudice, wants to bring down what he sees as a hypocritical city, and wants mammals to be better off by being separate and under harm. Also, unlike Bellwether who was a power hungry sociopath, this guy will be far more genuine in his pursuit and see himself as a liberator. But as I said, he could very well just be using it all as an excuse for petty vengeance and lashing out at the world in a spiteful rage.

Despite what I said before, I do think that there should be an air of mystery around him. Since he’ll see himself as a demagogue for all animal’s “liberation”, he could conceal himself in shadows during his broadcasts, and also cover himself from head to toe in feature hiding clothes such as a helmet/mask, and specially designed gloves and shoes that hide what his hands and feet look like in order to not show off what species he is. Basically, he could be a twist on the twist villain; he’ll be all mysterious and some could think that he may be a character that we’ve met, but in reality he’s the same character we’ve known all along. As for what species he could be, I was thinking that he could be a less looked at member of a well known family of animals. My best bet would be a smaller and less predatory species of bear like an American black bear, sloth bear, or a sun bear since we saw so many brown and polar bears in the film, and while he’d be small by bear standards, he’d still be quite large, and heck, maybe they could make him particularly large and scary for his species of bear. Also, since he would be a kind of bear whose protein historically consisted entirely of insects (especially in the case of the latter two), he could have extra reason to be angry with society since his kind never wronged prey (although again not quite the case with American black bears since they will sometimes eat fawns and even fully grown deer), but yet he was lumped in with the brown and polar bears. Of the three species I listed, I think the sloth bear would work the best since their protein entirely consists of insects, but, despite their small size and goofy appearance, they’re one of the most aggressive species of bear and have been known to charge at elephants and rhinos at the drop of a hat, and this could play into his characterization as bear Kratos. I think there could be some hints to his species throughout the story, despite how well he may try to hide it. For instance, American black bears when scared tend to do things such as pulsing and clapping their jaws together, while the south Asian bears tend to rear up and stretch their chests out to expose their white stripe. Perhaps he could unconsciously do things like that when particularly agitated or under pressure.

What exactly could make him want all of this? I was thinking that much like our favorite fox cop, he could have experienced much discrimination throughout his life, only far worse, and been downright spiteful instead of rolling with the punches like Nick did. And again, it could have been more pronounced on him since the discrimination was due to “Sins of the cousins” and his kind had nothing to do with any of what they accused him of. A tipping point could have been the Night Howler Crisis, which could have either personally affected him, or just confirmed his beliefs and made him want to go through with his plans to try and tear Zootopia down, and now, about a year or so after that Crisis, his plans can finally go into motion. As for how he’ll go about things, well, he’d go for the hearts, minds and the infrastructure of the city. Perhaps he could broadcast all over to spread his propaganda and instill doubts in in the population (notably in his fellow preds by reminding them what happened not long ago), and also strike fear in those who oppose him. Other than that, he’ll of course go straight for the city’s infrastructure via sabotage and kidnappings. One victim could be the mayor, who this time could actually be a good person and politician, or, as one official comic showed, Lionheart again… Was this an error, or was he seriously canonically reinstated after the shady crap he got up to!?

Anyway, expanding on the idea of the concealing outfit, I’m thinking that his followers (who I’ll just call The Cell for now) could do the same thing with tail hiders, stilts, and padding which would be especially effective for bigger animals to possibly lean over and look like something shorter and fatter in order to make themselves appear roughly the same as to make themselves not see each other as another species for the duration of this insane operation (it also has the added effect of making them harder to differentiate and track). This will eventually be their downfall for reasons you may have surmised, but I’ll explain that later.

Speaking of more villainous characters, I'd like to see a bit more of the criminal syndicates and mobs throughout the city. I'd like to learn who rules what parts of the city, how far their reach goes, and how they operate. Although, we’ll probably only get a glimpse in the film, but we could see the criminal organizations focused on more in a TV series or official comic book, because I think a film would be about a much larger and complex threat that could change the city and characters as we know them.

What about more heroic characters? Well, perhaps we could see the return of concepts from the original pitch of the film like secret agents. Considering that the villain’s plot could be citywide and insidious, I think it would make sense. It could be cool to see conceptual characters such as Skye developed and implemented, and have them helping our leads with the case (or perhaps they could just be a cameo in a movie theater, I dunno, they had a billion other ideas when conceptualizing). I’d like to see her come back because she seemed like quite an interesting concept of a mechanic and badass secret agent (Also, look at that concept art; she's flipping adorable). Perhaps she could be undercover in The Cell, and Nick and Judy could meet her after being ambushed by them. As they’re driving away, Nick gets shot in the shoulder with a dart, but when they reach safety, he realizes that he’s fine. He pulls the dart out and finds that it’s hollow and clear and has a note inside it. They read the note and it includes an apology and directions to a garage in the meadowlands. Later they go to the address and find a light tan fox working on a car. She introduces herself, apologizes further to Nick for shooting him, and then brings them into a safehouse where she gives them vital info on The Cell, and gives them a number to call her at and a few special signals and monikers to help out.

If I were to describe the character I imagine her having, it would be extremely enthusiastic, friendly, and possibly coming off as a little childish, but also intelligent, savvy, and consummately professional and well trained. Basically, a quintessential bunny ears lawyer.

Some people have wanted her to have some kind of past affiliation with Nick, but I’m not sure. I mean, it would be interesting and a good callback to the cut where she was his sidekick, but in this version him knowing someone who just so happens to also be a secret agent would seem a little odd. Then again, he knows everybody. Maybe she’s that mysterious Lady Friend mentioned by Finnick…? (she is a mechanic after all, and he loves his van).

Other than that, I’d love to see the ZPD itself expanded and characterized a heck of a lot more. Maybe we could actually get to know Nick and Judy’s fellow officers like McHorn, Pennington, and Wolfard, and finally see some actual detectives as opposed to just patrolmen, and also get to see the city’s other precincts. I’d love to see the folks at first precinct all working with and respecting our leads, and for all of their strengths to be shown to the max. As in, I want to see them in full SWAT gear conducting a raid; Bogo and the big boys breaching doors, the wolves and cats on marksman duty, and Nick and Judy doing infiltration.

Returning Characters

Let’s start with everyone’s favorite tiny fox, shall we? Finnick wasn’t in the film all that much and only said a total of 37 words (yes I counted), but despite this, he still left a shockingly large impact on audiences for his in your face attitude and vocal dissonance of being a little fennec fox played by a giant former pro wrestler, Tommy Lister Jr (may he rest in peace). And honestly, I flipping adored him too. The creators also liked him a lot and have featured him extensively in newer material such as Zootopia Crime Files, which had him heavily involved in a case and really managed to flesh out his character and specify what his relationship with Nick was like (which is to say, they are genuinely friends), and he even appears as a playable character in Disney Heroes: Battle Mode, and they have said that they wanted to feature him more in a sequel. So what could he do in a follow up? I’m thinking that he could become a major supporting character. I’d like to see him having some genuine friendly times and conversations with Nick and Judy such as going out to eat with them, and also get them out of some scrapes; perhaps by going nuts on a perp that’s threatening them and/or driving them out of a sticky situation. Perhaps he could also help the investigation by acting like an informant or mole (but as I said, in this cut that could already be taken by someone else). Or perhaps he’s gone or will go relatively straight and operate a totally legitimate ice cream shop instead of running a complex hustle. Perhaps he could also act as a shippe- again something we’ll get to later. I’d also like to learn more about him as a person; did he get into the hustling life because of some kind of discrimination like Nick, or is he just a roughhouser who genuinely likes what he does and wouldn’t have it any other way? Who’s this lady friend he mentions? Does he harbor any resentment for Nick for getting off the street and into the force? Obviously it’s not too strong if he’s still giving him Pawpcicles and interacting with him in a cordial way, but is there any there? I’d really like to see. Also, what's his real name? The directors said that Finnick isn't his real name, so what is it? Maybe tell us, maybe don't. As for who could replace Zeus, I’m thinking Kevin Michael Richardson. Whoever they get, I hope he does him justice.

Leave Bellwether out of this; she's served her purpose.

I wouldn’t be mad at seeing Mr. Big return, but I don’t really have any ideas for him. That said, I think that Fru-Fru could be a nice inclusion as a good friend of Judy. Perhaps Judy could hang out with her and do a few things like a little bit of Godmothering for the little shrew bearing her name.

Flash… If he shows up at all, make it a minor appearance, maybe even a cameo.

Bogo was technically the tritagonist of the last film, and I’d like him to remain in a prominent role. I loved his character and evolution in the last film; he starts off barely giving Judy the time of day and repeatedly gets really pissed off at her antics, and also blows off Nick on the simple basis of him being a fox. But he’s an extremely principled and just fellow, and in my opinion, an example of what a good police chief should be, especially since he gets over his prejudices and comes to respect our leads as much as his other officers (which is to say, a LOT). And it’s that respect that I really want to see in a follow up. I want him to send Nick and Judy out on important missions, I want him to trust them with their conduct and intel, and most of all, I want him to protect them and treat them like valuable members of the force. For instance we could see him chew out another officer for talking badly of them, and also risk his life to keep them alive. Speaking of, I also want to see him in action, not just in his office playing with apps (although I certainly wouldn’t complain if we saw him messing around) or showing up after the fact to arrest a perp; I want to see this big bull kicking tail and taking names. Again that prospective swat raid. Other than that, I’d like to learn a bit more about him as a person outside his job, and maybe get a full name.

Benjamin Clawhauser… I don’t have much in the way of new ideas for him other than seeing him interact with Nick. I and many others think that the two of them would be great friends with some awesome banter (and in the Tame Collar cut he was supposed to be one of Nick’s employees at Wilde Times, so they’ve got some of their dynamic figured out already). If I were to imagine Nick's nickname (or I guess we could say Nick Name) for him, it may be Chomps. Other than that, for the third time, flesh him and his backstory out a bit more; he’s a likable guy and I’d like to know more about him. I also absolutely think that he’d be yet another shi- Oh yeah, the main characters!

Nick and Judy

And finally, the part that I’ve wanted to talk about the most; Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps. These two are incredible. I know I’ve already gushed about every last little thing this film has done even remotely right, but these two are genuinely just plain perfection. They’re my favorite cinematic duo ever, and some of my favorite fictional characters ever. Their dynamic, their chemistry, their dedication and adoration of each other, the way they grow because of each other, it’s all just wonderful. If you want more details as to why they’re so wonderful (especially together), check out @beastars-takes post on their relationship and why it’s so darn awesome; there is not an off word in there, offers a lot of insight into the hidden depths that you may not have noticed, and helped me understand these two and the film all the better and gave me the intense love I have for it. Buckle up, these two are the longest part of the essay, because they were the best and biggest part of the movie, and thus I’ve got the most to say.

Honestly, my favorite parts with them were in the last 20 minutes of the film where they are just a perfect buddy cop duo (and ironically enough, weren’t even cops at this point) who clearly had an unbelievable amount of love for each other and even faith in each other while kicking serious butt, and seeing Nick give off that extremely genuine smile upon finally being able to live up to the oath he made as a kid at his graduation was absolutely heartwarming. I want to see more of THIS duo in the next film; a duo of true companions absolutely brimming with charm and endearment who you want to be on screen as much as possible. These two had such good chemistry by the end of the film that many people wondered whether there was something more between them than mere friendship. Were they… Romantically involved? If not, should they be in the future? Many people have been against this idea because they either don’t interpret their relationship that way, and/or they feel that a romance would be cliched and/or forced. What’s my opinion on this whole thing? We’ll get to that soon, for now, let's talk about character focus and development!

I think that Nick should be in the protagonist seat this time, and Judy should be switched to deuteragonist, although she’ll be more in focus than Nick was last time. I want to see how Nick feels about his new life as an officer, his past and connections, his home (does he live in a leaky pipe ridden apartment and sleep in a drawer like in this concept art, or does he live in a better place?), him kicking but with his new training, and as said previously, his family. I want to see him being truly happy and fulfilled for the first time in his adult life, and how it affects him. I want to see the full weight of everything that he’s gained and will continue to have at the forefront of his story arc, and likewise with Judy. I want to see him open up to people more, and I want to see him continue to prove to the world that a fox can be more than a shyster, and heck, maybe he and Judy are becoming something of celebrities from their adventures and maybe the two of them are using their status to help their communities in ways other than police work. Maybe the two of them will visit schools, more run down neighborhoods and communities of stereotyped animals to tell their story and show them what they can become if they believe in themselves and in others. I also want a big emotional scene from him, or at least an adult big emotional scene. While we did see plenty of big emotional scenes from him and certainly saw the depths of what he’s been through, it was Judy who really brought out the most emotion. This time around, I want to see Nick carry the most emotional scene, tears and all. My choice would be him realizing the weight of what he has gained and how much he doesn’t want to lose it. For instance, perhaps they could have a party at the station in honor of their promotions (I'd guess detective given their skill sets) with him, his fellow officers, his parents, and even his and her civilian friends such as Finnick. He’ll sit down next to Judy and his folks with a plate and a cup, and they’ll start conversing. Suddenly, officer McHorn comes up and commends him and Judy for their great work in their short time on the force, and how they deserve to be detectives after all the cases big and small that they've solved. Nick will look at him with a smile as he’s talking, and then notice something: all of the most important people in his world are right there in that room, and each and every one loves, respects, and appreciates him. His parents, his friends, and most importantly his brothers in arms, and especially the one who brought him into the fold and changed his life forever. The realization that he’s achieved the camaraderie he wanted and fulfilled the promise he made in his youth, how he's made people see him for who he is and not what he is, and how whole his life has become from this job and how it will get even better from this promotion hit him like a train and he starts shedding tears. His parents, Judy and McHorn notice. He tries to play it off initially, but he realizes that he has nothing to hide anymore and explains everything. McHorn says he really meant what he said and that he’s an integral part of the PD, and Judy and his folks begin comforting him and eventually Judy says “Oh you foxes, you're so emotional”. Nick gets a big smile on his face and gives her a tight hug, and then chooses to get up on a table and say a big speech of thanks and cheers to his family, friends, his fellow officers, and especially to the greatest gal he’s ever known.

Speaking of the sly bunny, I want to see how the events of the last film have affected her and have shaped her into a wiser person and more effective officer. Much like with Nick, I want to see her continue to buck other’s expectations of her and prove that rabbits can be far more than just meek farmers. I want to see her grow even more street smart, wise, and a better problem solver from seeing all that Zootopia has to offer and from her proximity with Nick. I want her to see more of the world’s complicated problems and for her to start to understand the bad parts of it even more, but at the same time continuing to see plenty of good as well (sometimes, a bit of both). Also, there’s a lot of Zootopia as a city that she still hasn’t seen; species, districts, holidays, you name it. I want a big part of her story to also be her experiencing everything the city has to offer, preferably with Nick at her side, and the wonder on her face. That said, I want the wonder to be shared. I want to see Nick enjoying this city like never before since he can look at it in a whole new light, and do so with the one who made it all possible. And likewise, Judy would feel the same in regards to being able to explore it with the one who changed her for the better, helped her keep her career, learn more about herself, and has continued to be there for her. And again like Nick, I want her to really feel what she’s gained: a great career, comrades who respect her, the ability to help others, and fulfillment of the dream she’s wanted since childhood, and an amazing partner who helped her achieve it all and got all the same things because of her.

And all that of course brings us to the big question. How should their relationship evolve? Well, uh… I think… You see, I… I uh… Well...

This is on the bookshelf in my room

And this is one of my most viewed images on furaffinity (credit to RelaxableFur)

Of important note; I’m not someone who casually ships characters. I may consider the idea of them being a couple when they’re together on screen and have good chemistry, but I’m never like “Oh my god, they need to get together!” (in fact, I was neutral about the idea of WildeHopps until last year when I dived back into the movie), and I’m especially not one of those people who ships characters who obviously have no chance in hell of being romantically involved. I only really get on a ship if I think there’s a strong precedent for it in terms of character plausibility and storytelling potential (and it also helps if they’re absolutely adorable on screen). And in the case of these two, I absolutely think that they hit all three categories.

Now, let’s get into details. Do I think they’re just friends at the end of the film? Not necessarily. Do I think they’re romantically involved? Again, not necessarily. I think their relationship is complicated. As I said, they trust, respect, and care for each other to such an incredible degree that they were willing to do THIS all for the sake of milking the scene and keeping up appearances to keep the bad guy talking (and as you may or may not have noticed, Judy’s nose didn’t move even a bit during the entire act until Nick was right on top of her, whereas before at even the slightest sign of distress it would twitch like crazy), and then just casually laugh about the whole thing while holding each other. Speaking of which, they are clearly very comfortable with physical contact; Judy comforts Nick with some arm caresses

Nick let Judy cry into him and wrapped his tail around her when making up (how else would she step on it)

The two of them share the aforementioned very nice embrace when gloating to Bellwether (yes, Judy had a wounded leg, but the way they’re holding each other and how comfortable they are indicates way more than just physical support)

And there was also this part in the concert…

Y’all thought that was just a hip check, didn’t you!?

There’s also the fact that, while it’s obviously a rather playful exchange, they just casually threw the big, big L out there in their last conversation, and not only that, but the whole thing is delivered in a kind of longing fashion, and depending on the translation the wording gets either more or less explicitly romantic.

As myself and Beastars Takes have stated, they are perfect kindred spirits who have irrevocably changed each other’s lives for the better, and they believed in each other when no one else would. For those reasons they have grown closer to each other than anyone else and can’t get enough of each other. They made each other’s dreams come true, they’re the greatest things that have happened to each other, and they will continue to be so, especially now that they’re together nearly every day of the year since they’re now on the job together. To me, that’s not a will they get together, that’s a when will they get together, and I’d find it more forced if they didn’t become an item (unless their sexualities don’t match, but I doubt that, because again all of their dialogue and physical closeness)

And this officially licensed merch…

And these park character interactions.

And honestly, I think that many mammals will probably think the same way. As I almost said throughout, I think plenty of folks like Clawhauser and Finnick will see the spark between them and be Shippers on Deck. I could imagine Finnick teasing their obvious affection for each other, and Clawhauser could just be his usual self and just make little squees and mental notes whenever he sees them interacting, and there could be a few rumors about them floating around the PD.

So how should their romance develop, and how should their couple dynamic be? Subtly, and not too much of a change from how they already are, respectively. As I said, these two already think the world of and can’t get enough of each other, and I really think that there’s already a romantic spark between them that they just need to think through and expose. I give them half a year on the force before they’re all over each other, a year at most. I don’t think that they’ll even have to make any real confession of love to each other, I think they’ll just have to have the right moment to properly figure out that their relationship already is romantic and/or that it really would be able to work out between them, and actually cement it right there and then. That said, don’t drag the hookup out. Don’t have their entire arc be about them getting together. Don’t have them magically be together at the start of the story, but certainly don’t drag for the whole time. Give us time for them to be the slightly better than best friends we saw at the end of the last film while building up some extra tension, and then have them properly hook up in the second act. But as I said, their dynamic shouldn’t change too much. Again, it’d be more of a realization than a decision since they already have an unbelievably high opinion of and affection towards each other (and they seemingly already know that there’s something between them), and it’d be an enhancement of what they already have as opposed to a change; they’ll continue to be the best friends that they’ve been, just with an extra openly romantic component. Have them be even more willing to show affection both physical (hand holding, cuddling, and kissing) and verbal (more flirtation, and some I love yous). I want this romance to be sweet and unique with a lot more friendly banter, discussion and enjoying more platonic fun stuff (like playing games and joking together), and way less lubby dubby crap. I want their trust and love and respect for each other to be extremely apparent; continue to have it be clear that they think the world of each other and show the reasons for it, and don’t have them be too doting, or at least not that often. That said, absolutely feature some powerful romantic moments like a little dance, or the hookup stated before.

As I said before, I also really get on to a ship if I believe that it can add to the story, and in this case, I really do think it can. I think that their relationship could bring up and/or amplify a lot of strong themes that would complement the first film’s message perfectly. For instance, friendship, love and family not knowing the boundaries of species.

Now, it’s clear that interspecies relationships and marriages are a thing in this city: the directors talked a bit about how society could see their relationship and how Zootopia is probably open to the idea; the first couple that Judy meets in Zootopia are her neighbors Bucky and Pronk Oryx-Antlerson, who are a greater kudu and a gemsbok (they’re also same sex, so that indicates even more societal openness)

There was also an official comic about Flash trying to ask Priscilla out on a date to a movie, but he was too slow and lost out to a Hyena, so that indicates that even predator-prey relationships aren’t widely looked down upon.

However, as the first film showed, Zootopia’s not a perfect society, so they absolutely could receive some nasty stares and insults in the city, and Bunnyburrow Seems to be less open on the whole. Yes, I’m bringing up the ever so popular “Nick meets Judy’s parents after their hookup” idea that hundreds of people have written stories about, but I genuinely think it’s a fun idea, and I’d like to see their reaction to Nick if he’s romantically involved with their daughter, and Nick trying to get used to country life and bonding with a new family. We saw in the last film that Bonnie and Stu are opening up to foxes, and I would imagine that they met Nick around the time of the concert in the credits, but how could they feel about their daughter being with a non-bunny? That could be a fantastic storyline to cover, and it could be a fantastic way to explore that theme of interspecies bonds, and also of families being built on love. That being said, them visiting Bunnyburrow (AKA my hometown in upstate NY: we seem to have an infestation of rabbits here), would be best for a TV series arc or a comic as opposed to a theatrical release, but they could still have the Hopps family visit Zootopia in the film and have many similar things go down. Another scenario could be from Nick’s family. Remember what Rich said about his mother waiting for a grandkit? Does this mean that she actually wants him to continue the family line, or does it mean that she just wants another little tyke to help raise? Either way, she could be an interesting addition to this idea since the creators have specified that they normally fall back on what is scientifically plausible for the film, meaning that Nick and Judy probably wouldn't be able to conceive a child, so they could introduce some hesitance or vice versa into the story through her.

With my previous villain idea, the theme of bonds beyond species could come up quite often. Nick and Judy could become targets of The Cell from the beginning for their friendship, but they could perhaps become more of targets once it becomes clearer to The Cell that they may be more (and because they’re likely foiling their plans). If the villain actually saw proof up close that they were together, he could absolutely lose it and just try to tear them limb from limb. But of course, their bond could also be used to their advantage alongside the villains’ hypocrisy and foolishness. For instance, in a final confrontation. Here’s my prospective scene: Nick, Judy and possibly other characters are surrounded by Cell members who are armed to the teeth and pointing all they have right at them. Everyone in the room is weary from all that’s happened over the course of the film, and are hesitant to start fighting again. Then, Nick speaks up and asks The Cell why they’re still fighting. He brings up the fact that they’re all fighting for the downfall of Zootopia and the separation of all species since they believe that animals only see each other for what they are and are cruel because of it, and that they’re going as far as to hide their species from their comrades to not see each other as separate, but only until the job is done, and then they'll go their separate ways. Of course, why should they see each other as one only for now? They’ve all bonded and seen each other as comrades all this time while not knowing each other’s species; why should knowing what they are be any different? This would result in some taking the plunge and removing their helmets, which would then result in the others seeing what they are. Our leads would tell them that they have not known each other's species this long and yet they’ve bonded together as brothers in arms; why would they want to break that because of stupid differences, and why would they want to use those differences to separate themselves? Some folks can tear and digest meat, some can clip and digest grass; what difference should that make? If they want things to be better, then they must be better, and show those who hate them that things can be better (and for extra effect, Nick and Judy could show off the bond that they’ve gained despite being not just two different species, but predator and prey). One member throws his mask out, then another, and another. More and more continue to throw away their masks and even suits, either because they were convinced or because they see the cause as hopeless, and within a minute the floor is littered with masks and discarded body suits, and the members of the once mighty Cell walk out of the room, many with their arms around one another, and some holding hands, and soon it’s just the leader and the officers alone.

Conclusion

So those were my ideas for a Zootopia sequel. To recap, I want to see even more of the city’s districts and more of its socio-economic angles. I want to see new characters both brand new and from old drafts, and I want an interesting and fresh villain who we can gain a bit of sympathy for. I want to see all of our favorite supporting characters from the first film continue to be great and have expanded roles. And above all, I want our leads to continue to grow themselves and their bond into something even more wonderful. I want to see Nick grow as a person and officer, and I want to see Judy grow alongside him. I want to see Nick’s family and connections, I want how his new life is affecting him, and I want to see him open up emotionally with himself and with those he loves, and I want Judy to continue to grow wiser about the world and everything ugly and beautiful about it, and how being on the force, and with the one she cares about most no less, shapes her into an even more effective problem solver.

So when could we see a sequel? Well, we may have to wait a while longer. While it’s very clear that the franchise isn’t dead, we’ve heard absolutely nothing official on a sequel, and current events at Disney Animation Studios are making it seem like we may have to wait more for one to come. The director and mastermind behind the film, Byron Howard, and the co-director and screenwriter, Jared Bush, are currently working on a musical film currently called Encanto which is set to release in November. Why did they do this instead of going straight for Zootopia 2? Rich Moore, the other head director, had to scramble back to work on Ralph Breaks The Internet after leaving it for a year and a half, and that pretty much left the team in pieces. Considering how much he seemed to want to be a part of the development of a sequel and how they said that they didn’t want to rush it, the other guys seem to have started Encanto to do something new while Rich was busy, and of course shake up their creative juices. However, Rich left the studio in 2019 to join Sony Animation, although he said he left the studio in good hands, and I certainly hope that’s true. Considering that Disney tends to announce films around two years before release, and also tends to have directors work on films released two years apart, 2023 seems like a likely release year, but 2024 would work better for getting a bit more development time into it, get some test screening done and to iron out any possible issues.

That said, the extra year may not be totally necessary. Considering how well developed the first film’s world and characters were, and how much they conceptualized during its production, I don’t think they’ll have to conceptualize quite as hard, and most of what they’ll have to create from scratch will be storylines, themes, character development, and brand new characters, as well as possibly a few districts and species designs. But again, there was so much that they have already made that they just need to show us, as well as so many concepts to fall back on with developing brand new content that even in the conceptual stage that it may have be in they’ll have a relatively easy time coming up with incredible new content; unlike Frozen II & Ralph Breaks the Internet where they had to make up totally new locations, concepts, and everything in between. I’m of the opinion that with all the time that it’s likely been in partial production that the relatively little new stuff that they've had to come up with has probably already been quite refined, and by the time Encanto is done, they may well have something extremely robust and just need to refine it, and then make models and animate it, and give us Disney Animation's best sequel ever. But then again, that extra year may be good for it. But then again, I'm not a filmmaker, so I don't know crap.

And after that, we could end up getting a TV series with further adventures of Nick and Judy, and also flesh out the world even more by showing us districts, criminal groups, precincts, and all manner of other things. Perhaps it could be a police procedural with our leads taking on whatever the city has to offer as well as de showing off more about them and other characters than the films could, and also potentially be a bit of a Segway into the next film (why yes, I think a Zootopia trilogy could be amazing). Thankfully the majority of the cast is made up of accomplished TV actors, so they’ll probably be able to get almost everyone back (but I am hoping for Jason Bateman the most since he IS Nick Wilde and no one can replace him (the same applies to Ginnifer Goodwin with Judy to a very slightly lesser extent)). My hope is that it'll be a D+ original, and thus have an extra good budget that'll hopefully bring in a great cast, and excellent animation and writing.

But anyway, thanks for reading! I hope you all enjoyed my ideas. Was there anything you'd like to add, or anything you didn't quite agree with (or any mistakes I didn't notice while proofreading)? Well then please do discuss them. Until next time, may your battles be won and your day be blessed, and may you be excellent to all those you meet!

#zootopia #zootopia 2 #nick wilde #judy hopps #clawhauser #benjamin clawhauser #finnick #chief bogo #film speculation #film theorizing #disney #disney animation #walt disney animation #wdas #movie essay #wildehopps

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