#and just. tom with a MARVEL budget....... he could look so amazing

[charleslovemustdie]

the real reason they didn't make loki genderfluid in the show yet is because once we see tom hiddleston in female form we'll literally never recover. i know i wont

#i will fall in love with her so fast its not even funny #i will go into a fucking coma #loki #charlespeaks #i rewatched half of good omens today #missed those gays #and just thinking about how they had more gender fluidity in a couple minutes of nanny crowley than loki did the whole show cjfjcjcj #and just. tom with a MARVEL budget....... he could look so amazing #i would faint

[thorne93]

Unforeseen Chasm (Part 71 - FINAL)

Prompt: Two sisters fall for men that are absolute enemies. The love they have could tear all of them apart, or it could bring them together.

Word Count:2358

Warnings: epilogue of sorts, happy endings for all parties, super-powered children, fluffy ending

Note: This is by far the longest thing I’ve ever written (including my novels). It’s a collaboration with the amazing @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​​. It started as a funny “What if…?” and it evolved and got huge. This took two years to write. We are both proud and happy and we hope you enjoy it. It follows from Thor 1 to Endgame in the MCU. Some of the timelines may be off in order to fit certain people, and some characters may show up earlier or in different ways than they have in the movie. But for the most part, it follows the MCU. It also has a bit of crossover with some other Marvel characters throughout the story.

Side Note: We really hope you enjoyed the ride. We know this fic was long, and at times you may have been chomping at the bit to get to the next big adventurous part, but we feel like each part shows more of each persons character. Thank you for sticking with it, and we hope its everything you wanted in a story and more.

Masterlist for Unforeseen Chasm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Life moved forward, rather than lateral. 

Steve returned the stones on time to their original timelines. He apparently spent a life with Peggy in one of them, but returned still fresh and young as always. He’d done this all before your wedding in fact. 

Tony, Shannon, and Bruce stayed in their cabin that they’d built during the snap. It was a beautiful piece of property, with everything they’d wanted in a home, and had no desire to leave. All three of them could work from home, build their family, and they did so. 

Tony said he retired from the hero game. Of course, if The Avengers or anyone needed him, he’d be there in a heartbeat, but for the most part, he was going to let the next generation take them on.

Shannon for the most part was a stay at home mom but if she was needed during an emergency or crisis she was the first one to get called to help. She also balanced a way to be with her kids while they attended Charles Xavier school by becoming a trainer for those who had powers similar to her vast collection of powers.

Bruce still did his research, driving into the city when need be, but Tony’s technology made it virtually needless to go in. He’d found a way to be able to marry Shannon but was still waiting for the right moment to ask her. He’d already spoken with Tony and was given the okay for it.

All four of their children were doing exceptionally well. Peter was top of his class at his graduation, valedictorian. Morgan was on the honor roll and even had a few of her own inventions that were up for funding. She was just as smart as her parents already. Natalia and Mason-Alexander (the twins) were turning three and  showing signs that just like their parents they too had powers of their own completely different from their mother and unique to them. 

When you and Loki returned to New Asgard from your honeymoon, your whole lives lay ahead of you. You had your physics that you could return to, perhaps starting a lab here, or maybe going back to New York. Loki could have stayed working with Strange at the sanctum, each of them protecting the time stone and other priceless relics. But neither of you had really thought about your future or work or anything. You’d been so busy living in the moment, in the now, you haven't given your future any thought, really. 

Thor came to give you your wedding present.

“Welcome back,” Thor said happily as he and Valkyrie approached you from atop one of the roads back into town. The sea was on your right, down a steep grade, the mist washing up around your face.

“Thank you, it’s good to be back,” you replied as you held Loki’s hand. 

“I’m glad to hear you say that, because I wanted to go ahead and give you your wedding present.”

You and Loki exchanged a look of anticipation. 

“What would you say to being Asgard’s new King and queen?” he asked with a plucked up smile. 

Your jaw nearly hit the floor. 

“What? But--but, Valkyrie has been handling it. She’s been in charge, and you’re rightful heir. With Loki’s past and my--”

“Well, first of all,” Valkyrie started with a smile, “I’ve been in charge because I have to be, not because I want to be.”

“And it’s time for me to stop being who I think I’m supposed to be, and be who I’m meant to be,” Thor agreed. “I’ve already spoken with Valkyrie--”

“And we think it’s best if I step down, and restart the Valkyrie program. I could be the leader for your army.” 

“I don’t know what to say,” you gasped. “I feel like we’re...stealing this from you. You deserve to be ruler,” you said with urgency. 

“No, I think you two do,” she said with sincerity. “Loki risked his life for Asgard when Hela came. He saved its people, and you saved the universe, risking your life.”

“We will do this,” Loki suddenly said in a cool voice, his face looking defiant. “Only if,” he continued, before suddenly flashing a warm smile, “you  agree to be our political advisor as well. We will need someone with experience to help us.” 

“Of course, Your Majesty,” she said with a dazzling smile. 

After that day, it felt clear and right that being home with your Asgardian people was the best choice. Guiding them felt right, helping them make a better community felt good. You and Loki took the rank extremely seriously. It wasn’t just a role of royalty being handed down, but a way to honor his loving mother and your parents, and a way to give back to the people. Everyone was happy when you and Loki were crowned, and supported Thor in his endeavors as well. Valkyrie did her best and helped all the time to discuss and guide the issues of the community. 

While being King and Queen was a full time responsibility, you felt you still had other debts to pay. 

The Avengers training picked back up, but it got a few more recruits. Loki, you, Peter, and a few others had signed up for proper training. Once a good foundation was set for how you and Loki were running things in New Asgard, you would return to New York to begin your formal training. The agreement was that if New Asgard was in dire need, you’d return to it, but everything ran pretty much hands off in the community now. 

On your first day, Pietro, Wanda, Sam, Bucky, Loki, Peter, Shannon, Carol, Scott, Hope, and Rhodey were all there. 

Steve stood before you all, giving a quick speech about why you were here, what it meant to be an Avenger, and that being one didn’t mean you always saved the day. In the training room hung two portraits of Natasha and Vision, honoring their sacrifice for the fight to win back the universe. 

Tony stood in the background, behind Steve. You wondered why he was here, but of course, his wife and son were there so naturally he wanted to be there to share the first day. 

“With that being said,” Steve informed, a look of mischief crossed his face, “I’d like to give the first task to Bucky.”

Bucky frowned but walked forward anyway. All of you were equally confused. 

“I’d like you to hold this shield, let me know how it feels,” Steve told Bucky with a bit of a grin. 

“Feels heavy, and like it belongs to you,” he responded with a bit of shyness. 

“Well, it doesn’t, it belongs to you now,” he said. With that, he turned to everyone. “In fact, this whole program belongs to all of you now. I’m retiring, and I think I'm leaving it in perfectly capable hands. Sam and Bucky will take over as the leaders of the operation, with Shannon overseeing it all. Recruits, it’s your job to follow their every instruction, it may not only save your life one day, but the universe too.” He shot you a tiny smile and nod, to which you returned. “As you know, Tony is retired, Clint has retired, Thor is out exploring the universe, and now with me, it’ll all be on all of you. I wish  each of you luck. And as I once said to a very dear friend, no matter what. I promise you, if you need us, if you need me, I'll be there. Avengers, it’s time to assemble.” 

He smiled to everyone, nodded once, then turned around. Tony put his hand on Steve’s shoulder as they walked out of the compound. 

“Let’s go get lunch,” he said. 

“You’re buying,” Steve responded. “I’m retired, gotta watch my budget.” 

“Moocher,” Tony replied. 

Sam and Bucky stood in front of the group. 

“You guys heard him, hop to!” Sam ordered. “Let’s hit the gym everyone!” 

With that, the group of you all walked over to the gym, with you and Loki hand in hand. 

-----------------------------

You and Loki were standing in the restored castle you’d found on the island, you on the balcony of the bedroom. Both of you staring out over the sparkling ocean. The two of you were on your scheduled vacation from Avengers training, and Sam and Bucky respected that you did have a small nation to lead. 

Life continued on for all of you. When you weren’t training at the compound, you and Loki took trips to the sanctum to have tea with Stephen and Wong. Sometimes, for an extended weekend, you’d visit Clint and his family. Wanda visited you in New Asgard a few times, and the two of you would go out on the town, and sometimes Shannon would come, bringing Morgan with her - it’d turn into a girls day out. 

Bucky, Sam, you, and Loki all got rather close as well. You all enjoyed practicing combat and Bucky seemed to really enjoy the knife fighting with Loki - those two gave each other a run for their money. A few times, all of the Avengers shared a movie night, a bowling night, a trivia night. Steve and Bucky beat everyone in history, for the most part. 

If you weren’t training or helping out Tony and Bruce at Stark Industries with some of your physics knowledge, then you spent time with Shannon and her family. Tom and Diane adored being grandparents, and you and Loki spoiled the kids. It was absolute heaven. Life had finally become happy. It was far from normal, but it was filled with love and happiness, and that’s all you ever wanted. 

“You look radiant, my queen,” he mused from behind you as he wrapped his hands around your waist. 

“Thank you,” you said blissfully as you stared out. “Would you have done anything differently?” you asked. 

Loki rounded around you and got in front of you, putting his hands on the small bump on your stomach. “Of course not, why would you ask that?”

You shrugged simply. “Sometimes I wonder if, well perhaps if you felt trapped or stuck with me. When I jumped after you all those years ago, we weren’t dating. We hadn’t even shared our first kiss yet. So I wonder if perhaps you chose me by default.” 

He gave you a soft smile as he stared at you, his hands going to either side of your face. “Y/N, I had thousands of years before we met again to look for someone else. I had ample opportunity to leave you after our imprisonment. I’ve never wanted anyone but you, that has never changed, and it never will.”

You nodded, understanding him. As long as he knew he did have a choice in this, that was all you wanted. 

“I’ve wondered the same thing, though. If your decision to jump was made in haste, and after all that time, you just felt as if I were your best option. As if perhaps, if you didn’t stay with me, jumping, losing your freedom, and everything else that went with it, would’ve been for nothing,” he admitted. 

“You did?” 

He nodded. “Yes. It ran through my mind a few times that maybe if I didn’t propose on the day I came back if you would’ve weighed your options with Remy some more. So one day, I asked Stephen what all those possibilities looked like. Out of those 14 million outcomes, how many of them you chose me in.” 

“And?” you breathed, curious to find out, your heart beating rapidly.

“All of them,” he assured with a twinkle in his eye. “He told me that out of all of the futures, you loved me in every one of them, and chose me time and time again.” 

You gave him a warm smile. “I’m not surprised,” you mused. “Maybe we should ask him about the future of this little Asgardian,” you said with a bit of a laugh. 

“We don’t need him to tell us that future. I already know we will give them everything we always wanted,” he vowed. “I promise.” He got up and kissed you firmly. “Between the two of us, there’s nothing we can’t conquer. Besides, between us, The Starks, Thor, and the other Avengers, this baby will already have ten times the family we did growing up. This baby will be more loved and spoiled than any in existence.” 

“Mm, I like the sound of that,” you hummed happily. “I love you,” you quietly said as you stared at him. 

“And I love you, Y/N,” he promised with the warmest grin you’d ever seen.  

“We’d better get down there,” he reminded. “Shannon and the rest of them just got here. They’ll be waiting on us.” 

In just a few minutes, your world would change again, letting in your loved ones on your happy news. 

Shannon, Bruce, and the rest of the Starks came to visit you all. You hadn’t told anyone you were pregnant yet, it was to be a surprise. You couldn’t wait for her reaction though, because Loki was right, you knew as a sister she’d go absolutely off the walls happy for you, but not to mention so would several other people that were now family to you. 

What seemed like lifetimes ago, Tony, Bruce, were nearly strangers. You all were friends, but nothing compared to what you’d gone through now. Heck, all of the Avengers. People you regularly spoke to, worked with, and relaxed with were once people you hardly knew. Now you couldn’t imagine your life without them (sadly, some of them you didn’t have to imagine, thanks to the snap). They completed your world, they completed you.

This baby, and you and Loki for that matter, had a home, had people who cared for you and loved you deeply. In fact, you had multiple places to call home: the compound, the Stark Cabin, New Asgard.

And you owed it all to your best friend Shannon, and the love of your life Loki - they were your better halves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tag List:

@essie1876​

@magpiegirl80​

@letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked​

@iamwarrenspeace​

@marvel-imagines-yes-please​

@superwholocked527

@missinstantgratification​

@thejemersoninferno​

@rda1989​

@munlis​

@thefridgeismybestie​​

@bubblyanarocks3​​

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@kaliforniacoastalteens​

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@marvelmayo​​

@random-fluffy-pink-unicorn

@cocosierra94

@hardcollectionworldtrash

@capsmuscles​

@marvelloushamilton

@paintballkid711​

Loki:

@lostinspace33​​

@ultrarebelheart​​

@lenawiinchester​​

@esoltis280​​

@tngrayson​​

@wangdeasang​​

@harrymewmew

@jayfantasyatyourservice​​

UC:

@lokis-high-priestess​

#unforeseen chasm #loki x reader #loki fic #Loki Laufeyson #tony stark #tony stark fic #tony star x ofc #bruce banner #bruce banner x ofc #Tony x ofc x Bruce #thor #valkyrie #bucky barnes #peter parker stark #morgan stark #the maximoff twins #sam wilson #carol danvers #scott lang #hope #rhodey #steve rogers

[lowkeysebastianstan]

the day that bucky died

well, for me anyway, i see he’s alive and well with a lot of you, and as i did post-endgame, i envy you terribly.

i guess i still held out a small hope that the series could still awaken a spark in me, but after this i’m just... done. i mean first of all the ‘big’ trailer, which i thought was a trailer only for that series but then turned out to be for all three, but also... i don’t care? sure he looks like sebastian and only sebastian, which doesn’t help, but mostly, i just don’t care. if that character crashes and burns within the first five minutes of that thing, i’d just be, ‘eh’. i don’t know him, and worse, i don’t want to. 

the ending *shudders* comes back to me again, the way sam looks at bucky and bucky nods him along, a scene that says so much, not about the characters, but how little the creators cared about them, about us. sam getting the shield? excellent. sam being the one greeting steve after he returns? sure, he looks to bucky and he nods him on, but it’s just so??? this is sam. who knew exactly how much bucky meant to steve *lmao*, sam who witnessed steve’s reaction, his “heartbreak”, when steve realised bucky was alive and that he’d, unwillingly, sure, but still, left him to be tortured, to be used, to be broken, and the agony he went through. sam, who saw steves determination to reunite with bucky, to find him, saw how he scoured the earth for bucky because sam scoured it with him. sam, who saw how much bucky meant to steve *lmao*, saw the strength of that relationship, the deep bond of love, and recognised it because he shared the same with steve... he just went, eh surely this first meeting, the first words, should be about the succession of the mantle, about cap, not about steve, not about bucky, not about sam... yeah, i think that’s the scene that makes this whole concept fall completely flat. 

and ooohhh, finally they get to evolve their relationship, we get to see them become friends. but, we won’t? we don’t get to see any of that. that already happened, it happened off screen, it happened before aiw (unless they had a serious bonding session in the soul realm or tony’s fulneral was put off for a few months, it must have all happened post cacw/pre-aiw when the russos said steve spent some time in wakanda) they weren’t worthy or important enough for us to enjoy just a tiny bit of that, only let us have to fill in some serious blanks. they were even better friends than with steve i guess, bc they didn’t even stand with him, but then again, steve didn’t even mourn any of them in the five years so i guess that tracks. 

which is why i guess the first scene was about the shield, they both moved on from steve, or he moved on from them, they weren’t happy steve was back, i guess the shield was the last thing they needed closure on, and y’know, that was also a convo deemed not worthy of a few minutes screen time.

so what will they do? my guess? they’ll let sam have his time in the sun. in a television release. they’ll let him have an arc and a, hopefully, meaningful story. that also revolves around bucky, seems that they keep dangling the cheese in front of sebastian, but only there. bc when the big-budget hoopla comes back into town, when anthony mackie gets to be captain fucking america, they’ll just breeze past all that, bc they can, after all he got his time, he got his story, and now he can just be there as a token of their diversity, and goddamnit mackie deserves so.much.more. like... his story gets told alongside, and with as much importance as, other lesser characters, and a dead villain? 

and a dead driod i guess, im not minimising wanda’s pain, but c’mon, vision is fucking dead. and loki? idek, yes, i love tom, i love loki, but he died, a lot of time and lingering shots were spent on that, and idec that he was ‘redeemed’ he spent most of his screentime on the mcu fucking things up and killing people, sorry, i hated a lot abt aiw and endgame, but his exit was a few things they did right. but it tracks i guess, bc as m&m has repeatedly said, bucky is a villain too, i guess being tortured 3/4ths of your existence is just eh. 

SAM IS CAPTAIN FUCKING AMERICA AND HE DESERVES BETTER!

idk, it’s like with every beat marvel just keeps hammering the nail in deeper, takes any and all meaning out of these characters, they’ve already sucked them dry by showing us how little they mean, they’re not important, they’re not worthy, they don’t give a rat’s ass about them, they don’t care. and then they expect us to. 

i guess i’ll never stop caring though, i care enough that the loss of these fictional assholes break my heart, that the thought about bucky and what he’s meant to me makes me cry. rn actually. the loss of steve was peanuts in comparison, someplace along the end of the line sam came to mean so much more, bc atleast he stayed. and yeah, sam is amazing, he’s probably the best of them all, but bucky? i don’t think i’ve identified with a character so much. no other character has ever touched me the way bucky has, and i hate that they did this. to us, but i’m so selfish that, mostly just to me. 

okay. rant over for now, but knowing me there with be more bc rn i feel better letting it out (i’ve stopped crying and entertain a very soothing pure rage rn) but that will fluctuate in the next weeks and months i guess.

oh, and i still love bucky of old, to a lesser degree, but, and even if i avoid endgame like the plague i might still post, even make a set, bc both sebastian and mackie look hot af, they’re just not bucky and sam. i’m always down for some leather sebastian (even if since my vegetarian switch i’d prefer it was faux but what can you do. i’m cheap i guess.)

hope y’all are having an excellent day

#bucky barnes #sam wilson #marvel #tfatws #its a post #a bit of a rant i guess #actually if y'all want to still follow me but are tired of my whining then you can blacklist that tag #on this blog that usually means some sort of marvel negativity #and no way am i using anti endgame #no matter the post on this blog #you can safely assume it's anti endgame #so use #'its a post' #or it's a post

[msawesomegeek]

9 good movies with terrible endings

A/N: So I felt like writing some lists and this has been a long way coming. This is of course on endings, so spoiler alert! 

9. Remember Me.

Okay this movies is not particularly spectacular to begin with. But it did have decent enough acting and a fairly simple plot. Seemingly a good old fashioned notebook rip-off. And then it all goes to god damn shit! 

It turns out he works in the twin towers on 9/11, which would have made a great twist. In literally any other movie. It makes this entire thing so god damn pointless! 

8. Lucy

From a romantic drama to sci-fi the only thing Lucy has in common with Remember Me is that they both decide to fuck their audience just before ending. Right so Scarlett Johanson who plays Lucy, gains access to all of her brain capacity (Limitless style, but without the drugs). And then in the end, she just turns into a fucking USB drive! What the hell?????

7. Vampire Academy

Okay, I will admit these first few films are by no means cinematic masterpieces. But up until the end of this film, it actually had a lot going for it. It was everything that Twilight was not. Gory, funny, had some compelling characters (and some that were as dead pan as Kristen Stewart (look at you dude who plays the stalest love interest in recent memory)). But it was a good movie, it does have some problems with its premise, but it would have made an amazing b-teen-vampire-comedy if it wanted to. But at las. The twist does kind of work it is not that bad. It is the same problem that DCEU has. It spends the entire last few minutes of the movie, setting up a sequel that was never to be. Never even explaining any thing about what it means and why it is there? At least they could have saved it till an end credit scene like Marvel does. But they did not, and in stead of leaving this movie feeling entertained and content I was left with more questions than answers. 

6. SpiderMan 3

Now, before you all collectively loose your shit. Yes, I am calling SpiderMan 3 a good movie. Because right up until the end it kind of is. Yes it has a major villain problem, and sandman being uncle Ben’s killer doesn't really make sense. But until then it is objectively a good movie. AND before you say anything, yes I know the dreadful emo sequence. But if you think about it, it is totally in line with Peter Parker’s character. Peter Parker is not cool or an edgy killer guy like Tom Hardy. Finger guns, a dumb haircut and silly singing and dancing is what he would think is cool. And I am willing to fight you on that.

But then there is the villain team up that sort of works and is kind of odd. And hell even Topher Grace agrees that he was a bad Venom so... But go re-watch it, and I guarantee that you will have a good time, until the ending. 

5. Now You See Me

Now, I do actually really like this movie. I am a Harry Potter nerd, so even if there is a trick to it, I do still love the wonders of magic. I loved the actors, I mean I am a sucker for Jesse Eissenberg and Dave Franco on their own, and having those two balanced out by Woody Harrelsson and Isla Fisher, sign me the fuck up.

But even I, a fan of the film, is willing to admit, that the twist ending does not work. I mean I do kind of get it, but then all of it just seems to undermine everything. And were they really getting away with everything or was he just letting them? And why be so cryptic about it and not just contact them instead to tell them? Like I get that he is a secret organisation of magicians that have an image to uphold, but like??? Come on, there is just too much lapse in logic for this to work...

4. 2001 a Space Odessy

Again, a movie I do objectively love. I have no idea how it should have ended, but that weird ass acid trip in the end, was not really what I was hoping. 

Honestly it would have been great and terrifying to end it with: I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can't do that”. And just having him choke to death, hell I would even take the acid as a kind of death sequence. But seriously, while it is set to epic music and I have watched that movie a few times now, I still have no fucking clue what that ending means. 

I know it is what Kubrick wanted, but I would just have cut it...

3. Hereditary

Marked as one of the scariest movies of 2018, and I get it. I was objectively scared in sequences of this movie. But the twist in the end, it just seems so forced.

It seems like a weird way to explain everything that happened without explaining anything. I feel like there is a huge chuck of this movie that I either missed or was cut from the version I saw, because by the end of this movie. I was more confused than I was going in. Like why was the mother seemingly the main character when she just gets offed like its nothing in the end? Is she just crazy? Are the supernatural events we saw real or just fabricated by this cult? Who is the demon king? And why did it first possess Charlie, why couldn't it go directly into the boy. Why do the weird haunting thing? Why the naked people? 

I just have so many questions! I get that there is something scary about the unknown, but I felt like this movie took that feat a little too far.

2. Black Panther

I know everyone is gonna hate me for this. But Black Panther is a Meh movie at best. Like Shuri is fantastic, the villain is one of Marvels better ones. T’challa is a pretty cool protagonist. But I don’t think that it deserved all of the praise and the oscar nod it got. Why? The ending is just plain shitty.

The end fight is just plain stupid and Illogical! Right before Killmonger and T’Challa go to fight, one of the warriors literally says: The dual is not over.

So since T’Challa is not dead, he and Killmonger need to continue fighting till one of them surrenders. Meaning, there is no logical reason the rest of them should be fighting! It is just plain stupid. That and I am sorry, but the CGI for the last fight scene looks like something from a play-station 2 game. If they had just changed a few things about this movie, maybe it could have been great enough to deserve all it got. But I am sorry, but the end fight is just so dumb and badly animated that I can’t call it a perfect film.

1. Kingsman 2 The Golden Circle

Now this movie still infuriates me. On one hand I love it, and it is seemingly another very great movie, almost as good as the first one. And then, the last 5 minutes of the movie happens. I even remember leaving the theatre infuriated with this movie. Obviously they had a bit of a bigger budget and expectations for this movie compared to the first one, because the first one was so good. But it was like as soon as the americans got involved they took everything that was great about the first one and just pissed up and down it. The reason I liked the first one, is that it was cheeky. 

Taron Egerton, is cheeky too arrogant for his own good and compelling through and through. I liked it for having great character dynamics and for not cheapening it by putting in some unnecessary romance plot. It was, in other words everything the second movie wasn't. I loved every bit of it. Up until the marriage and the speech Harry gives about how having relationships are as important as BEING AN INTERNATIONAL SPY! And then he just marries the girl, without thinking about how public a royal wedding is, and how many enemies and henchmen know his face and he will be putting himself Thilde and everyone else in fucking danger! So not only is it a stupid decision, but is also just soooo Hollywood. Having to get married and have that perfect happy ending. It was so sugar sweet that I feel like throwing up just thinking about it. 

Now I could bitch forever about how much I hate that movie ending, but I am stopping myself. If you agree or disagree with what I said I am always willing to discuss or go into depth, or just talk about movies really. 

If not, tell me what list or movie I should review next.

Until next time.

- Geek out.

#kingsman the golden circle #movie #movie list #movie release #movie lists #good movies with terrible endings #spiderman 3 #spider man 3 #sam rami's spiderman #vampire academy #hereditary #now you see me #2001 a space odessy #lucy #remember me #black panther #black panther movie #black panther marvel #t'challa #shuri black panther #Black Panther Movie Review #mcu #top ten #top 10

[wadey-wilson]

I see you saw Captain Marvel. what's your opinion on the movie? i kinda liked it, but I feel like i haven't got a strong opinion yet :/

since i don’t know how to write reviews, i’ll just… here goes.

ok so, the movie wasn’t as bad as i expected it to be, and it necessarily wasn’t as Great as i wanted it to be. i say it wasn’t as bad because i always go to a theater with the half ‘how bad can it be’ and half ‘i hope it’ll be good’ kind of an attitude. 7/10 for me. i feel like upon rewatching it i’d give it a 7,5/10.

and now hear out my logic before you go after me or something, because i can explain, okay. it’ll be messy, so i’ll just… do it in points

- music - some of it worked, some of it didn’t. i felt like the need to be 90s-like overwhelmed the directors/producers, and some of the songs weren’t put in the moment they should’ve been, or were put in a wrong way (say, Come As You Are). but it worked for the most part, no big complaints on my side.

- editing - it worked for like 90% of the movie. sometimes the editing was so quick that i couldn’t tell what was going on. but even the badly edited moments are light years ahead from the TASM movies.

- the make up was just… amazing. the fact that the skrulls looked so good makes you wonder why fox got lazy on their make up with like one fucking person. mcu literally paints like half of their characters, even wade wilson in fox looks just wonderful, and then you have raven who looks more and more like shit with every movie she appears in.skrulls looked almost breathtaking, i was really amazed by the job the make up artists did, huge kudos to them. the fact that talos expressed his emotions so well under the prosthetic was just… wow. kree looked very good, the glowing on carol look very nice, and the cgi on nick fury was just freaking groundbreaking - at some point you just couldn’t believe this guy is like 70yo in real life. when the cgi is so good you don’t even notice it, then you know that the artist reached their goal.

- i liked the world building. i understood the cosmic stuff for the most part. i knew who, why, when, and what for. the movie had a lot to say in not so much time, yet it still kinda managed to no overwhelm me with the information.

- i adored the interactions. characters were playing off each other really well. the buddy cop relationship between carol and fury was undoubtedly one of the best parts of the movie.

- the pacing was great. some of the marvel movies or movies in general really feel like they want to be 8 hours long, and this movie doesn’t have that problem. you don’t really notice the time passing, the scenes don’t drag, there’s no focusing on such bullshit like obligatory/forced hetero relationships, too long conversations, or too long action scenes, and before you know it the movie ends - that’s how you know the pacing was fine. (compare it to AMATW and how it dragged. seriously, i needed breaks while watching ant-man and the wasp. i couldn’t sit and watch this whole movie. thank god i didn’t go to the cinema for that because i’d probably annoy everyone with pee breaks every 3 minutes. but that’s an opinion, don’t @ me, we can have different opinions about different movies and still live a good life.)

- i really, really enjoyed the way the movie mixed everything. you have the kree, you have skrulls, you have humans, shield, the air force, some flashbacks, and the movie doesn’t feel like a frankenstein kind of a creature. take TASM 2 for example where it feels like you’re watching 9 different movies put in 1 movie despite the action taking place in one freaking city. i felt like it was all tied together very well in captain marvel, and i think it may be because the main character took you on the journey and showed you everything from her perspective, and it worked.

- the humor was so good. you had to get used to carol’s snarky comments or how she brushes off everything with jokes, and then some dry-like kind of humor came in, and then some real humor came in, and even if some jokes didn’t land, it still felt like that person would actually say it.

- i like the twist with mar-vell [*‘everything has to be like in the comics’ people screeching in the background*]. i like how the skrull were done - i really, really felt for the skrulls (that moment when talos rubbed his face against his wife… my eyes watered.)

- goose the cat. that’s it. he won my heart.

- and as i mentioned before - the movie also undercuts these superhero-landing tropes - we’ve seen that before, it’s not so impressive anymore, AND we’re gonna see it dialled to 11 in endgame.

- now hear me out and don’t @ me - brie larson does not have the MCU-like charisma… YET. just yet. she’s on a good ground. you know she likes that role, it shows she likes that role, she wants to play it, she wants to be that character.

mcu charisma is what i like to call the kind of a vibe that the mcu actors give off when playing their roles. you know nobody could replace tony stark, you know nobody could play steve rogers the same way evans does, you watch tom holland and forget it’s tom holland, you see a peter parker, you look at rhodes and forget there’s an actor underneath. i didn’t feel that with brie larson just yet in like 1/3 of the movie. i could see her acting, see her having fun and knowing what she’d like to do.

and i’m NOT saying it’s her fault she doesn’t have that charisma yet. i think the fault’s in the writing and the directing. carol danvers did not have enough ‘me’ screentime. again, don’t @ me, i do not criticize the acting or the actress, or the movie. it’s about how her character was written into the story. because it felt just like that - she was written into the story, instead of the story being written around her, despite her being the main character. and it was a glaring problem that wasn’t really a problem you cared about - and that was because the lines delivery was great, the movie was funny, well-paced, well-acted, the action was good, the music for the most part was good, the cgi aged well. so you didn’t really notice that lack of ‘is she the charcter yet, has she become the character yet?’ thing.

but then again, i didn’t feel for steve rogers up until the end of the movie where he crashed the ship. i didn’t feel for thor in any other movies than the avengers, ragnarok, and then endgame. i still don’t feel for sam wilson EVEN THOUGH i like the character (he certainly has more depth than black widow in one movie than she has in all the movies, and it’s the writers’ fault, not scarlett’s). i have never felt for black widow - she has no character for me. she’s better now than she was in im2, but i still don’t like her as a character, and that is because i have… nothing… to like. she’s snarky and bland for me. and it’s a shame because then you see shuri or pepper potts, or okoye, or even aunt may and you can tell they have a lot of depth despite being given not so much time on the screen. and then natasha shows up and like, ugh. *spider-man noir voice* who are you again?

some of the mcu actors hit off with the character charisma the moment they show up on the screen, some of them take their time, and it’s ok. it’s absolutely ok for brie larson to not BE carol danvers yet.

we’re yet to see her in endgame and in other movies, so i’m more than certain she she’ll become a captain marvel.

i feel like she’ll kind of have this thor complex - boring (yet carol is way way way way better in her movie that thor was in thor 1 and 2, don’t @ me, i really don’t like thor 1 & 2) in the origin movie, but wackier and ultiple times more interesting as it goes on. she also has this stephen strange complex - she needs more characterization the way doctor strange did. strange was a prodigy in almost everything he did job-wise but was disconnected with his emotional side, and i kinda feel the same for carol danvers.

she will be good, i feel it, i believe in it, give her time. even though i liked her in the movie, she still lacks some depth. that’s not to say she has no depth, no, she has a lot of it. she just hasn’t been able to show it yet.

overall, given that it was a first movie with such huge budget for those indie movie directors, i think they managed. yes, the movie is a bit scattered, and it lacks a bit of depth, but it ties into the mcu very well, it’s entertaining, the humor is good, and the action is good.

7/10. lighthearted and entertaining, even if a bit choppy. we can discuss.

#captain marvel #captain marvel review #captain marvel spoilers

[perspectivecinematic]

Venom (2018) Review:

Investigative journalist Eddie Brock attempts a comeback following a scandal, but accidentally becomes the host of an alien symbiote that gives him a violent super alter-ego: Venom. Soon, he must rely on his newfound powers to protect the world from a shadowy organisation looking for a symbiote of their own.

With a 33% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, Venom has unfortunately gathered a lot of negative attention. Sony hasn’t exactly been known for its superhero masterpieces: Amazing Spiderman 2 and Fantastic Four are just some examples. But in contrast to those movies, people seem really divided on their opinions of Venom. It has a 88% score on the Audience vote in Rotten Tomatoes.

So, why is that? I’ll explain.

Let’s start off by saying that the marketing for this movie wasn’t the best. It felt as if Sony didn’t really try all that hard. Both Marvel (Disney) and DC (Warner Bros) both market their movie trailers to the ground on Youtube, social media and TV, especially when it’s close to release date. Sony didn’t seem to take the same approach; I didn’t even notice Venom was coming out so soon! So, that right there is mistake number one.

Now, onto the actual movie... It was hilarious. I loved it.

Now, I understand why critics didn’t like it. I totally get it! It’s not a good “film” but not all movies have to be. Critics tend to dislike anything fun from the superhero genre that isn’t made from Disney’s Marvel (You can clearly see it when the praise for Avenges: Age of Ultron came out -- that movie sucks and it’s not even fun, yet critics love it. Meanwhile Justice League got shit on. You see what I mean?). So, it’s no surprise they dislike how fun this movie is.

Do I think Venom is hilarious on purpose? Eh, most of the time. It’s definitely intentional with Tom Hardy. He makes this whole movie! If anyone else was casted as Eddie Brock, this movie would fall apart. Tom Hardy is what makes this movie so good. 

Eddie and Venom’s relationship and constant back-and-forth is priceless. Nothing was better than when these two had an interaction. It was always hilarious and amazing. I would argue that there’s definitely a sexual thing there and that the director was a coward for putting boobs and an hourglass silhouette on Venom when they kissed, but that’s not what this review is about. (if you DO want to read more on that though, here’s a link to an amazing article that I wish I had written)

Here are the negatives:

Michelle Williams was definitely wasted in this role because her character was unlikeable and one-dimensional.

The pacing in this movie is completely off! You feel it in the first 10 minutes! Everything moves way too fast. It was obviously to show us Venom faster, the thing we all came to see, but they could have handled it way better.

The villain is mediocre at best. Another fantastic actor wasted! Riz Ahmed is good, I have no doubt about that, but he’s so flat and one-dimentional, it’s boring.

There’s also barely any characters in Venom, and all of them except for Eddie (and Venom, I guess) are flat and boring. So, the movie ends up feeling more like a Made-for-TV movie than a major blockbuster.

Nothing technical really drew me in. I usually notice when there’s a good shot here and there or when the coloring looks really nice, but with this movie, it all seems pretty average. (Again, it’s not something Sony’s superhero movies are known for).

Overall though, I still really liked it. I had fun and it actually made me laugh out loud a couple of times. Enjoyable, but don’t expect high-art or anything. (Although, let’s be real, I don’t think anyone went to see Venom expecting an Academy Award winner. It did its job more or less. I still think the critics are being way too harsh, giving it such a low score) Plus, the actual Venom CG looked amazing! You can tell that’s where all the budget went!

(Oh and did anyone else get ScoobyDoo 2 movie vibes from that beginning? Because that’s all I could think about!)

I would totally watch it again... when it’s on Netflix... and I’d skip like the first half-hour or so until Venom comes in. 

Rating: 6.5/10 Stars

Would I recommend it? Yeah, if you want to have fun and laugh!

-- Mercedes

#venom review #venom #film review #reviews #mercedes reviews #sony #marvel

[aion-rsa]

Spider-Man: No Way Home Trailer Breakdown and Analysis

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It’s finally here. We truly never thought it would arrive for awhile. But sure enough, the first Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer has arrived. And just as you might have expected from the veil of secrecy that surrounded it, it would appear that at least SOME of the crazy multiversal rumors about this movie are true.

From its MCU multiverse shattering central concept to the presence of both Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange and Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus (with hints of even more characters yet to be revealed), Spider-Man: No Way Home looks like the biggest Marvel movie since Avengers: Endgame, and seems likely to set up future MCU Phase 4 projects, most notably Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

In other words, there’s a lot to unpack here. Here’s everything we’ve found so far. Oh, and just in case you haven’t watched it yet, here’s that trailer for you:

OK, now let’s get to work…

The Fallout From Far From Home

As we all remember, the previous Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man: Far From Home had a rather shocking ending, and one that didn’t exactly leave Peter in the best place. Thanks to the machinations of Mysterio, Peter found his secret identity outed by J. Jonah Jameson, and the world now knows he’s really Spider-Man.

We see glimpses of this in the opening moments, with Peter seeming to have a combination celebrity/pariah status, and it’s negatively affecting MJ and Ned Leeds as well. One classmate this seems to be going well for? Betty Brant, who we briefly glimpse on a TV screen in the high school, presumably reporting on this whole mess.

One fun detail about this? MJ is reading the real world New York Post, which on its own isn’t funny (the Post is a rag…except for the sports coverage), but in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies the Daily Bugle’s logo and layout were clearly modeled on the Post‘s. Another subtle reminder that this isn’t the world of the Raimi movies, and that The Daily Bugle of the MCU probably spent the last five years telling people to take Ivermectin to bring their “snapped” loved ones back.

That headline says “Spider-Minions” and I’d bet the puppets on the webs are MJ and Ned. Zendaya’s “Yesss, my Spider-Lord,” is legit hilarious, though. Not sure why the sports page would say “pray for New York”…UNLESS it’s about Spidey’s favorite baseball team, the New York Mets, for whom prayers are not enough.

Later on in the trailer, we see Spidey and Michelle being hounded by new helicopters, so this isn’t going well. But they take refuge on top of a bridge which…

Peter! You better Spidey your ass right the hell down off that bridge right this instant! You know what happens when you bring your girlfriends to bridges. Knock it off!

Steve Ditko

Let’s take a moment to appreciate the fact that Steve Ditko co-created both Spider-Man and Doctor Strange and here they are sharing the screen in an impossibly mega-budgeted film. Ditko absolutely would have hated this for any number of reasons, but especially because he barely ever saw a dime from all the Spidey and Strange merchandise through the years.

Why am I bringing this up (aside from the obvious)? Because Ditko’s name is literally in the first shot of the trailer, as some graffiti on the wall behind Peter and MJ. I’m sure Mr. Ditko wouldn’t have approved of street artists like this, either.

Damage Control

We see Peter being interrogated by someone in law enforcement, and it’s clear that Mysterio’s frame job is sticking pretty well. But wait…look more closely at the insignia on this guy’s jacket.

He’s not an ordinary fed, that DODC stands for Department of Damage Control. Remember them from Spider-Man: Homecoming? These are the folks who get called in to take care of the messes after big superhero/supervillain battles.

Here Comes Daredevil?

While there’s no official sign of Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock in this trailer, it sure seems like Peter could use a good lawyer right about now, and it’s hard to imagine a better time to bring in Daredevil, the most beloved character from Marvel’s Netflix era. Unless, of course, the faceless individual who slams a stack of files down in front of Peter is, in fact, Murdock.

Anyway, it should come as no surprise that Peter wants his secret identity back, and he’s already fought side by side with exactly the kind of guy who could help him do exactly that. Of course, the thing that reminds him of this are these Halloween decorations that look like if someone tried to describe Doctor Strange to Jon Favreau’s Happy Hogan and then Happy went and whipped up some cosplay based on the description.

It’s kind of cool that this movie seems to at least partially take place around Halloween. The MCU Spider-Man movies have always had a particular sense of time that most MCU flicks lack (although yes, Virginia, Iron Man 3 is a Christmas movie). Spider-Man: Homecoming took place at the start of the school year in September, while Spider-Man: Far From Home was a summer vacation movie. Assuming the end of that film was late summer, Peter has been dealing with his new and hellish existence for anywhere from 60-90 days by this point in the trailer.

Paging Doctor Strange…Doctor Stephen Strange

Benedict Cumberbatch returns as Doctor Strange for the first time since Avengers: Endgame, and he appears to be doing well for himself. He does, however, seem a little too eager to help Peter by casting a spell that is meant to either just erase the memory of the world that Peter is Spider-Man, or perhaps as Peter puts it, make it so Mysterio never went public with his identity.

Hell, Wong even shows up to till him what a mistake that would be. And Stephen being Stephen he, well, he ignores the hell out of him.

Also worth noting that Peter trying to wish his troubles away via magic is ALSO the basic idea of one of the most hated Spider-Man stories in all of history, the loathed “One More Day” which undid Peter’s marriage to Mary Jane in exchange for the life of Aunt May.

The Broken Spell

Of course, leave it to Peter’s anxious ass to have second thoughts at the last minute. You see, he wants Aunt May, MJ, and Ned to remember the fact that he’s Spider-Man. On the one hand, that’s nice, and reminds us that Peter is a good kid who still feels guilty about deceiving his friends. On the other hand, look at the big picture, dude! You can just…reveal your secret to them after the fact!

Also…is something wrong with Doctor Strange? For one thing, he never should have agreed to this. But for another, it’s clear that something isn’t quite right in the Sanctum Sanctorum since it’s snowing indoors. Is Strange having trouble with his magic for some reason? Will this be one of the things we have to deal with in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness?

The Multiverse

Anyway, Peter’s interruption screws everything up. How? That’s not entirely clear just yet. But it seems to be the nexus event that either sends Peter into other corners of the MCU multiverse or allows variants from other Spidey realities to start filtering in to the Sacred Timeline.

The Black and Gold Spider-Man Costume

The long-rumored black and gold Spider-Man costume seems to make its first appearance here. Is this a new suit Peter has whipped up, or is he Quantum Leaping into some variant form of himself elsewhere in the multiverse?

This scene also appears to take place in the charity where Aunt May works.

Get Ready for the Sinister Six

We get the introductions (well, re-introductions) of at least three villains in this trailer, and three is halfway to six, which can only mean that Sony has finally found a way to do that supervillain team-up Sinister Six movie they’ve been threatening us with for so long.

Electro

Is this lightning bolt blowing up police cars our first confirmation that Jamie Foxx’s Electro from the film we’d all rather forget, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, is indeed making his return here? There’s another shot that also makes me think this is more than just some multiversal storm.

Green Goblin

Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin is definitely about to make an appearance! That’s a pumpkin bomb, alright, and you can just barely hear his sinister cackle.

Doctor Octopus Returns

And, of course, the biggest applause moment in the trailer comes with the return of Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus, one of the great big screen supervillains of all time. Is his “hello, Peter” directed at Tom Holland’s Peter Parker? Or is possible that he’s addressing another Peter entirely…perhaps one played by Tobey Maguire?

In any case, this scene looks like it might happen right after that pumpkin bomb explosion, which would mean that Doctor Octopus and Green Goblin have already teamed up by this point. Who else might be joining them in battle? We’ll find out soon enough…

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Spider-Man: No Way Home opens on Dec. 17. The full schedule of upcoming MCU Phase 4 and 5 movies can be found here.

Want to point out a Spider-Man or MCU Easter egg we missed? Just want to freak out about how cool this looks? Let us know in the comments!

The post Spider-Man: No Way Home Trailer Breakdown and Analysis appeared first on Den of Geek.

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Popular movie franchises provide so much more than just a few hours of entertainment. They dominate their industry’s landscape, galvanizing fans and creating a powerful sense of community. If done well, they can become a cultural force, building from one film into a massive connected universe. Unfortunately, sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way - even when a studio has planned something big.

RELATED: The 5 Best (& 5 Worst) Action Movie Franchises, Ranked By Average Rotten Tomatoes Score

Sometimes a presumptive franchise is poorly handled or incorrectly timed and it just doesn’t connect with audiences. Sometimes studio interference ruins the good times for everyone. Whatever the reason, here are ten franchises that were never allowed to realize their full potential. All of them have the potential to return someday, in some capacity, but all of them would need a significant makeover first.

10 Conan

1982’s Conan the Barbarian was successful, nearly quadrupling its budget at the box office and establishing Arnold Schwarzenegger as an action hero. Unfortunately, the sequel (Conan the Destroyer) did poorly both critically and commercially.  While a third film was in development, super-producer Dino DeLaurentis attempted to create a spinoff, Red Sonja. Featuring Conan in a supporting role, it was a tentative step towards an innovative extended universe.

RELATED: Every '80s Arnold Schwarzenegger Movie (Ranked By Metacritic)

Unfortunately, Red Sonja’s studio wasn’t able to license the rights to Conan, so Schwarzenegger was forced to play the Conan-esque Lord Kalidor instead. That film performed even worse and got even poorer reviews, and by then Schwarzenegger’s contract was up and he abandoned the franchise. He’s spoken of returning since, but so far nothing has come of his claims.

9 The Amazing Spider-Man

The reasons for Sony’s Amazing Spider-Man franchise ending early are simple: the second film’s reception was horrible. Fans hated it, critics mocked it, it didn’t meet expectations at the box office… It was meant to spin off an entire Spider-Man universe, with Venom and Sinister Six movies on the horizon, but Sony put all of those plans on hold.

RELATED: 5 Things The Amazing Spider-Man Got Right (& 5 It Got Wrong)

Now, with the Venom franchise in full swing and a spinoff movie about Morbius in the can, it seems like Sony’s plans might finally come to fruition. But who is the Spider-Man in this universe? It’s probably no longer Amazing’s Andrew Garfield, and an appearance by Michael Keaton’s Vulture in the Morbius trailer implies that it might be Tom Holland. However, nothing has been confirmed, leaving this franchise in a fascinating limbo.

8 National Treasure

Starring Nicolas Cage as treasure hunter Benjamin Franklin Gates, the National Treasure films earned middling reviews but were quite successful at the box office. However, since the second film in 2007, there has been no further development of the franchise. A higher-up at Disney said that “the company was never able to capitalize on it as a franchise,” meaning that the films had little merchandising potential. Kids just weren’t clamoring to buy action figures of Benjamin Gates’ estranged father.

RELATED: 10 Reasons To Be Excited For National Treasure 3

Now, well over a decade later, a new film is supposedly in development. Whether or not it will actually come to be is anybody’s guess.

7 Chinatown

Any cinephiles will already be aware of Chinatown, one of the most acclaimed films of the '70s. However, even devoted fans might not realize that it was, in fact, part of a larger franchise. There was a sequel, released 16 years later and directed by series star Jack Nicholson himself. The Two Jakes followed Nicholson’s character Jake Gittes on a new case, one which saw him deal with the events of the earlier film and the death of Evelyn Mulwray.

RELATED: Jack Nicholson's 5 Most Lovable Characters (& 5 Most Hatable)

A third film, Gittes vs. Gittes, was planned but scrapped when The Two Jakes performed poorly and received mediocre reviews. It’s a solid film, but following up a classic so many years later was always going to be a tricky proposition.

6 The Chronicles of Narnia

This beloved fantasy series must have seemed like a slam dunk in the mid-2000s, like a hybrid of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. The first film, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe did perform to expectations. Unfortunately, the second film in the series, Prince Caspian, was more expensive to produce and made far less money. Disney, who had been co-producing the films, got spooked and stepped away, with 20th Century Fox eventually taking their place. The third film, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, only earned slightly less money than Prince Caspian, and the budget was significantly lower. However, the next film in the series, The Silver Chair, was never produced. A Netflix series was announced in 2018, but as of 2021, a release date has not been confirmed.

5 Hellboy

Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy series was profitable, critically acclaimed, and beloved by fans, so why wasn’t his trilogy completed? Director del Toro originally delayed the project because of his interest in The Hobbit, then the Pacific Rim franchise, though he always remained invested in Hellboy. However, Hellboy 3 was meant to be a grand finale, with a much higher budget. Despite the success of the previous films, no major studios were willing to take the gamble.

RELATED: Hellboy: 5 Ways The Reboot Is Not As Bad As People Say (& 5 Ways It Failed)

Finally, del Toro was able to work out a deal with Legendary Pictures: if his Pacific Rim sequel did well then Hellboy 3 might have a chance. Then del Toro left Pacific Rim: Uprising, voiding the deal and dooming Hellboy 3 for good. Instead, Lionsgate chose to reboot the franchise, which did not go well.

4 Divergent

Critics never responded to the Divergent series, calling it derivative of other Young Adult franchises like The Hunger Games. Audiences disagreed, flocking to the theater in droves. However, the third film, Allegiant, was a box office bomb, earning only $180 million worldwide on a $142 million budget. Compare that to the first film in the series, which earned double its budget in North America alone. As had been done with many YA properties at the time, Lionsgate Films made the decision to release the story’s final chapter in two volumes. However, because of the public’s lack of interest, the fourth film was canceled, with plans shifting to a TV movie on the Starz channel. By that point seemingly no one in the cast or crew was still passionate about the project, and the franchise was abandoned for good. This may be the most high-profile franchise ever to be abandoned largely out of boredom.

3 The Hulk (Edward Norton Edition)

Aside from an appearance by Thunderbolt Ross in Captain America: Civil War, the events of 2008’s The Incredible Hulk have been largely ignored by Marvel in the intervening years. Most notably, the original Hulk Edward Norton did not return for 2012’s The Avengers. Norton did take it upon himself to rewrite the entire script and argue with Marvel over the final edit. Regardless, The Incredible Hulk was the lowest-grossing Marvel movie, and its failure (coupled with the negative reception for Ang Lee’s Hulk five years earlier) convinced the company to stop making Hulk solo films for the foreseeable future.

2 The Dark Universe

Much like Marvel, Universal tried to build its own extended universe, one based around their classic monsters. It all began with 2017’s The Mummy, a film intended to establish the series’ continuity and introduce both its first hero (Tom Cruise’s Nick Morton) and the Nick Fury type who would bring the team together (Russell Crowe’s Dr. Jekyll). It was an expensive film, and though its worldwide box office was reasonably high domestic numbers were shockingly low. Reviews were poor and audience reaction was extremely mixed, so the entire Dark Universe concept was scrapped. Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, originally intended to be the Dark Universe version of The Creature from the Black Lagoon, went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture.

1 The Snyderverse

This is still an ongoing situation, but it seems that the Snyderverse has been shelved… again. Every fan knows the story by now: Zack Snyder was the guiding voice in the DC Cinematic Universe, but his films earned a very mixed fan reception. When he had to step away from Justice League for personal reasons DC brought in Joss Whedon who radically altered the film. Fans fought to see Zack’s original version, which didn’t really exist at the time. Eventually, DC gave in and allotted him the money to finish it. Fans loved it, but it didn’t bring as many new subscribers to HBO Max as expected. If it had, perhaps the Snyderverse could have gotten a second chance. As for now, things aren’t looking so good…

NEXT: 10 Movies That Deserve The Snyder Cut Treatment

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[liambaileyjournalism]

Moloch was present in the White Worm’s den when Han Solo was brought to Lady Proxima after his failed mission. Lady Proxima was angered by Han’s failure and ordered Rebolt to hit Han with a staff. Han got angered by this, grabbed the staff from Rebolt, and said that he will hit back. Moloch then pulled out a blaster and pointed it at Han. Frightened for Han, Qi’ra ran in front of Moloch and pleaded with him to not shoot Han. Han then grabbed a rock and broke a window with it, exploiting the Grindalid weakness of sunlight. This caused Proxima to burn it up and retreat into the water. Han then took Qi’ra, pushed through the scumrats, and ran outside the den. Moloch quickly covered his face with armor so he wouldn’t burn, and started to pursue Han and Qi’ra. As Han and Qi’ra were escaping in a land speeder, Moloch opened fire on them, but was not able to hit them or the speeder.

Moloch then took Rebolt, Syke, and a pack of Corellian hounds with him in his A-A4B landspeeder to pursue the White Worm deserters with. Moloch quickly caught up to Qi’ra and Han in his speeder, and started to knock their speeder with his much more sizable speeder. Moloch proceeded to chase the deserters through the streets of Coronet City. Han eventually took the chase into an industrial manufacturing plant. Han then slanted his speeder to try and fit through a small crevice so Moloch would not catch him. At the end of the crevice Han’s speeder became wedged in the crevice, so him and Qi’ra were forced to continue running on foot. Moloch’s speeder was way to big to go after them, so like Han and Qi’ra, him and his pary were forced to chase the deserters on foot.

Moloch tracked Han and Qi’ra down to the Coronet Spaceport, but was momentarily stopped by a stormtrooper. Moloch informed the Stormtrooper of the runaways, and the Stormtroopers began to look for Han and Qi’ra as well. Han and Qi’ra were able to get to the gate to leave Corellia, but as they were walking out, one of Moloch’s thugs grabbed Qi’ra, and brought her to Moloch. The gate then closed so they couldn’t get Han. Thus, allowing Han to escape Corellia.

How does working on Star Wars compare to all your work on other projects?

Playing Moloch in Solo: A Star Wars Story is definitely the highlight of my career, it is also the most difficult and challenging job I have ever done.

How did you get the role of Moloch in Solo: A Star Wars Story?

I was originally cast as the stunt double to Moloch, but when the creatives saw what I could do with the movement in the costume and animatronic head I was given the cast position. The screen test I did was quite entertaining to say the least. I was in a long narrow room with mirrors down one end with around 15 creatives and the heads of department. It was the first time I ever had on the full costume and animatronic head, to my surprise I had zero visibility, absolutely zero… I was asked to move with a serpent like motion down the room towards the mirrors. I asked that someone let me know when I get close to the end so I know when to stop. When the animatronics are turned on it’s like having your head stuck in a bee’s hive, lots of buzzing from the servo motors and bits and pieces moving very close to your face.

I started off down the room, really focusing on my breath and balance making the serpent like action, I found a nice rhythm and felt really confident, then it all came to a sudden halt. I actually walked straight in to the mirrors at the other end… There was a sudden hard stop and the animatronic mesh smashed me in the face, I had no idea I had hit the mirror and the impact opened up a small seam in the face which allowed me to see a figure standing in front of me, not realising it was my own reflection, I thought I had run into someone and started to apologies to them, or to myself as it were. Turns out that everyone just assumed I could see as I was moving with so much confidence they forgot to tell me when to stop!

When you were given the role of Moloch, were you given any info to accommodate this?

Yes, I sat down and had a long conversation with Neal Scanlan, head of creature effects, who gave me a lot of insight into how they came about to develop Moloch and how he fit into the Star Wars universe and the type of movement they thought he should have. I was also given the script to see how Moloch fits into the story to develop his relationship with Qi’Ra and Han.

What was it like on the set for Solo?

The sets on Solo where authentic, all the sets I worked on were built in their entirety, the attention to detail is phenomenal. Walking into the Cornelian space port, which was the first scene we shot with Moloch, was mind blowing, it was huge. It took up the entire 007 Studio at Pinewood and had all the creatures and robots roaming around live. The most incredible set was the refinery outpost on Savareen, where we see Han process the Coaxium after the Kessel Run. The outpost was built in a national park on Fuerteventura which was very hot and windy making it a very hostile environment to be filming in, especially considering how many creature characters we had there, the sunsets were epic, truly a stunning experience.

Can you describe your time filming Moloch’s scenes?

Intense! The creature team developed and customised a video goggle system so that I could see, after many tests I found the best place to mount the camera was on my chest, pointing at my feet, so I quickly started to recognise people by their lower halves… Mounted on the head and the video feed had trouble keeping up with the head movement, plus orientation was surprisingly difficult.

Nearly every scene Moloch is in involves stairs, and to top it off Lady Proximas’ Den was shot under UV light which the camera did not pick up, so all I saw was darkness, try navigating stairs, water, camera marks, positions and lots of running with dogs, mostly blind… As the head took 20mins to take off then put back on I would spend hours at a time in it with the video goggles on, eyes closed, while my team would be keeping me cool with fans etc.

How long did it take to get into costume?

As the Moloch costume is a full animatronic head rig and creature face it only took around 20 minutes to get into the costume, but that was after countless hours doing fittings to get it right. I had to have my head cast for a custom skull cap as well as a sculpted backpack system that would take the weight of the animatronic.

What are some of your fondest memories from being in Solo?

It is always the people, on every film I work on, it is the passionate people and the odd ball characters who make this such an incredible industry to work in. If I had to choose one memory, it would be when my mother and eldest daughter, 4 yrs, joined me for a week in Fuerteventura and came out to visit the Savareen set. Now she thinks that every time daddy goes to work that is where I am, magic!

Who are some of your favourite characters from the franchise and why?

On book day at school I was always dressed as Luke Skywalker and my brother as Darth Vader… Yoda is my all-time favourite though.

How did you get into stunt work, and can you describe what the job entails for anyway who is unsure?

I used to teach Capoeira while I was studying a media degree at university, I was approached by some post graduates who had funding to shoot a feature film which had a lot of fighting in it. During work on this film I met a professional stuntman who gave me advise on how to pursue stunt work and where to begin training. So I finished my degree then moved cities and started training for stunts.

My best advice to anyone wanting to get into stunts is to do as much research as possible, talk to as many stunt professionals as you can and never say you can do something when you can’t! There are many different ways to do a single stunt so it is important to be able adapt to a situation and not consider all this right or wrong. I often get hired because of my skill set but then asked to do something completely different! My approach is that unless I can levitate I will never impress anyone with my physicality in this industry. There is always someone stronger, better or younger waiting for their turn. I can only ever do my absolute best with what I know and the more experience you get the more you know.

How did you get involved with Marvel?

My first big budget feature film was 2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine where I was hired as a stunt performer, then again I was hired for The Wolverine in 2013 for my parkour speciality as a ninja in the snow village scene where Logan is captured.

Years later I had actually just finished shooting on the DC Film Wonder Woman in the UK when I received a call to double for Loki on Thor Ragnarok in Australia. Subsequently it was during filming of Ragnarok that I was called to come in for a screen test for Solo: A Star Wars Story. So the last few years have been amazing!

What was it like being Tom Hiddleston’s stunt double in Thor: Ragnarok, and can you describe the scenes you filmed?

Working with Tom is great! He has a great physicality and is a master of his craft. Tom would always push to do his action and fight scenes himself, which means we got to do a lot of training sessions together.

One of the more dangerous scenes was shot in an alley way in Brisbane, Australia, dressed up to look like New York city. In the scene Hela kills Odin then smashes Thors’ hammer and blasts Thor and Loki through the air smashing into dumpsters. There is a brief top shot of the scene in the Trailer for Ragnarok but the scene was replaced in the theatrical release.

The Thor Stunt double and I were both on wires being pulled by air rams that threw us backwards about 15 meters into a pair of prop dumpsters. We dialled in the rams during our rehearsals, I was ‘comfortably’ hitting the dumpster consistently then landing on the concrete floor on my side. During the take, in full costume which adds weight and some restriction, I hit the dumpster upside down which meant I also hit the concrete upside down on my head! The shot looked amazing but unfortunately will never see the light of day…

You were also a stunt double in two of the Wolverine films, who were you the double for, and what was that experience like?

I was a regular stunt performer for the first and played one of the snow ninja’s in the second film due to my parkour skill set, used for running and jumping along and off the sloped roof tops. I was 1 of 3 Caucasians hired in a 20 strong Asian stunt team. Superhero films can be a lot of fun as you get to be super creative with the movements and ideas, often breaking the convention of ‘regular’ action. Working with the stunt team 87eleven is great, they are so talented and creative.

  "Playing Moloch in Solo: A Star Wars Story is definitely the highlight of my career, it is also the most difficult and challenging job I have ever done." Moloch was present in the White Worm's den when Han Solo was brought to Lady Proxima after his failed mission.

#actor #book #comic #comics #disney #empire #featured #film #geek #interview #sci-fi #solo #star wars #stunts #thor #wolverine #wonderwoman

[homeplanetreviews]

Thor: Ragnarok (2017) Review by: Will Whalen

Thor: Ragnarok is finally here! The last Thor movie we had came out 4 years ago but we’ve had many films in the MCU since then to take us to where this story needed to be. I’ve been really looking forward to this all year ever since the fun and hilarious trailer that dropped and I was very interested in seeing what Taika Waititi would bring to this film. Thor: Ragnarok opens with Thor finding himself imprisoned, and he must fight for survival and race against the clock to get free and stop the new villain on the rise, Hela, from destroying Asgard. I loved Taika Waititi’s last two films, which are the only ones I have seen from him, but was skeptical when I heard he was directing Ragnarok. We’ve seen small indie directors make these big budget films before and some haven’t worked out so well. I must say though, how wrong I was to doubt Waititi here because he did a fantastic job. Not only did he craft some glorious shots and use a ton of colors that made each frame pop, but he incorporated a lot of the humor that most of his films have and I was laughing almost the entire time. He crafted some of the most awesome and exciting scenes that the MCU has to offer. Waititi has also made one of the better and funnier MCU films, with Ragnarok. Which, I never thought I would say about a Thor film, even though I liked the last two a good bit.. I would love to see Waititi return to the MCU because Thor: Ragnarok was an all out blast and you could tell he really cared about this film. It felt really genuine and it was something that I feel that I’ve never seen before, which is really saying something about a Marvel film. Let’s talk about the man himself and the rest of the amazing cast and characters that this film is filled with. Thor, Hulk and a few other characters are what make Ragnarok so damn great. A lot of dialogue from this film was apparently improvised and it definitely benefits from that. The banter and witty humor not only gives us one of Marvel’s best films yet, but one of the funniest and smartest ones too. Chris Hemsworth is the God of thunder and kills it in Ragnarok. That’s not just because he embodies this character so well, but also because he’s just hilarious. Honestly though, he wouldn’t be near as good if he didn’t have Tom Hiddleston and Mark Ruffalo alongside him as Loki and Hulk. The scenes between the two brothers, Thor and Loki, are constantly a blast to watch and their back and forth banter is so entertaining. We also find out where Hulk disappeared to and what they do with this character, I thought, was really smart. Plus, the alliance that forms with Thor and Hulk is just genius. However, one of the characters that absolutely stole the show here was Jeff Goldblum as the Grandmaster. If you’re a fan of Jeff Goldblum and his personality, then you’ll love this because this is one of the most Jeff Goldblum performances ever and I loved every second of it. Every one of his lines brings the laughs, but that goes for just about every character as well. As far as problems go, I actually had very few. However, the ones that I do have are ones that are classic Marvel film flaws. Such as an overuse of CGI and of course, the villain is just a bit weak. That being said, Cate Blanchett is awesome as Hela. She, as always, brought her all to the role and was immensely entertaining to watch. It’s to be expected when seeing a Marvel film that the villain isn’t very fleshed out and I’ve learned to be okay with that for the most part, and it was never really a flaw in Ragnarok. Nonetheless, I had an absolute blast with Thor: Ragnarok. Believe it or not, this is one of the best MCU films and a new favorite of mine. It was also as near perfect as a Marvel film could be for me. Waititi has made one of the funniest and visually stunning films of the year. Hemsworth gives his best performance as Thor yet and this was an all around awesome and wonderful time at the theater and I’m sure you’ll love it. I’m going to give Thor: Ragnarok… 4.5 out of 5 stars.

#thor ragnarok #thor #thor review #thorragnorakreview #chris hemsworth #taika waititi #tom hiddleston #cate blanchett #karl urban #mark ruffalo #marvel #jeff goldblum #tessa thompson #movie review #filmreview #homeplanetreviews

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior’s Top 25 of 2019

This was such a good year for movies. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. The amount of good or great movies and the amount of variety among the better movies made it hard to know where to cut off my annual top 25 and to which movies to give “Honorable Mentions” instead. As has always been the case, I make an effort to see the better movies two or sometimes even three times before deciding where they place, and that was the case with most of the movies below.

There have been quite a few years where I haven’t rewarded a single movie a 10 out of 10, and this year, there are FOUR! Even so, 2019 will forever be known as the year I started to appreciate and even love the music of Elton John and George Michael, although only one of those movies made my list.  Just a reminder that this is a list of my favorite movies of the year and it’s based solely on my own opinion. If you don’t like one of the movies on my list that’s fine – it’s your prerogative – but if there’s something you may have missed and you check it out based on inclusion here and you like it, then please let me know!

Also, if you just want to peruse everything that I wrote this year, you can find all of it at my Weekend Warrior Blog.

25. Wild Rose (NEON)

I’d be remiss if I ignored this wonderful film directed by Tom Harper that premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2018 but finally was released this year. It stars Jessie Buckley as a Glaswegian country singer, a single mother freshly released from prison who just can’t get her act together, even though she is a terrific singer with a real passion for country music.  Buckley is such a revelation in the role, and I just loved the songs written for the movie, and I’m not even remotely a fan of country music. (So I guess that’s a third type of music I began to appreciate this year.)

24. Fighting with my Family (U.A. Releasing)

Another terrific and nearly forgotten film this year was this wrestling biopic about WWE superstar Paige, as played by Florence Pugh (she’s gotta be this year’s actor of the year, right?). Written and directed by Stephen Merchant and co-produced by Dwayne Johnson, Paige’s story really is pretty fantastic, as you follow her trying to make her way in the WWE where she’s nothing like the other women wrestlers. The movie was warm and funny and not at all what you’d expect from a WWE Films movie, but it’s definitely the studio’s finest work to date.

MY REVIEW

23. Plus One (RLJE Films)

One of the nicer surprises out of Tribeca this year was this twist on the rom-com by filmmakers Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer, starring Jack Quaid and Maya Erskine as two best friends who decide to attend all their weddings together to act as wingmen to help each other hook up. It’s a plan that works out well at first but starts to falter once they realize they might have feelings for each other. It’s classic rom-com territory but the movie is hilarious (Erskine is an absolute gem!) and you’re on board even when it goes to somewhat predicable places. (Some of the wedding speeches given by Jon Bass, Beck Bennett are particularly funny.) This is a movie that I’m bummed I haven’t had a chance to see a second or third time, as I’m sure it might be higher up on my year end list if I had.

22. Spider-Man: Far from Home (Sony)

You can’t argue when the fans are right but when Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios came on board to produce Spider-Man: Homecoming, it actually was pretty good and you had to have confidence they could make a sequel just as good or better. There was a lot to love about this one including the decision to take Spider-Man out of New York, which makes sense when you realize all the space-faring he’d been doing in Infinity War and Endgame. Then there was Jake Gyllenhaal as “Mysterio,” a fun and twisty take on the classic Spider-Man villain that also allowed director Jon Watts to play with some of the ideas introduced in Avengers: Endgame, while also giving Samuel Jackson’s Nick Fury more to do than he has in many movies. I can’t wait to see what Tom Holland’s Spider-Man gets up to next!

MY REVIEW

21. One Cut of the Dead (Shudder)

The Japanese META zombie movie that’s been winding its way through the genre festival circuit for most of the past year, it’s an amazing bit of mind-fuckery where you think it’s merely about a zombie attack on a low budget movie but as we learn after the first 30 minutes, there’s a lot more going on than what seems… and that’s about all I can say, because it’s the kind of movie that’s more amazing when you go in not knowing what’s happening. And yet, you probably should know that there’s a lot more going on since the first 30 minutes on their own aren’t very good.

20. The Irishman (Netflix)

Don’t get me wrong. I really liked and appreciated Martin Scorsese’s reunion with De Niro and Pesci, as well as their pairing with Al Pacino to tell the story of the man responsible for the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, but just not as much as other movies. Granted, Scorsese continues to be one of the best filmmakers working today but it did feel like he and De Niro were returning to familiar and popular territory to try to claim back their cinematic throne. I guess it worked, because The Irishman is a great film, and heck, I’d watch it a thousand more times on Netflix if I didn’t have other things to watch.

MY REVIEW

19. Little Women (Sony)

I just wrote about Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Louisa May Alcott last week, and I’m probably more surprised by most about how how much I loved this movie, maybe even more than Lady Bird. Those performances by Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh and Timothée Chalamet just makes this film so wonderful at times and heartbreaking at others. It’s always been a great story but Gerwig found an original way into it that made it a wonderful follow-up to Lady Bird.

18. Sword of Trust (IFC Films)

I’ve been a Lynn Shelton stan for a number of years now, mostly from Your Sister’s Sister, but I generally like much of her work, whether it’s all improvised like that one and Humpday, or scripted like her pairing with Jay Duplass for Outside In. This one was really special, as it paired her with her Glow star Marc Maron and a trio of really great actors to bounce off of, including Jillian Bell and Michaela Watkins (from the almost equally great Brittany Runs a Marathon), as well as Jon Bass. The interaction and improvisation between these four actors as they deal with a sword from the Civil War with a controversial past makes this one of Shelton’s more entertaining movies, deserving of its placement in my year-end list.

Thoughts from My Column

17. Good Boys (Universal)

You’ll notice that I have quite a few comedies on my Top 25 this year, and that shouldn’t be a surprise for anyone who has read my reviews over the years. I love comedies and I love to laugh, and this high concept comedy about three 6thgraders, one of them played by Jacob Tremblay, just cracked me up so much. No surprise that it’s from the mega-comedy-kings Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who produced this movie from the team of Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, who are best known for “The Office” and a number of not-so-great comedy hits like Bad Teacher. Like Booksmart (see below), this one involved a fairly simple all-in-day quest by the three main characters but it led to some absolutely hilarious situations. Totally reminded me of myself when I was their age. Can’t wait to see what Brady Noon and Keith L. Williams get up to next as they’re amazing.

16. Late Night (Amazon)

While Mindy Kaling’s feature film might have come out of the whole SJW virtue signaling movements that surfaced post-Trump, her movie loosely, based on her own experiences working on the staff at a late night show, was a beautifully insightful look into the business. It starred Emma Thompson as veteran late night host Katherine Newbury, who is forced into diversifying her writing crew by hiring the less-than-experienced Molly (Kaling’s character). Over the next few months, Molly tries to make her way through the ins and outs of writing for late night, dealing with sexism and even some racism, even from Newbury.  Unlike the recent Bombshell, this is a comedy and both Kaling and Thompson were both terrific, to the point that it was a bummer that Amazon decided not to give this any sort of awards push by sending out screeners with some of their other movies.

MY REVIEW

15. Peterloo (Amazon)

While I’ve been a fan of filmmaker Mike Leigh almost as long as I’ve been writing about movies, I always seem to be in the minority when I’m not as into some of the movies my fellow critics love (like Mr. Turner), but this amazing movie about the political climate of England in the 16thCentury and the violence spurred on by a peaceful protest is an amazing bit of writing/directing by the British master. This is another movie that I wish got a lot more attention because the writing and cast were so good, and it just seemed to come and go without much fanfare. A real shame.

MY REVIEW

14. Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood (Sony)

I probably won’t have too much to add about Tarantino’s movie beyond my earlier review, but this is a movie that I liked quite a bit the first time and even more the second time I saw it.  It’s just a fun portrait of Hollywood in 1969 through the eyes of a filmmaker who was six years old at the time. The performances by Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie drove this film about what it was like trying to make a living as an actor in the climate of the late ‘60s with peace and love… and brutal murder in the form of the Manson Family. And yet, Tarantino found a way to give the Sharon Tate story a happy ending. Go figure.

MY REVIEW

13. Pain and Glory (Sony Pictures Classics)

Pedro Amodovar has been a bit hit or miss in recent years, so seeing him reunite with his regulars Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz to write his best (and possibly most personal?) screenplay to date made Pain and Gloryone of the year’s nice surprises. Despite doing a lot of questionable movies in recent years, Banderas once again proved his worth as an actor, giving a performance as a has-been director that hopefully will get him his very first Oscar nomination.

12. First Love (Go West USA)

Another filmmaker whose work I’ve loved but who has also made some real dogs is Japan’s Takashi Miike. His latest take on the crime genre ended up being one of his best movies in twenty years. It may even be better than Audition, which celebrated its 20thanniversary this year. It’s a simple story of a young Japanese boxer who encounters a young woman who has been sold into sex slavery, but in helping her to escape, they get caught up in a gang war that includes some of the craziest characters to ever appear in a Miike movie. But as the title says, this is a love story more than anything, and that helped Miike prove that he has not gone soft, but still knows what it means to be human.

11. The Two Popes (Netflix)

I just wrote about this dramatic two-hander, written by Anthony McCarten and directed by Fernando Meirelles (City of God), last week, after putting it off for far too long. (It’s hard to get inspired to write reviews of movies when you’re not being paid to do so, let me tell you.) It’s an amazing film about the relationship between Popes Benedict and Francis, as played by Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce. While you wonder how McCarten researched a movie between two very private public figures, neither of whom have written about this meeting, this is another great film from Netflix this year that’s proving that the studio is not going away and it’s going to produce quality films as great as the big boys.

10. Avengers: Endgame (Marvel Studios)

It shouldn’t be too big a surprise that a Marvel movie has made my top 10, as there have been others, like last year’s Ant Man and the Wasp, Iron Man, Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy. Oddly, only one of the three Russo Brothers movies made my list – Captain America: The Winter Soldier – but with Avengers: Endgame, they managed to create a culmination of everything that’s come before but also made a Marvel movie that is the most like the Avengers comics I love, even to the point of having various members going off on their own missions. I’ve seen this movie three or four times now, and I still love some of the big moments like Captain America stating, “Avengers Assemble!” (finally) and this more than made up for Infinity War, which was good but not great.

9. Waves (A24)

A rather late addition to my year’s best is the new movie from Trey Edward Schutts, which delivered another amazing performance by Kelvin Harrison, Jr, who was also fantastic as the little-seen drama, Luce. The energy Schutts gives the movie with the use of music is fantastic, but it’s just an interesting character portrait that halfway through, throws you for a major loop before switching gears to follow the characters played by Lucas Hedges and the equally talented Taylor Russell. And then on top of that, you have Sterling K. Brown giving a moving performance as Harrison and Russell’s characters, who just doesn’t know how to deal with what’s going on with his family. There have been some great teen coming-of-age dramas over the years but Waves is one for the ages.

8. Book Smart (UA Releasing)

Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut has been compared both favorably (and sometimes unfavorably) to a female Superbad, but I think a better comparison would be a modern-day Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Like Good Boys, it was a single night movie where two best friends (Beanie Feldstein, Kaitly Dever) decide to spend their last night in high school rebelling against their overly studios nature by going out to a party and have fun. What happens to them and the crazy characters they interact with makes this one of the funniest movies of the year. What was really amazing, besides the entire cast, was that I could watch this movie and see stuff that would have happened in my own high school days (which was more in the Ridgemont High days), and to see that high school just doesn’t change despite the technology and all the different standards and morals that come along.  Wilde is one filmmaker who I can’t wait to see what she does next and same for her entire cast. I’ve been saying since seeing this that I’d love to see Wilde do another movie with the exact same cast, all of them playing different characters, as I think we’ll see that these actors can do anything.

7. Yesterday (Universal)

Here’s a surprise for you all, but again, if you realize how many Danny Boyle movies have been in my top 10 over the years, you’ll know what a big fan I am of the Oscar-winning filmmaker. Teaming him with Richard Curtis for a high concept comedy where the world has forgotten the Beatles’ music and a young busker named Jack (Himesh Patel) who remembers them starts to make a career for himself by claiming the music as his own. I loved the lead, but it was especially his friendship/romance with Lily James’ Ellie Appleton that made me love this movie enough to put it in my top 10.

6. Marriage Story (Netflix)

While I really appreciated Noah Baumbach’s latest movie quite a bit when I first saw it at the New York Film Festival back in September, it was my rewatch on Netflix more recently that really made me appreciate what Baumbach has accomplished after nearly twenty years making movies. Granted, the movie might be seen as a bit of a downer, but you know what? Sometimes, I have to even out all the laughs and humor with something more serious.  Having a friend who went through a (far less litigious) divorce with a small child, I couldn’t help but thinking how much worse it could have been. As much as this was about Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson’s characters and the change in their relationship, it was a good lesson in how ugly things can get when lawyers get involved with Baumbach having a powerful trio in Laura Dern, Ray Liotta and the wonderful Alan Alda in those roles. This created a beautiful bookend to Baumbach’s earlier film The Squid and The Whale, based on his parents’ divorce, but this didn’t seem autobiographical as much as it showed the work of a mature filmmaker who has created his most personal and best work.

5. Knives Out (Lionsgate)

Speaking of dysfunctional family relationships, Rian Johnson’s look at the death of a wealthy mystery author’s (played by Christopher Plummer) and how his greedy family might be responsible, as investigated by Daniel Craig’s “gentleman detective” Benoit Blanc and the author’s maid, played by Ana de Armas. Besides putting a clever a spin on the ensemble whodunnit typified by the work of Agatha Christie and others, the movie was insanely funny thanks to the cast assembled by Johnson, which was literally an all-star team doing some of their funniest work. Really, there wasn’t a weak link in delivering Johnson’s best screenplay to date, and I look forward to seeing if we’ll get another movie in this realm. As with most of the movies in my Top 10, this is a movie I could see repeatedly and get more out of each time.

MY REVIEW

4. Rocketman  (Paramount)

And here it is, the Elton John movie that made me a fan of Elton John’s music after nearly 40 years of mostly shunning it. What director Dexter Fletcher and star Taron Egerton did in telling John’s story though his music, essentially creating an original jukebox musical on screen was the perfect way to frame the music and story. A lot of people compared this to last year’s Bohemian Rhapsody– which I also liked, mind you – but however much work Fletcher did to finish that movie after Bryan Singer’s firing, this was clearly something he had a clear vision of from beginning to end. This is one of the few movies I’ve seen this year three times, and I’ve been going down the Elton John rabbit hole of music ever since.

MY REVIEW

3. Ford v Ferrari (20thCentury Fox)

When I reviewed James Mangold’s Le Mans racing movie, starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon, back in October, I gave it a 9.5/10, and then I saw it again in IMAX and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why I took off half a point. The movie is just about perfect.  This is such a great story and the way the action is framed by the relationship between the former’s Ken Miles and the latter’s Carol Shellby with all the other players in the mix just made the movie one that was extremely watchable. And boy, those racing scenes! I haven’t seen action that exciting in years and that includes some of the best recent action movies, including Baby Driver and some of the “Fast and Furious” movies.

MY REVIEW

2. 1917 (Universal)

This was almost my #1 because it’s such a masterful achievement in all aspects of filmmaking that it also earned a rare 10 out of 10. Granted, I’ve been a Sam Mendes fan for many, many years, and he probably has had a few movies in my top 25 over the years, most notably with his second film, The Road to Perdition, which was actually my #1 movie that year. I’ve generally followed Mendes’ career with interest with only one or two movies just not working for me, but with just eight movies in 20 years, it’s amazing that it took that long for Mendes to be back in the Oscar conversation after winning for American Beauty. Frankly, I think this is unequivocally one of the best movies of the year between the screenplay, co-written with Kristy Wilson-Cairns, and the performances by George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman, making it a movie that’s a wonder to marvel at how they achieved such a powerful cinematic experience to behold.

MY REVIEW

1b. The Biggest Little Farm  (NEON)

As with every year, I like to pick one documentary as my favorite and best of the year, but instead of deciding where it fares among the narrative features, I just make it a tie for #1. My favorite doc of the year was John Chester’s movie about show he and his wife Molly decided to move out to a farm and try to get it work fiscally despite tons of issues, some they could control, others they couldn’t. While I also liked Apollo 11, and I’m sure that will win the Oscar, the way Chester told this story was done in such a wonderful way that it was far more enjoyable and entertaining than most docs. (And as you know, I do LOVE docs!)

1a. The Farewell (A24)

This should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed me on Twitter, where Lulu Wang’s China-set dramedy has been my profile picture almost since I first saw it in June – I’ve seen it three more times since then, each then having the same emotional reaction. Based on a story from Wang’s own life, it stars Awkwafina as Billi a poor starving New York artist who travels to China when she learns her Nana (the terrific Chinese veteran actor Shuzhen Zhao) was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Her family has decided not to tell Nana that she may be dying, but they all return to Mainland China under the guise of a wedding for Billi’s cousin, but she knows the truth and has to skirt around while trying to spend possibly her last time with her beloved Nana. The movie was emotional but also quite amusing and entertaining, really showing what life in China is like in a way that was far more personal and human than last year’s Crazy Rich Asians i.e. that was more fantasy than this movie’s reality.

Some More Thoughts

Honorable Mentions: Motherless Brooklyn, Les Miserables, Honey Boy, Long Shot, Toy Story 4, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (As I said above, it was tough to leave a couple of these out of my top 25.)

Top 12 Docs

Not going to write too much about all of these but this was a pretty fantastic year for docs, and if you have a chance to watch any of the below, I would jump on it, especially since some of them barely got a theatrical release.

1. The Biggest Little Farm

2. Apollo 11

3. The Cave

4. WRESTLE

5. Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice

6. Marianne and Leonard: Words of Love

7. Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am

8. 63 Up

9. Agnès on Varda

10. One Child Nation

11. Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy

12. Love, Antosha

I used to do a TERRIBLE 25 as a separate thing, but this year, I’m just going to list six movies, although a few of these I saw so long ago, I barely remember why they sucked so bad.

In fact, Jeffrey Nachmanoff’s REPLICAS was one of the first movies released in 2019 picked up by Entertainment Studios from TIFF the year before. It’s funny how much love Keanu Reeves got this year for John Wick: Chapter Three and other stuff, but everyone seemed to completely forget that he started the year with this stupid high concept sci-fi thriller about a man obsessed with bringing his family back from the dead.

Also, not many people saw Joe Chappelle’s AN ACCEPTABLE LOSS, which opened just a week after Replicas, but it was a political thriller starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Tika Sumpter that was so poorly written and so boring that I felt bad for Sumpter, who was giving her all.

I probably have said as much as much about Tom Hooper’s CATS as I plan to – you can read my review over at The Beat– but it’s also the most recent of this year’s bad movies, so it’s the freshest on my mind on how awful it was. I’m not going to pile on any further.

It’s been a while since I saw Tim Story’s SHAFT sequel/reboot, and as excited I was to see Samuel L. Jackson and Richard Roundtree back in the role, it’s Jessie T. Usher’s presence as John Shaft, Jr, meant to be the main running gag of the action-comedy that made it one of the worst movies of the year.

Another remake that really didn’t need to happen was this Neil Marshall remake of HELLBOY, and sure, maybe I was a bit biased, having loved Guillermo del Toro’s movies, particularly Hellboy: The Golden Army, but this just wasn’t a good movie as hard as it seemed to try. (You can read my review of that here.)

And yet, that wasn’t even the worst movie of the year. No, that would be Rob Zombie’s 3 FROM HELL, a movie so abhorrible that I couldn’t believe what I was watching. I called it the “worst movie of the year” back in September, and that sentiment didn’t change.

Before we wrap things up, here are some of my favorite records of the year. You may have heard of a few of them. Maybe not others? Most of them should be on Spotify.

1. Smiley’s Friends - In the Sixth Sense

2. Kevin So - S.O.U.L.

3. Pixies - Beyond the Eire

4. The Alarm - Sigma

5. Silversun Pickups - Widow’s Weeds

Best concert of the year? Easy one. Dave Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets with my buddy Jonathan Baylis when former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters shows up to perform one of the classic Pink Floyd songs! Possibly one of the best concert moments of the last couple decades!

That’s it for 2019... onto 2020!

#WeekendWarrior Top25Of2019 Movies Reviews

[briangroth27]

Spider-man Films Wish List

Since Sony partnered with Marvel Studios to share Spider-man, they have a unique opportunity to have their cake and eat it too. Spider-man has a whole multiverse of alternate Spider-men and villains they could flesh out to explore all corners of Spider-man’s web, while Peter Parker continues to make full use of the benefits of existing in the MCU. Spider-man is tied with the X-men as my favorite superhero, so there’s a lot I’d love to see in these movies!

Full spoilers (for movies, comics, cartoons, etc.)…

Peter Parker I loved Homecoming, but I do think Uncle Ben should’ve been mentioned (though I never need to see him die again). Not only would invoking his death have given weight to May’s concern for Peter and Peter’s drive to be a superhero, but if Ben were a fan of Captain America and viewed being an Avenger as an honorable thing, Peter’s obsession with joining them would’ve been about more than just trying to grow up too fast. It’d be about living up to what he thought Ben believed a hero was. A glimpse or mention of how selfish Peter was before Ben died would be nice too; they could connect his personal growth to his gravitation toward Stark (in addition to their shared scientific interest), seeing a similar moral evolution in Iron Man.

As fun as suit AI Karen was, I wish Peter had given Tony both suits back to make a true break from Stark’s toys and guidance so he could start finding his path as his own man. Maybe we’ll get a more self-reliant Peter after Infinity War. We know another MCU hero is guest-starring in Homecoming 2, but I hope it’s not another mentor figure. A major draw of classic Spider-man is his self-sufficient nature—he was a kid who wasn’t a sidekick—so I’d love to see that onscreen; we did get that in the earlier Spider-man movies, but now that he’s in the MCU they could play up that distinction in relation to the rest of the Avengers. A kid who’s just as competent as the adult heroes would make for an inspiring hero. I want Peter to be the one developing web attacks and genius solutions to problems rather than having them handed to him. Spider-like tactics like Andrew Garfield’s Spidey feeling for vibrations on his webs in the sewers in Amazing Spider-man would be great too! They should definitely look into stylizing Peter’s crime-fighting techniques and attack style so he stands out from the Avengers crowd. As much as I want Peter to forge his own way with his suits, I hope he keeps the emotive lenses he invented; they’re a great rendition of the comics' tactic of giving him expressions while masked and, with some refinement, they'd serve that purpose on film too instead of having him lose his mask in every climactic battle.

I was very pleased we finally got Peter inventing both his web-shooters and his web fluid in Homecoming and I hope that expands to practical uses of science as he takes on other supervillains. Too often Rami's movies portrayed him as a nerd just to emphasize his outsider status, but he should be using his brains to beat the bad guys just as much as he uses his fists. The animated Spectacular Spider-man had a very good balance of Peter as an outcast nerd and Spidey using science to stop evil that the MCU films would be smart to imitate. I’ve heard we’re getting Spider-Sense in Infinity War, so I’m excited to see that employed on a regular basis and to explore how it alters his perception of the world around him. Digging into how Peter’s powers affect his life and shape his outlook (beyond his responsibility to be Spider-man) would be fascinating!

Perhaps most importantly, I hope the MCU Spidey films continue to focus just as much on Peter's personal life as on his superheroics. Homecoming nearly perfectly used Peter's heroics and villain problems as metaphors for everyday life. No other MCU hero except Ant-Man has had much focus given to a down-to-Earth, relatable daily life outside their super suits (even Tony Stark seems to live in a fairly isolated world with occasional lavish public appearances), so Homecoming was a breath of fresh air in that regard. It’s also perfect for Spider-man: while being Spidey lets Peter's confidence shine in ways it can't as Parker, it also wreaks havoc on his social life. That push and pull is classic (and brilliant) and I want to see it develop as this series continues, though I hope they don't go overboard like Spider-man 2 did by making Peter's responsibility as Spidey a huge, depressing weight that crushes the fun out of everything. They should always remember that being Spidey may cause problems, but being him is fun for Peter too. While on the topic, his rapid-fire quips and jokes are necessities! I also don't think they should be afraid to make Peter a bad boyfriend for anyone who doesn't know he has responsibilities as Spidey…or even just because he has no experience in that area. It’d be realistic for Peter to have to learn how to be an equal, supportive partner in any relationship he gets in and they could set a good example for everyday relationships if he learned to fix mistakes that didn’t come from his heroic calling interrupting his dates. My biggest issue with Homecoming’s take on Peter’s social life was that Liz was essentially an idealized potential girlfriend from what we saw of Peter’s interest in her. While it’s good they didn’t play her as his “true love” because of this, they could’ve gone the extra step and made him face the reality of who she was instead of who he’d pictured from afar (though I assume they know each other at least somewhat from the debate team). They also could’ve had her shoot him down when he asked her to the dance (after ditching and disappointing her the whole movie, why wouldn’t she?)...and had him come away OK with not getting the girl both because she may’ve not been interested and because he screwed up. To the writers’ credit, they don’t end up together in the end and it seems they’re both OK with the relationship not happening. Peter getting the date didn’t ruin the film at all for me, but they could play with something like this in a future relationship.

As far as Peter's arc goes, I don't want to see Peter in high school forever. I think Tom Holland will age faster than anyone's really expecting given how long it will be between movie releases, and that's fine with me. I hope we get to see Peter finally grow up and find balance in his life. He can move forward as a young adult without having everything together, which would be just as relatable as being a kid with problems (and they can have Miles Morales take over the kid role, bringing a whole other level of social relevance to the story). In addition to the classic photographer gig at the Daily Bugle, I hope we get to see Peter at least intern (if not become a full-fledged employee) at Horizon Labs to work on cutting edge science. If the movies go long enough, Parker Industries wouldn't be out of the question for me. Maybe it shouldn’t be as global as it is in the comics, but it would certainly work as the low-budget, people-focused Stark Industries it started out as. Fun elements like the Spider-mobile could be introduced too, either through Horizon (when Peter claims to be designing tech for Spider-man), or as the licensing opportunity it was in the original comics!

Miles Morales/Ultimate Spider-man While Miles is getting a theatrically-released animated movie, he’s a hero I’d love to see in the MCU as well. Originally, instead of having Miles take up the mantle after Peter dies, I thought they should cast them as contemporaries and play it as a buddy cop comedy. It’d also work if they played Miles as a more withdrawn, insecure Spider-man once Tom Holland’s Peter has grown up a bit and started working for (or at least interning at) Horizon Labs. They could roll Peter’s successes into Miles’ arc as he tries to find his place and live up to the "amazing” Spider-man. I absolutely don’t want them to kill Peter like in the Ultimate Comics. Morales being Peter’s mentee like Peter was Tony’s isn’t a bad idea—they could team up for the first time in Homecoming 3—and I think it’d be awesome if Miles got a show on Netflix or Freeform while Peter is in the movies. 

Not only can Miles fill the “everyteen Spider-man” role as Peter grows up, but his half-African American/half-Puerto Rican heritage would make his outlook and experience totally different. He was initially nauseated at the idea of superheroics in the comics, but later felt he had a responsibility to use his powers and learned to enjoy them; that’s a very clear and cool foil to Peter’s instant excitement over his superhero status, and a Miles who doesn’t want to be an Avenger would be an entirely different storyline, particularly with the Sokovia Accords in play. Miles could also start with no one knowing his identity, since we’ve mostly skipped those classic moments with Peter. While Miles shares Peter’s wall-crawling, spider-sense, agility, and super-strength, he also has a venom blast that can be deployed by touch and the ability to become invisible through a camouflage power, which would help set him further apart from Peter’s Spider-man.

Miles has an entire supporting cast unto himself that could be mined for drama. His father Jefferson was a one-time agent of SHIELD, and maybe they could say he worked with the Parkers and/or against Chameleon. His mother Rio was in favor of Spider-man and vigilantes, contrasting with Jefferson and possibly Aunt May. I don’t know why they grafted Ganke Lee’s personality onto Ned Leeds for Homecoming, so I’m interested to see what Miles’ best friend will be like if he appears onscreen. Katie Bishop was Miles’ girlfriend at one point—until her parents were revealed as Hydra operatives (she was a sympathizer)—which could be a relevant story nowadays. Lana Baumgartner was trained by her criminal mother Lori so the two of them could team up as the Bombshells, villains with explosive powers, but Lana reformed; her villainous parent could be a solid parallel to Miles and Aaron Davis. If Fox was willing to share him, Fabio Medina could be a friend of Miles’ who’s also a popular and public superhero (they’d have to make him an Inhuman instead of a mutant here), contrasting with Morales’ secret identity. If Miles got a Freeform series, he could team up with Cloak & Dagger. On Netflix, he could look up to Luke Cage. They could keep the budget to TV standards by having Miles bounce around fights on a mostly ground level instead of swinging between skyscrapers (except for travel and special fights!); they could invent an entirely Miles-specific style of attack for him. Staying close to the ground would not only avoid the probable budget issues of web-slinging, but they could use it to play up his initial wariness about even being a superhero even after he’s put on the suit.

Venom Tom Hardy is playing Eddie Brock in the Sony corner of the MCU—it’s still a bit unclear whether Tom Holland will get to appear in these films or if they exist in their own Spider-verse—and I’m thinking this is going to lead to Brock becoming the Lethal Protector of the 90s and potentially the central anti-hero of the Sony Spider-films. I like Eddie and I’m eager to see him onscreen in his own movie (this short was a cool, unconnected and unofficial look at what a Venom movie could be), but I hope they don’t leave out his history with Spider-man and just have the symbiote go directly to Brock, even if Tom Holland can’t appear. They could mention his past with “the Bug” in passing or detail it in a prologue, but Spider-man should be a fixture of Venom’s origin.

Brock dealing with his sense of right and wrong in addition to his lack of responsibility when it came to Spider-man uncovering the truth about a story Brock had reported—he blamed Spidey for “getting him fired” instead of accepting that he should’ve dug deeper for the truth—mixed with the mind-altering alien symbiote will make for a fascinating redemption arc. I hope they start out with Venom as a full-on villain—possibly hiding from Spider-man—and have Brock rediscover his humanity as he begins to protect innocents. The line between villain, hero, and “Lethal Protector” anti-hero would be interesting to explore. What makes a person fall into those categories, can they change, and how? Brock’s Catholicism could also bring an interesting angle into any redemption arc they give him, if they choose to go that route; that religious outlook on “what makes a hero?” (or even just a good person; to him, does it “count” if we forgive ourselves and each other?) could also make Venom an unexpected foil for Daredevil. They can explore whether the symbiote is an excuse for his misdeeds or a drug habit he needs to kick. The symbiote could also be treated as a physical manifestation of Eddie’s darkest, most selfish impulses since that’s what it heightened when it was bonded to Peter. Can Eddie control it—control himself—to be a better man or is he destined to be a monster he can only point at worse evil? Carnage makes sense as Venom’s enemy in his first movie—he’s the symbiote’s even more psychopathic offspring bonded to a serial killer—and I’m excited to see them clash.

I don’t know much about Venom’s time as a solo vigilante except that he was everywhere when I was reading comics in the 90s, so I’m up for anything in that regard. Whatever they do, I’ve long wanted a subplot where Peter sees Venom dealing with a crisis on the news, so he Planes, Trains, and Automobiles his way across the country (with a heaping dose of Parker Luck giving him trouble at every turn) to get wherever Venom is to help stop Carnage (or, misreading the situation, to stop both of them), only to arrive after Venom has already saved the day. It’d just be a fun comedic subplot, so I hope that they can work that out (Peter never even has to suit up). I wouldn’t expect it from a horror-themed movie like Venom is supposed to be (which does sound like a great angle to take with Venom!), but it could be just the dose of comedy needed to break the tension every now and again.

Black Cat It’s a shame that being in Sony’s Spider-verse likely means we won’t get to see Black Cat interact with Tom Holland’s Peter. I’ve always been a fan of how Felicia Hardy prefers Spider-man to Peter and that their relationship is played mostly as a fun, flirty friends with benefits situation between two adults who respect each other; that would’ve been perfect for Amazing Spider-man 3 if Peter didn’t want another serious relationship—or even to focus on being Peter Parker—after Gwen’s death (and Felicity Jones would’ve been great as Black Cat!). If Venom doesn’t become the cornerstone of the Sony-verse, I’d like it to be Black Cat (or they could share). Not only is she more moral than he is, but we don’t have any cinematic superhero universes built around women.

It’d be cool for the movie to start out with Felicia as an excellent thief, following in her father’s footsteps (perhaps with some flashbacks to being trained by her father), and to have one of her heists be the tablet from the comics that gave her bad luck powers. She’s able to alter the fortune of anyone around her, which could make for some cool sequences as changes to fate create Rube Goldberg-like disasters for rival thieves and anyone trying to stop her (this also sets her apart from Catwoman a bit more). To keep from making it too easy for her, part of her arc could be learning to control these powers and prevent them from tripping her up as well. Perhaps they could connect learning thievery to learning to control chance; that's what skill is, isn't it? Narrowing chance to the smallest allowable factor while you rely on yourself. If they did that, we could watch Felicia flashback to her father training her as she applies his lessons to mastering her newfound gift. I love Black Cat’s latest costume; it’s sleek and sexy without being exploitative, so I hope they use it in the movie rather than her classic one. I’d love it if her movie(s) eventually found her controlling the underworld like in the current era of Spider-man comics; showing her rise to power and struggle to hold it would be a cool twist on a character that might seem like she’s headed for redemption.

It sounds like Silver & Black, featuring Cat and Silver Sable—a mercenary in the comics—will also include Chameleon, Tombstone, and Tarantula as antagonists. Knowing nothing about the film, I’m envisioning a series of heists by Felicia and Sable and counterattacks from the mobsters they’ve stolen from. I’d love a Kingpin-esque, extremely imposing and coolly calculating Tombstone like in Spectacular Spider-man to be the main villain in this, and that show is where I’d draw inspiration for the other characters too. Silver Sable could be the daughter of Silvermane, another mob boss; perhaps she’s initially against Black Cat. Felicia herself could be the daughter of the burglar who killed Uncle Ben, which was a brilliant twist in SSM, but I suppose wouldn’t matter much in a universe where she may not be able to interact with Peter (though it would be a hell of a setup for a potential crossover!). I’d guess Tarantula is an enforcer for Tombstone and Chameleon could be either a rival thief or a hitman working for Tombstone as well. They could also use Hammerhead if they wanted to throw Cat and Sable into the middle of a massive gang war.

Spider-Gwen Spider-Gwen is relatively new to comics; she’s the Gwen Stacy of Earth-65, where she was bitten by the radioactive spider instead of Peter Parker. She initially used her powers as Spider-Woman for popularity until her father—police Captain George Stacy—commented that the vigilante could be using her powers for good instead. Gwen changed her ways and became an idol to her schoolmate and friend Peter Parker, who turned himself into the Lizard in an effort to be like his hero. Realizing her mask didn’t free her of responsibility like she thought, this was her Great Power/Great Responsibility moment and Spider-Woman was blamed for Peter’s death, so Gwen set out to clear her name and earn the city’s trust...as she’s being hunted by her father and his cops. She’s wisecracking like Peter, furthering the common themes among the Spiders, while George’s complicated relationship with his police force—especially after he learns Gwen’s secret and decides to protect her—would give her an entirely different family dynamic. This Gwen is also the drummer in a band—the Mary Janes, along with MJ, Betty Brant, and Glory Grant—rather than being a science student, giving her a whole other world to inhabit and obligations to fulfill in her social life as they try to make it big (one of their songs, “Face it Tiger,” performed by Married With Sea Monsters, is even available to buy!). She has the classic spider-abilities, detective skills thanks to watching her dad, and she learned kung fu moves from movies, making her crime-fighting distinct from Peter’s style. Gwen has webshooters (created by retired superheroine Janet Van Dyne) that create webs out of the moisture in the air rather than cartridges, giving her a different set of potential problems with her webs than Peter and Miles would have. Gwen’s neon-noir world and punk rock sensibility would be an entirely different flavor from every other superhero movie, which would definitely be a breath of fresh air.

Since Gwen lives in an alternate MCU, they could get several actors they’ve already cast to flesh out the twisted versions of her supporting cast and enemies. For instance, Frank Castle is one of the cops trying to bring down Spider-Woman for Peter’s death and Matt Murdock is the right-hand man of the Kingpin. Peggy Carter is the leader of SHIELD on Earth-65, and if you follow my blogs, you know I’m down for any and every Peggy reappearance I can get. They can also play up the differences in villains; Gwen’s villains are distinct enough from their mainstream counterparts that they could use both at once without feeling repetitive in most cases. The heroes are different too; Gwen’s world’s Captain America is Samantha Wilson, which would be cool.

At first I thought it’d be neat if Sony’s Spider-verse were secretly Spider-Gwen’s world, but I think I prefer the option of easier connections between Venom, Black Cat, and Tom Holland’s Spider-man if Sony wants to play ball without the need for dimension hopping right off the bat. Instead, I’m thinking that billing a Spider-Gwen movie as an alternate universe to the Amazing Spider-man films would be kinda brilliant. They’d already have Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, which would be outstanding (Dennis Leary could return as George as well), and Peter helping Curt Connors become the Lizard in Amazing Spider-man parallels his death in Spider-Gwen’s world perfectly. Branching off of ASM would immediately create a Spider-verse unto itself—one that springs from movies audiences are already familiar with, no less—which could also incorporate Tom Holland’s Spider-man and any others they wanted to bring back in a massive crossover down the road! Spider-Gwen could also be done as an animated feature like Miles is getting next year, but any way we get cinematic Spider-Gwen adventures, I’m down!

Supporting Characters Aunt May We need to see May and Peter talk about him being Spider-man. Peter was an adult in the Rami films and those only hinted at Aunt May knowing the truth while Sally Field’s version never found out, so this would be an entirely new scene in addition to being very important for both characters. I loved how Homecoming left them, but I'm afraid we’ll lose that talk since Peter's next appearance is in Infinity War. Hopefully we'll get that conversation in the opening scenes of that Avengers film to establish where Peter is at that point in his life. If not, jumping back to that conversation at the start of Homecoming 2, like Homecoming did the events of Civil War, would work too. I’d definitely like her to invoke how dangerous New York City is with a reference to Ben. It’d also be cool to see her life outside of Peter (and without every guy she meets hitting on her); what is she doing with herself these days?

Ned Leeds Peter’s best friend and “man in the chair” worked really well in Homecoming and I wonder if he’ll follow his comic path to the Daily Bugle with Peter (which also includes getting married to Betty Brant). Maybe he’ll even wind up a patsy of Hobgoblin, which could leave him burned out on superheroics as things get far too real for him. That’d produce an interesting wrinkle to his friendship with Peter, especially if they came to blows while he was mind-controlled by Hobgoblin. What if it wasn’t cool for him anymore, taking away that support from Peter for a bit? I don’t want his death included in the cinematic version, though. 

Michelle Michelle’s “my friends call me MJ” does not mean she’s Mary Jane, though I wouldn’t have minded if she was. She was such a cool, funny character that I’m excited to see where she goes no matter who she is. I’d love them to continue Michelle’s social awareness; that was an unexpected way of showing that Peter’s not the only kid who thinks beyond high school. If she were to discover Peter’s secret, that’s a point they could bond over. She could also deal with classism, sexism, and racism in ways that Peter won’t be able to experience; all of which are natural outgrowths from her fearlessly calling out social injustices. Those are villains he can’t fight for her, so seeing her take them on to save herself would be great! Whatever they do with Michelle, I want to see more! I’d love it if they brought her into the comics as an adult in Amazing Spider-man or as a contemporary of the leads in Miles Morales’ Spider-man series and/or Spider-Gwen.

Flash Thompson I loved that Homecoming made Flash a smart kid; not only did it allow him to challenge Peter intellectually, but it broke the mold of jocks vs. nerds by proving that bullies can be anywhere and nerds aren’t by default good guys. I’d like them to increase his bullying beyond calling Peter names by including some 21st century tactics, even as he becomes a fan of Spider-man (which could make for some good commentary on real-life comic and sci-fi fans who seem to completely miss the values espoused by the stories they love). I wouldn’t mind eventually exploring Flash becoming the government’s Agent Venom, but that’s far in the future from where he is now. Superspy Agent Venom was a very cool development for Flash; not only did it restore his legs (previously amputated due to his military service), but he had to closely monitor how long he wore it and how angry he got, or it would take over his mind. Even though Sony’s Venom movie is semi-separate from the Peter Parker films, they could easily say that the Agent Venom suit was cultivated from a “sample recovered from a larger specimen,” obliquely referring to Tom Hardy’s Venom without having to say it outright.

Gwen Stacy I don’t need her to die ever again, so I’d like for them to introduce her into the MCU and twist that fate. The one-two-three punch of Lacey Chabert’s Gwen on Spectacular Spider-man, Emma Stone’s portrayal in the Amazing Spider-man films, and the Spider-Gwen comic series made Gwen my favorite of Spidey’s love interests (and one of his best supporting characters in general) and I’d like to see her appear here as well. It was weird they made Betty look just like Gwen in Homecoming—I think maybe she was supposed to be Gwen and it was changed at the last second—but even if she doesn’t look exactly like the iconic Gwen, I’d like Peter to meet his scientific match. Beyond being a cool character in and of herself, Gwen’s science skills allow her to actively contribute to the plot arguably more than any of Peter’s other love interests or friends can. That’s not to say everyone has to contribute directly—Michelle was certainly a great, memorable character who didn’t necessarily add to the plot, but still mattered—but Gwen’s skills allow her to, so she should. 

Much like in the ASM films, Gwen is someone on Peter’s intellectual level who he can bounce scientific ideas off of. If she isn’t in the know, we could get some fun and ridiculous excuses as to why Peter would be spit-balling ideas about scientifically curing vampirism or turning sand into glass. In their leisure time (whether she knows he’s Spidey or not), we could see them hanging out as friends, geeking out about whatever the newest scientific discovery is (or whatever their other shared interests are) and dreaming of making their own breakthroughs one day. Simultaneously, her father puts Peter in danger in a very different way than Liz Allan and Harry Osborn’s parents do since he has the law on his side, complicating things if her father catches Spider-man. If she’s on her dad’s side about Spider-man being a criminal vigilante—at best putting himself and the people around him in danger by escalating situations—having her voice that opinion instead of yet another authority figure could provoke real reflection in Peter. An opinion like that would also bring variety to the students’ outlook on Spidey in the MCU. Making Gwen a potentially frustrating scientific rival for Peter is another way to subvert expectations upon reintroducing her. Maybe she’s another intern at Horizon Labs, who is trying to scientifically enhance cops and people in general (via technology or biology) to protect them from superhero battles; cops with high-tech enhancements could inadvertently make things much harder for Spider-man. Perhaps she’s out to nullify all the villains’ powers to help protect her dad (or in his memory), and that includes curing Spider-man (at first). Completely independent of whether she’s a help or initial hindrance to Peter, Gwen could also face sexism in the STEM fields, giving her a set of obstacles to overcome to achieve her dreams entirely different from Peter’s (and hopefully, making him reflect that his white male privilege gives him advantages she doesn’t have). If they introduced Spider-Gwen’s universe as an alternate world to the MCU instead of ASM, whoever they cast as Gwen would have a great opportunity to play two distinct versions of the same character! 

Mary Jane Watson Growing up, MJ was my preferred love interest for Peter: she was pure fun and her party girl persona being a “secret identity” of sorts to cover up her troubled family life made for a nice parallel to Peter’s confidence shining through as Spider-man. That setup also made her someone who understood what it was like to have a secret identity. However, beyond making her an aspiring reporter like in Ultimate Spider-man (a role movie Betty is already inhabiting), I wasn’t sure what the classic supermodel MJ adds to the plot beyond a grounding influence and acting as a love interest for Peter. Perhaps they could play her like Betty in The Rocketeer to Peter’s Cliff Seacord: maybe the MCU MJ is a famous teen star (or a teen with a very strong social media presence) and her acting world is way outside Peter’s comfort zone. Modernizing a young MJ into an already-semi-successful actress or social media darling would also give her a more heightened world than most high schoolers live in, meeting Peter’s life as Spider-man on relatively equal terms. They could also contrast her fame and fans with his growing infamy, and the two could commiserate about bad press if the tabloids slammed her for any number of rumors. Perhaps she could use her social media platform to help out Spider-man’s image (or initially, she could think he’s the menace everyone else does, adding to his problems). If she were to aid him with her legion of followers, they could set up a youth vs. adults theme connecting to how the different generations view the media and fake news.

MJ could also be someone that helps Peter let loose as Peter rather than being worried about responsibility 24/7. The Rami movies got some good, understated mileage out of contrasting MJ’s fame with Spider-man’s infamy, and as detailed here, made a solid commentary on classism, abuse, and sexism with MJ and Gwen. A new MJ—particularly one who’s in a tabloid spotlight thanks to being an actress, an internet sensation, or both—could also take on sexism and misogyny in ways Peter simply can’t. Guys at school could expect sex from MJ for being a "party girl" and because of some modelling/acting campaign she’d done (or even just tabloid rumors), while she just wants to have fun and get out of her bad home life. Even if she is having sex, we could see her confronting guys who expect she'll sleep with anyone just because she slept with someone. If her star status includes that image, she’d definitely have her detractors as a “bad influence,” just like Spider-man is a “menace.” The Bugle could even be the one running a “what happened to wholesome teen stars?” piece, giving her and Peter a common adversary. Like Gwen, whatever they do with her, she certainly shouldn’t appear just to be Peter’s girlfriend and/or to be in danger. If they do reintroduce MJ, I definitely hope they do the classic introduction, complete with Aunt May trying to set Peter up with her (to his dismay and disinterest) and the iconic “Face it Tiger, You just hit the jackpot!” reveal.

Liz Allan I wanted to know more about what Peter saw in her beyond her being a smart, pretty, unattainable senior in Homecoming. The car ride to the dance was a perfect opportunity to at least tell us what she wanted out of life; one the writers missed completely. It’d also be nice to know what she sees (or saw) in Peter, especially since he didn’t do much but disappoint her in Homecoming (I assume they interacted more in debate club than what we saw, though). If she returns, I hope they flesh her out more. I’d also like to know what her thoughts are about her father being a criminal; might she come to understand why he did what he did and follow in his footsteps? Would she blame Spider-man for destroying her family?

Captain America I definitely don’t want all of Peter’s movies to become Marvel Team-Ups (even though we know another hero is in Homecoming 2), so if we must have the Avengers stop by, I hope they each teach Peter something new without making him their unofficial sidekick. Captain America would be my first choice for the hero in Homecoming’s sequel; I’ve thought since Civil War that had he gotten the chance to talk to Spider-man, Peter would’ve seen that Steve’s side was really the one representing power and responsibility. Cap could teach Peter about tactics and the resolve to try and do what’s right even if you fail, but if Uncle Ben were a fan of Steve’s, then Peter interacting with his Uncle’s hero could be extremely touching. If Ben saw Cap as the quintessential hero, they could even say Peter based his color scheme on Cap’s to honor his Uncle Ben; to emulate the man he thinks his Uncle would’ve wanted him to be. Of course, Steve would remind him Ben is proud of Peter for who he is, then Peter could confess why Ben is dead, and it’d be a great, raw emotional moment between the two of them! Steve’s current fugitive status could be a neat parallel to Peter breaking from Tony and going his own way. And no hero in the MCU is better set up to contrast the iconic Captain America image with his hilarious educational videos than Peter, so the endless ribbing that could come from that would be a blast! A reality/public image disconnect—particularly with Steve being a “war criminal”—could also create a bond between them if Jonah starts smearing Spider-man’s name.

Cloak and Dagger They’ve got a series coming to Freeform, but it’d be cool to see these classic Spider-man allies team up with either Peter or Miles! These teen heroes could band together to form the Champions—their answer to the Defenders and Avengers—creating a youthful bond where the kids are just as likely to hang out and help each other cope with the realities of growing up as they are to take down criminals.

Iceman and Firestar If Marvel ever makes a deal with Fox like they did Sony, it’d be excellent to see Peter meet and become Amazing Friends with the X-men’s Iceman and Firestar! That show was one of my first exposures to superheroes and getting a live-action team-up would be awesome!

Cardiac Dr. Elias Wertham became a vigilante attacking corporations for their greedy practices after his brother died of a condition which had a cure, but the corporation that created it refused to sell it because it wouldn’t be profitable. Later, he ran an underground hospital for those who couldn’t afford care. His hatred of big business and the lack of sufficient health care would be extremely relevant right now, and his noble intentions would thematically continue Vulture’s argument while challenging Peter’s concept of what the right and wrong way to achieve justice is. They could tone down his attacks on corporations to the point where no one is harmed (maybe he only steals medical supplies or cures that aren’t on the market, making them available to all) and have the Bugle still call him out as a violent, murderous anarchist in the same way some see the Black Lives Matter movement. Spider-man could initially attack him—ironically believing the Bugle when police reports also say Cardiac is a criminal—only for Peter to discover he isn’t that at all. If it’s the opinion of some corrupt officers that sends Spidey against Cardiac, exploring how the authorities tolerate Spidey but open fire on Cardiac would be another socially relevant avenue to explore with him.

Molten Man Mark Raxton is Liz Allan’s stepsister, so there’s already an easy introduction for him if Liz’s mom divorces Toomes and remarries in her new home. He could be something of a tragic villain, since his heat powers and molten skin are as much a danger to the people he cares about as he is to his enemies. His entire villainous streak could be motivated by finding a cure for his condition, making him an uneasy ally of Spidey’s by the end. If Peter ever gets to the point where being Spider-man is too much for him and he wishes he didn’t have his powers, Mark could remind him not only could it be worse, but his real power is his sense of responsibility.

Clash Spider-man busted this sometime criminal (who uses focused soundwaves as weapons), but after hearing about the circumstances that led him to crime, Peter Parker gave him a job to help rehabilitate him. Spider-man permanently defeating a villain by listening to him and having faith that he could improve (as Peter himself did) would be an awesome, unique way to deal with a supervillain.

Villains Growing up with the 90s Spider-man Animated Series, I can see why fans my age might want Peter to face off with Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin, but I hope he doesn’t. He seems too low-level for Spidey to deal with. I think he should stay a Daredevil villain; there are already many more enemies for Spidey to fight anyway!

Obviously not all these villains would make for lead villains in movies (one of many reasons I'd love to get a new live-action Spider-man TV series). However, an idea I saw online a long time back was to do cold opens for superhero films, like the Bond movies do. That'd be a great way to introduce a unique villain in a “short story” that related to the themes of the film (and established where Peter is in life) and give audiences a wider look at his rogues gallery without having to dedicate a while film to villains who may not be able to carry it.

Since we probably won’t get an endless stream of Peter Parker-focused movies, splitting these villains up with Miles Morales (and/or Spider-Gwen) down the road would be great too.

J. Jonah Jameson I'd be fine with JK Simmons coming back as Jonah; more dimension than he got in the Rami films would be nice, though. If Jonah ever became mayor in the movies, that’d be a great opportunity to either really make him see the contributions Spider-man makes to the city or to play up some relevant political parallels (and to make things even tougher on Spidey). The people annoyed with Spidey in Homecoming could provide a nice foundation for the readership that would believe his lies, so “fake news” and the people who refuse to believe anything but their chosen news source could definitely be a factor in these films. I'd definitely like the MCU’s public to be more skeptical of Spidey than in the earlier Spider-man films, driven to distrust him thanks to Jonah’s own fear of men in masks. It would also be great to see Jonah eventually develop into a (slightly) more caring and understanding person, like he did as a supporting character in the Silk series!

Vulture Michael Keaton made Adrian Toomes my absolute favorite MCU villain, so I can’t wait to see more of him! I loved that he had a legitimate point about how Stark and the government treated him and making him Liz’s dad was the perfect analogy to an awkward meeting with your girlfriend’s parents. I also liked that his version of power/responsibility is that he can provide for his family through crime, so he does. I’m intrigued to see whether he’s keeping Peter’s identity a secret because he respects him, wants to kill him himself, or a mix of both. Keaton barked some of his lines, so even though he seemed sane, it felt like there was something dangerous and violent within Toomes; let’s see it unleashed! As Peter gets more confident in his web-swinging, I’d love to see an epic aerial rematch between him and Toomes. I don’t think it’d be out of character for him to continue tinkering with his suit to add new weapons to it either, scavenging the parts from other MCU battles. Whatever we get from the next Vulture appearance, I hope Peter makes some Birdman, Batman, and Falcon jokes!

Mysterio As silly as he can be (and that’s the point; he should not be revamped to be “badass,” even if his illusions are intimidating and mind-blowing), Mysterio would be a fantastic villain for a visual medium like the movies. I know he’s being looked at for a solo Sony film (which I assume would be like a Now You See Me heist film with magic…though that would work better with Peter as the “cop”), but I really want him to fight Spider-man instead. Quentin Beck was a Hollywood special effects wizard who turned to a life of crime using those same effects (plus a costume stolen from a 50s/60s sci-fi movie) and if he became a criminal for fame, that could be a cool parallel to Spider-man’s early motives. Mysterio chasing fame could also give Jonah an avenue into blaming Peter for the same thing (and a criticism that wouldn’t necessarily be untrue, at least as regarding Peter’s earliest exploits). They could play Mysterio as the Peter Parker who never lost his Uncle Ben. Mysterio’s deadly special effects could pose a great challenge for Peter’s scientific mind while giving the filmmakers an amazing opportunity to go wild with their visuals; literally anything would be possible, and for once it wouldn’t really matter how CGI something looked. The Ultimate Spider-man comic had the right idea casting Bruce Campbell as Mysterio and I’d follow that instinct in a heartbeat.

Hobgoblin Willem Dafoe was excellent as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin (even if his suit left a little to be desired), but honestly I’m tired of businessman supervillains and Norman in general so I don’t need to see any iteration of the Green Goblin onscreen again, probably ever.

That said…there is one goblin businessman I’d like to see in the movies: Hobgoblin. Roderick Kingsley was a fashion mogul who regularly employed mind control to coerce other people into playing the role of Hobgoblin, obscuring his identity so well that he actually beat Spidey and retired to a tropical island at one point. Two of his forced decoys? Ned Leeds and Flash Thompson, which would be a cool way to continue involving Peter’s classmates and friends (and Spidey clearing Flash’s name would boost Flash’s Spidey fandom while still bullying Peter). The movie could also feature Jason Macendale and Phil Urich (other Hobgoblins from the comics) as red herrings. Hobgoblin’s a criminal mastermind the likes of which we’ve never seen in a Spider-man film and the multiple false leads about who he is could give us Peter Parker trying to solve a mystery for the first time in the movies as well. If Roderick does get away with it (and I wouldn’t mind if he did), his more recent trend of licensing out his Hobgoblin persona into a franchise for criminals to buy into (and share their profits) could be a fun new wrinkle for a supervillain in a film down the road. Tom Hanks once said he’d like to play a supervillain, and Hobgoblin could be a pretty great role for him.

Doctor Octopus One villain I’d love to see redone in the movies is Doc Ock. As good as Alfred Molina was, I never needed him to be sympathetic (and being controlled by his arms was a lame retread of Green Goblin), so I’d make the MCU Doc Ock the classic mad scientist from the comics. He’d be the polar opposite of Peter: Spidey’s true opposite number and arch-enemy; a selfish, self-centered scientific genius with no sense of responsibility whatsoever. I’d toy with upgrading his abilities a bit; maybe he invents a device that gives him some of the camouflage ability octopuses have and tinkering with Pym Particles allows him to dimension-shift to a degree, mimicking cephalopods’ ability to squeeze through tight spaces (and also making him extremely hard to hit). Utilizing the most insane, maddest science and numerous master plans, Octavius would be the greatest mental challenge for Peter (without being a slouch in the physical department) and I’d love to see that showdown! I’d cast Jeffery Combs as Otto in a second.

Scorpion Mac Gargan’s already set up with a grudge against Spidey, so I’m eager for that to play out. I’d like them to mention that he was a failed private detective before he became a criminal, so perhaps he could work out Peter’s secret identity and threaten his life on a larger scale than just as a costumed supervillain. I’d also upgrade his suit to not only include the scorpion tail, but retractable wrist gauntlets that mimic scorpion pincers.

Prowler I liked Donald Glover’s version of Aaron Davis in Homecoming, even if he wasn’t as nefarious as in the Ultimate Spider-man comics. That Prowler was my favorite revamped Ultimate villain and I’d love to see Homecoming’s Davis develop into the twisted Uncle Ben figure that his comics counterpart is. He could train Miles to be a thief by claiming to only steal from bad guys, before Miles finally takes a stand against him. I definitely wouldn’t kill him like in the comics, though, and his status as Miles’ uncle would make for a great real-life parallel to family members who don’t always want the best for you.

Kraven the Hunter and Calypso Using potions to enhance his senses and physical prowess, Kraven being hired to hunt down Spider-man (or just doing it for sport) seems like a no-brainer for a minor villain in a movie. His lover Calypso could come along to introduce a mystical threat that Peter would have a hard time believing, much less defeating; it would be cool if she were the real threat between the two of them. There was a rumor Sony is looking at Kraven for a solo film, and while I guess I can see him being hired to hunt down other supervillains, I’m not sure he’s leading man material (though perhaps there’s some potential with his code of honor). I’d rather see him and Calypso fight Spider-man, and eventually getting to “Kraven’s Last Hunt,"—where defeating Spider-man isn’t enough; he has to prove he’s better by going out dressed as Spidey and fighting crime—would be a fantastic arc! I wouldn’t be opposed to him taking on animal traits thanks to Calypso’s magic, similar to his lion appearance in Spectacular Spider-man (though maybe here, the animal traits/abilities would only be temporary transformations). Regardless, his enhanced physical prowess and super-senses would be a tough challenge for Spidey to out-maneuver. Coming up with ways to dull and/or block Kraven’s senses would be a fun recurring problem for Peter. I think Oded Fehr could make an interesting Kraven. 

The Jackal Ms. Warren appeared in Homecoming and, assuming she’s the MCU version of Miles Warren, I think it’d be fun if those kids who “went missing” on field trips were replaced with clones by Ms. Warren to cover up their disappearances. It’d be funny if the professors made offhand comments about certain kids being replaced, weirding Peter out as he overheard them, until he discovered the horrifying truth. This would admittedly work better as a running gag/subplot on a Spider-man TV show, but I’d like to see it employed somewhere. Maybe it could evolve from a running gag into a Carrion virus outbreak in the school, giving Peter a mini-zombie outbreak only his science skills can cure (and preventing him from changing into Spider-man in front of his friends, causing secret identity problems). It'd be perfect as a Halloween-themed "Bond opening" for one of the movies even if it wasn't the main plot. The suave red-suited Jackal from “The Clone Conspiracy” is how I’d like any onscreen Jackal to appear (even if that wasn’t really Miles Warren).

Sinister Six I’d absolutely love it if the MCU finally pulled off a Sinister Six appearance! I wouldn’t want them teaming up with Spider-man against a bigger enemy; they should be the evil Avengers and he should be the only one who can take them on. I don’t want any Avenger assistance here either; let Peter prove he’s capable of taking all of them on and winning despite impossible odds! I’d also love it if Doc Ock’s team actually worked well together instead of inevitably turning on each other, forcing Peter into the hardest fight (and fights, including the opening salvos where different Six members pair off in various configurations) of his life with no turncoats among the villains and no help from the other heroes.

Shocker I'd like him to continue to be high-tech muscle for any villain who'll pay. He doesn't need to be a criminal mastermind, but maybe he's scheming to be a bigger player on the super-weapon black market instead of just a henchman. Maybe he has ambitions to become an arms dealer. He could be a cool recurring source for Peter (if Spidey's after one of his rivals) as well as a thorn in Spidey’s side.

Tinkerer Phineas Mason just likes building gadgets, and that’s OK! He doesn’t have to be evil, just fascinated by the possibilities of science, which gets him into trouble as he pushes boundaries. I wouldn’t want him to provide every villain with their tech, though; many of Peter’s villains are scientists in their own right and there’s no reason they can’t be self-sufficient without needing to lean on Tinkerer for everything. I’d like Mason to continue outfitting the lower-level criminals (and maybe building weapons for Shocker to sell), though.

Chameleon Perhaps Peter's parents were SHIELD agents in the MCU, which would provide a great excuse to bring in this master of disguise. Maybe Chameleon was behind the Parkers' deaths. Maybe he makes it appear that Richard Parker has survived, because he needs something from Peter. Maybe he dresses like a fake Spider-man to ruin the reputation of the son of the agents who wronged him. A master spy who can be anywhere and anyone could be the perfect opponent to force Peter to hone his Spider-sense to its fullest potential!

Lizard I'd love for Curt Connors' reptile-obsessed scientist to turn up again sometime! He can be both a mentor to Peter and a dark foil when it comes to loss, power, and responsibility as well as the use of science. They could explore his feeling of being incomplete and inadequate because of his lost arm and compare him to Peter before he got his powers: Curt's wounded pride leads to the destruction of his family just like Peter’s ruined his. Curt, however, stays on his destructive path, thinking it’s better than humanity...and better for humanity. Like Molten Man, Curt’s transformation—especially the loss of his mind—could remind Peter how lucky he is with his own mutation…or it could frighten him into thinking the spider bite could eventually turn him into the Man-Spider (and maybe the Lizard tries affecting others’ evolution, inadvertently turning Peter into the spider beast; Peter working on a cure for Connors could also accidentally result in him mutating himself). I’d also love it if they introduced Curt’s wife and son, either giving him a reason to fight for his humanity, or—as mutated lizards—helping him to spread his dream of a reptile paradise. Whatever they bring him back to do, I only ask Lizard wear his lab coat while transformed! It's a cool, iconic visual as well as a subliminal message that the lizard monster is still human inside. Curt does want to improve humanity, even as the Lizard, but at what cost? Exploring the line between man and animal could lead Peter to question just how human he is anymore, especially if he’s been acting more and more spider-like in his crime-fighting. Peter can’t go all-out against Lizard without hurting his friend, so how does he stop this vicious monster?

Sandman Perhaps stealing to get his sick daughter medical care would be too similar to Vulture trying to take care of his family through crime, but that doesn't mean Sandman still can't have an arc that takes him from uncommon criminal to unlikely ally of Spider-man. Maybe he comes to genuinely regret what he’s done, feeling that his outward appearance is showing him as the monster he’s become. A supervillain stepping back and taking a good look at themselves without anything to gain from it but a better soul—then actually doing the work to change for the better—isn’t an arc we ever see, and it could work for Flint Marko. Perhaps he views his robberies as something different (and maybe even somewhat noble in a Robin Hood/“the billionaires are the real criminals” sort of way) than the all-out world domination and murder attempted by villains like Hobgoblin or Doctor Octopus. He could have a “honor among thieves” code of conduct to set him apart from the egomaniacs and monsters. A supervillain with a growing conscience would be a cool arc that would parallel and reveal Peter’s early selfishness nicely. Peter isn’t Superman—he isn’t even close to being perfect—so he shouldn’t have a problem believing villains can change if they really want to (and having Marko change without the death of a loved one could be a cool commentary on heroes who “need” tragedy in their lives, as well as potentially showing his moral awakening to be a little purer than Peter’s). Peter should even be out there helping his enemies to walk the same path he has. Wherever they take Flint Marko, I'd like them to really dig into his powers—just how much sand can he control? Are we talking entire shorelines?—and Peter's need to use science to stop him. 

Rhino I have no problem with him being just the nearly invulnerable and less-than-intelligent muscle, but if they want to add layers to him that's cool too. They could do something like "Flowers for Rhino,” wherein he became increasingly smart. He could have a genuinely loving marriage to Oksana, like in the comics, which could parallel Peter’s problems with balancing his heroic and love lives. I’d prefer he have some version of his classic suit over another mech version, though I can see the MCU going with the latter for simplicity. Whatever they do with his personality, Rhino should be like a force of nature: truly unstoppable and deadly to everyone in his path.

Electro If they do Electro again, I'd like them to really play up his powers and have him go for godhood! I thought the tragedy of ASM2’s Electro was he was still too insecure to believe he had as much power and potential as he did, and it'd be amazing to see an Electro who knew what to do with the power at his fingertips. He could give power only to those who are loyal to him. He could plunge the eastern seaboard into the Dark Ages by taking it away. He could be everywhere, all the time, unless you’re away from electronics (which could be a fun gag about the omnipresence of cell phones). If Peter still has his Stark suit, Electro could take it over completely; maybe he could even take over whatever tech shrinks it to fit Parker and use it to force him to commit crimes or act as his enforcer like a puppet. With every surveillance network at Electro’s fingertips and his ability to move through any circuitry, Peter would have to be as low-tech and stealthy as possible, maybe even forgoing his costume to travel as Parker, to get close enough to defeat him. Electro is potentially one of Peter's most powerful enemies—a villain Spidey can't even touch and one of many that forces him to adapt his webs and use his head to stand a chance of surviving, not to mention winning—and I'd love to see him up against those odds! The sympathetic origin from Spectacular Spider-man (or a version of it) would be great as a starting point—that’s my favorite version of Electro—but I’d like to see Electro develop delusions of grandeur…then use his power to make them real.

Mister Negative He'd be cool as both a way to get May into the action—Negative's alter ego Martin Li ran the homeless shelter May volunteered at—and he could fill the “secret mob boss” role Kingpin played on the 90s cartoon (as did the much more menacing Tombstone on Spectacular Spider-man) if they wanted to go with a gang war angle. While Li has a healing touch, Mister Negative can bring out the negative aspects in anyone he touches (his morally inverting touch also gives him control over his victims), which could give us a taste of not only how selfish Peter was before Ben died, but how Peter might be with the Venom symbiote (since it seems we won't see that story in the MCU, though I hope it's mentioned as backstory in Venom). Negative would be a great way to give us a glimpse into how far Peter's come as a hero without resorting to character regression. His belief that the balance of good and evil is necessary to the universe would be a fascinating perspective that could challenge Peter’s perception of right and wrong (in addition to questioning if there’s even a point in continuing to fight), and his split personality could be a cool parallel to how being Spider-man messes with Peter’s social life. Then again, perhaps his origin would make him more appropriate for the upcoming Cloak & Dagger series on Freeform, since they were all exposed to the same tests with the Darkforce dimension.

Morbius Similar to Lizard, Michael Morbius accidentally made himself into a vampiric creature while trying to cure his rare blood disease. He'd be a cool way to bring a horror vibe into Spidey's corner of the MCU. He could be a classmate of Peter's to rival him in both intelligence and power, or like in the later comics, an employee at Horizon Labs trying to cure himself. Perhaps he could be a creature who truly scares Peter, giving Parker some fears to fight through; something we don’t often see from Spider-man in movies. Morbius has powers similar to supernatural vampires (enhanced strength and speed, night vision, echolocation, an enhanced healing factor, the ability to hypnotize people, and the ability to glide using transvection), and none of their mythical weaknesses, except for a vulnerability to sunlight (though it’s not fatal, it will weaken and burn him severely). He’s not always able to turn the people he bites into vampires in the comics, but I’d give him that power as well as his ability to “liquidize” his body, allowing him to squeeze through small spaces and elongate his limbs. What would Peter do if Morbius was forced to feed on others to survive? How would he defeat Michael if stopping him from getting blood likely meant killing him? Even though Morbius is not a supernatural vampire, his existence could open Peter’s eyes to the possibility of the supernatural, even if after struggling with something science can’t explain, he rationalizes it as science mistaken for magic.

Man-Wolf Jameson's son, turned into a werewolf-like monster by an alien artifact, could be a cool way to bring Peter and Jonah together and repair their enmity to an extent (and Jonah having to thank Spidey for saving his son would be a great moment for the web-head!). Making John Jameson—a hotshot astronaut—someone relatively close to Peter's age (maybe he’s a pilot prodigy at NASA) and something of a hero for Peter could make Pete reflect on how much more he could be accomplishing if he weren’t spending time fighting crime as Spider-man. They could also contrast John being celebrated as an American hero with Peter being unable to tell anyone how much he's done for the city. That'd give Peter a reason to dislike John removed from any real reason, much like Jonah dislikes Peter (and like Flash hates Peter but is a fan of Spider-man). How much would Peter hate being similar to JJ and Flash? Saving John from alien technology would also be a great challenge for Peter’s already brilliant mind; I’m sure he’d be geeking out at the chance to work with such advanced, otherworldly technology.

Stunner This villain who uses a holographic projector to create her idealized appearance would be a good high school enemy! Increase her holographic powers to include force field projection and she'd have offensive capabilities as well as a neat way to hide her identity. She’d also be a good opportunity to explore bullying in addition to what Flash dishes out; that’s both a villain Peter can’t beat and a good parallel to how he deals with his own torment at the hands of his classmates. They could have Peter examine whether his banter in fights is bullying (Max Landis has said it is, I’d say it isn’t, and Peter can ask himself that question) and whether he should be doing more to understand his villains’ pain before just attacking them. She could also prompt Peter to see the other bullied kids at school and try to do something to help as Peter. Her idealized self would also be a perfect foil for Spider-man being the outlet for Peter’s confidence.

Hydro-Man He sometimes seems like just a watery version of Sandman, but what if he were reconfigured as a killer who could strike his victims anywhere? Walk by a fire hydrant on the street? He's there. Have fire sprinklers in your place of business? You're not safe, even with everyone around you. Have a sink or shower in your apartment? He can get into your home, no matter how many locks you've got on your door. The 90s animated series had him stalking Mary Jane with some of these methods, and an unstoppable killer like this might be best saved for a Venom sequel.

Morlun Best used in a Spider-verse crossover, this nearly-immortal, vampiric monster who consumes the life force of spider-powered people across the multiverse would be a crazy cosmic-level villain for Peter to face. Peter would even have to recruit a whole army of Spider-people in an epic Avengers-styled adventure, showcasing a wide-variety of worlds and Spider-men (and women). Letting Peter see who he could've become under different circumstances (even though some of the Spiders aren't Peter at all) would be illuminating both for him and us. As Morlun is almost a god, discovering how to beat him—and how to lead a team—would be very cool in the later portions of Peter's arc; it’d probably be the ultimate test of Peter’s accumulated skills.

Shriek Once insane and romantically obsessed with Carnage, my first thought was that they could play her as Spidey's (or Venom’s, given her longtime connection to Carnage) version of Harley Quinn. Obviously I wouldn't want a total ripoff, but maybe making Shriek—who has sonic blasts—a goofily serious villain could make for a fun, unique challenge for Peter or Eddie. However, given Shriek’s obsession with motherhood, making her the overbearing and controlling mother of one of Peter’s classmates would be a cool update. That would allow them to play her as a clever foil to Ben and May. Like the classic comics May, she could be paranoid about her child’s safety, but unlike May, she’d resort to violence to protect her kid. Her ability to create chaos and bring out the fear, anger, and hatred in people could produce some interesting challenges for Peter: how does he stop a crowd of innocent civilians from hurting the uninfected among them without hurting the attackers as well? What if he gets infected; how much damage is an angry, uncontrollable, super-powered Spider-man going to do? Does she unleash these powers on Peter’s school after her child is severely bullied, turning the bullies’ hatred against themselves? Where is the line between protecting her child and going so far that not only are others hurt, but her child can’t cope well enough to defend his or herself at all? Does Spider-man cross that line by saving the city over and over again, to the point where we can’t help ourselves? What if she purposefully infected her child to enrage them to defend themselves? Shriek could be the Peter who never shirked her responsibility, taken to a detrimental extreme.

Spot Spot's transportation portals all over his body could make for a neat, maze-like puzzle for Spidey to solve in one of his strangest adventures. Like Mister Negative, he too might be better suited for Cloak & Dagger, since his powers came from studying Cloak’s dark dimension in the comics. If he were to fight Spider-man, it’d be cool to pit Peter (or Miles) against a villain their spider-sense can’t detect, since it can’t sense attacks coming in from alternate dimensions. Dimensional warping would also allow him to hit Spidey from multiple angles at once, as well as deflecting attacks through various portals. 

Alistair or Spencer Smythe/Spider-Slayers Maybe the spider-slayers are a little too similar to Sentinels in X-Men, but I wonder if there's a way to reconfigure them as smaller (but no less lethal) bugs that can be anywhere and see everything. They'd be like the spider drone network set up by the Superior Spider-man (Otto Octavius) in the comics, and perhaps it'd be best in a movie if Otto simply called them spider-slayers as a shout-out to the Smythes.

Big Wheel I really have no idea how to make Big Wheel work outside of a gag appearance, but that'd be enough for a Bond-styled opening. I've always thought it'd be funny to have him rolling down a street, wreaking havoc and shouting "No one can stop me!" Spidey swings up, tries to web Big Wheel's Ferris Wheel-styled vehicle to halt him, but the webs snap. Big Wheel proclaims no one can stop him again...as he plunges off the pier into the ocean. Before going to rescue him, Peter muses that he though Big Wheel was boasting, not yelling frantically that he'd lost control of his vehicle. 

 The World Midtown High I really hope all the apathetic staff returns! They were a great, unexpected source of comedy and I’d love to see more of them. The other students were great too; Betty Brant’s deer-in-the-headlights news reports were a perfect, realistic high school layer to the environment! All the high school stuff clicked perfectly with the superhero themes, giving the heroics relatable metaphors and grounding them in a realistic world. Let’s see that continue!

The Daily Bugle I’d love for the Bugle to be more than a set for Jonah to rant about Spidey. It’d be cool if it became a place where we could see the varied reactions to Spider-man from the adults in New York, while we see the younger generation’s reaction at school. Robbie Robertson, Glory Grant, and any number of other characters could pop up to fill us in on how the common man sees Spider-man, both in relation to other heroes and as a solo hero. Robbie could push Spidey as the hero he is, Glory could mentor Betty in terms of where her career could take her, etc. The Bugle is practically begging for a MCU parallel to fake news with its anti-Spider-man message, and building on some of the public’s annoyance with Spidey in Homecoming would allow for some brilliant social commentary. The Bugle can also question the validity of the government having its own team of superheros in the Avengers. Is there a problem with state-sponsored heroes?

Horizon Labs Max Modell, Sajani Jaffrey, Anna Maria Marconi, and Co. would be great additions to the Spider-man corner of the MCU! Beyond the bleeding edge super-science Horizon would introduce and the potential path for Peter’s future as a scientist, Max would be a significant scientific mentor for Peter (and one who does not turn into a supervillain). The Lab’s staff is very diverse, continuing the real world look of Midtown High in Homecoming. The staff would also provide a variety of non-villainous perspectives on science for Peter to look up to or disregard, getting him to consider things beyond Tony Stark’s way of doing things. It’d also be interesting to explore not only what inventions they could use to update and aid the city (creating problems for Spidey, no doubt), but whether they should be helping the wall-crawler to more efficiently stop bad guys. Would that make him a corporate-sponsored hero? Should that be a thing? 

The NYPD The police reaction to Spidey should be varied as well. Introducing Captain George Stacy as someone hunting Spidey and eventually mentoring him would be very cool. Jean DeWolffe was eventually a Spider-man supporter in most versions, but her tough-as-nails attitude could work against him as well. Her partner, Stan Carter, could admire Spidey in a twisted way before becoming the masked serial killer Sin-Eater. Yuri Watanabe, who is also the vigilante Wraith, could be a cool parallel to Spidey acting outside the boundaries of the law, particularly if he ever leaves the Avengers and ignores the Sokovia Accords. Carlie Cooper, a police forensic specialist and sometime love interest of Peter’s, could put his secret identity in danger while also eventually resenting being a target because of her association with Spidey. Since Spider-man plays more in the everyday world than most of the MCU heroes, I’d like the local cops to have their own reactions to him rather than just treating him as another Avenger. The same should go for New York’s civilians.

SHIELD What about the Sokovia Accords? Was Peter unofficially drafted into service by Iron Man, as I've suspected? Is he considered a child soldier? If he leaves the Avengers, does he automatically become a fugitive? Would SHIELD put all his closest family and friends in danger to force him back into line? 

Other Heroes Let’s see Spidey interact with the Defenders! I think it’d be funny if the youngest hero were also the one from the biggest stage as an Avenger. Alternatively (or additionally), a Miles-Spidey meeting the Defenders could be cool as well, since they’re almost all representative of the downtrodden and ignored in society. Miles getting lessons on being a hero from the Defenders would give him an entirely different outlook than hanging out with the Avengers, making his point of view that much more different from Peter’s when they team-up..

Animated Features Miles is getting one next year, but what if Sony were to make a series of standalone animated Spider-man films that weren’t in any continuity, then wrapped them together in a Spider-Verse adaptation? Spider-verse dealt with Morlun’s family of immortals absorbing the life-force of people affected by the Spider-totem to sustain themselves. These Inheritors, mainly Morlun, were somewhat vampiric, extremely hard to defeat, and terrifying. They crossed into multiple realities to hunt down the spiders of each, even really clever continuities like the Marvel vs. Capcom video game and Spider-man’s newspaper strip.

Since they’d be animated, it’d be easy to mix them with every version of Spider-man from his numerous animated series (along with those from the comics). You could animate Toby Maguire, Andrew Garfield, Tom Holland, Nicholas Hammond, the Japanese TV Spider-man, and the Broadway Spider-man into this too. We could get Spider-Ham and a sentient Spider-mobile (alias: Peter Parkedcar)! In fact, an animated Spider-verse seems like it’d be the most feasible way of adapting the story into a movie. Regardless of whether they culminate in Spider-Verse or not, the standalone animated films I’d like to see most are as follows:

Spider-man Noir Taking place in an alternate 1930s, Peter Parker Noir is a chance to bring a bit of The Shadow and Batman the Animated Series to the Spider-verse! Peter was affected by an occult artifact in this universe, granting him similar powers to the version we know (though he can create organic webbing). Both his job as an investigative reporter and his main criminal targets being gangsters would make for the perfect throwback to a 30s/40s crime movie. The Parker of this world didn’t learn “with great power, there must also come great responsibility,” but rather “If there is too much power, it’s the responsibility of the people to take it away,” giving him a slightly different outlook and reason for taking action. This Peter also struggles with killing villains, giving him an internal battle that the mainstream Peter doesn’t have. The villains—sometimes patterned after classic movie monsters: Vulture as Dracula, Hammerhead as Frankenstein’s Monster, Goblin as a Wolfman, etc.—are distinctive and the pulpy, film noir vibe is very cool. Spider-man Noir’s struggle for the rights of the people and distrust of anyone with too much power would be a very timely story for today, told in the context of our history.

Spider-man 2099 Miguel O’Hara is the Spider-man of the future and lives in a technologically advanced wonderland that would make a great animated feature. It’d be cool to explore Peter’s legacy in this potential future! Irish-Mexican Miguel was a geneticist working at Alchemax until a genetic bonding experiment caused the death of the person Miguel was testing. Disgusted, he tried to leave, but his boss secretly addicted him to a drug in the hopes that he’d have to stay (Alchemax was the sole manufacturer), but Miguel performed the same genetic test to cure himself of the addiction, giving himself powers when his supervisor sabotaged the experiment in an attempt to kill him. Miguel’s DNA was spliced with a spider’s, giving him the classic Spider powers in addition to a healing factor, enhanced vision, telepathy, organic webs, talons, and fangs. His high-tech suit also allows him to glide. They could go crazy with his futuristic villains, making them stark contrasts to the present-day Spidey’s rogues. In at least one version of his future, Miguel was instrumental in saving, rebuilding, and enhancing the entirety of society, allowing for an epic end-of-the-world story that could actually have a hopeful, definitive ending where Spider-man improves the world for good. They could also play with his adventures in the past trying to maintain his future if they wanted to.

Lady Spider May Reilly lives in the Victorian Age on her Earth and uses a steampunk suit she designed to fight crime. She says the spider that bit her (encountered in a cage in her father’s study) taught her to let no one cage her, which would be a powerful feminist message. She doesn’t have super-powers, instead relying on her intelligence and her inventions to defeat the Six Men of Sinestry and other nefarious criminals. She was the only woman in her university class and achieved three degrees. As a wealthy, brilliant heiress and adventurer, she’d be the perfect character to build a classical—but socially updated—adventure around. There aren’t many Victorian superheroes in film, and a Lady Spider animated movie would stand out from the pack while being visually outstanding.

Spider-Girl The teenage daughter of Peter Parker and Mary Jane in a near-future alternate world, May “Mayday” Parker became Spider-girl when Norman Osborn’s grandson restarted his family’s Goblin legacy. Retired after losing a leg, Peter followed his Aunt May’s example in not wanting his daughter to be Spider-Girl at first. The chance to see how Peter and his supporting cast might end up—and how the world might be improved by his adventures—would be very cool; a way to give an ending to his character and a passing of the Spider torch without it needing to be the ending. May having a father who used to be a superhero himself would also be an easy way to replicate the Peter/Tony relationship, or at least the function it served: May would have someone who could say no to her, reinforcing her teenager status despite her great power. It would also be a fairly fresh relationship, with only Hope Van Dyne and Hank Pym having explored that before. Peter could give practical advice as a former hero and he’d have insights into some of the villains she faces, while she could also prove that it’s a new age and she’s the right hero for it.

 Other Notes Another thing I'd like to see is more self-control from Sony's promotions department. Homecoming didn't have it as bad, but the trailers for both Amazing Spider-man films heavily featured the end credits tag. This would've been like advertising the first Iron Man with Nick Fury and the Avengers Initiative front and center; I'm sure this contributed to the misconception that Amazing Spider-man 2 was nothing but a stepping stone to the Sinister Six, when in reality it is a full and complete movie unto itself. Across the Sony Spider-verse, I hope they're more careful about what they put in their trailers; I'd prefer it if nothing past the runtime’s halfway mark made it in.

I haven't gotten to watch Marvel's Spider-man animated series beyond the pilot, but I'm excited to see Peter and Miles as contemporaries and how Gwen will work as a third Spider-hero. Peter’s focus on science is brilliantly applied—the scientific method is how he calmed himself down after the spider bite and provided the framework for his origin story—and I can’t believe that idea wasn’t used before. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing more! You can find official, free uploads of the origin story shorts here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and the pilot here. I do wish it had more of a theme song, but I’m glad there’s a new Spider-man cartoon on the air!

It'll never happen, but my biggest Spider-man wish would be the return of Spectacular Spider-man. It boasted excellent fights, genuine humor, and a healthy dose of science, responsibility, and heroism from Peter, as well as excellent representations of almost all of Peter's friends and enemies (and Spider-man himself, perfectly voiced by Josh Keaton). That show is my favorite version of the Spider-mythos anywhere and it's a shame we didn't get to see the full version of Greg Weisman's extensive plans.

I’d also love a live-action series to really be able to explore and flesh out all the supporting characters and villains, but that’s unlikely to happen now…at least with Peter as Spidey. However, I think a Miles Morales Spider-man series could be a great addition to either Netflix’s Defenders lineup or to Freeform’s Cloak & Dagger corner of the MCU, so that those three could team up with Ms. Marvel and form their own teen supergroup, the Champions. You could focus the series on Miles and his supporting cast, while Peter drops in occasionally (playing up Miles’ feelings about following in Parker’s footsteps) and the two Spider-men could split the classic villains so they all get a moment in the sun.

I'm very excited for the upcoming PlayStation 4 Spider-man game! The trailer looks outstanding and I'm hoping they find a way to make playing as Spidey feel fresh. Even if it’s something similar to Spider-games of the past, what we’ve seen so far gives me hope this is going to be the best one yet!

What do you want to see from the web-slinger’s world?

#spider-man #homecoming #venom #black cat #spider-gwen #miles morales #gwen stacy #silver and black #hobgoblin #mysterio #scorpion #spider-man noir #spider-man 2099 #lady spider #spider-girl #mary jane watson #sandman #vulture #doctor octopus #eddie brock #ned leeds #michelle #peter parker #marvel #captain america #amazing friends #spectacular spider-man #lizard #kraven the hunter #calypso

[bewitching-elizabeth-olsen]

Press: Elizabeth Olsen: a superstar for our times

  EVENING STANDARD – With her indie flicks and blockbuster roles, Elizabeth Olsen has cultivated the kind of career most actresses dream of. She tells Tiffanie Darke about her famous sisters, her fears for America and how she plans to build her empire

  It’s a sweltering day downtown in the Bowery, the sort of humid August heat when it feels like Manhattan is melting. Boys in artful sarongs and beards cruise the sidewalk, girls in high-waisted cut-offs and snapbacks lean against open-air bars. It’s noon, and no one dares move too fast.

  But Elizabeth Olsen is not hot. In fact, she says she has frostbite in her fingers. Wearing black Calvin Klein jeans she picked up for $20 in a vintage store, slim black ankle boots and an oversized Altuzarra blouse, she’s been in air-conditioned TV studios doing interviews all morning and needs to defrost. She has asked that we meet in Il Buco, a rustic Italian restaurant with the sort of premium paysan menu you’d recognise from places such as the River Cafe. This, she confides, is her favourite restaurant in New York: ‘My sisters have been bringing me here for my birthday since I was 15.’

  Ah yes — her sisters. Mary-Kate and Ashley, the button-cute Disney twins who grew up in the full glare of the public eye, then reinvented themselves as fiercely private fashion entrepreneurs (their label, The Row, is as hot as ever, and they now own high-end concept boutiques in New York and LA). Elizabeth — or Lizzie as she introduces herself — shares their delicate features: blonde locks, Bambi eyes and symmetrical porcelain face. But what’s intriguing about this sister is that she can turn those looks to power.

  Six years after she burst on to the scene with a critically acclaimed performance in the indie flick Martha Marcy May Marlene, her carefully chosen roles have included Scarlet Witch in the unstoppable Marvel franchise, Avengers; Audrey Williams, Hank Williams’ wife and manager in the biopic I Saw the Light; and most recently, FBI agent Jane Banner in Wind River, a harrowing story of rape and murder set on a Wyoming Native American reservation, directed by Oscar-nominated Taylor Sheridan.

  This is the kind of career about which most actors dream: balancing respected low-budget independents with blockbuster international fame. Olsen, it becomes clear, possesses an acute understanding of how to make the business work for her. Doing films like Avengers ‘allows you to sell a film to investors’, she explains, as she helps herself to black kale salad and slivers of pata negra. ‘It gives you recognition in an international market. You then have more freedom of investors for independent films.’ At 28 she has also finally launched herself on social media, having created an Instagram account last year. Under the guidance of her friend, the comedian and actress Aubrey Plaza, she is using it to simultaneously cultivate her fan base and poke fun at herself (check out Olsen’s ‘Feed me Friday’ posts featuring unflattering paparazzi shots of her eating). But she also has an eye on the prize. Any aspiring actor who wants to pick up a commercial deal needs a sizeable social media following. And those commercial deals give you exactly the sort of fame you need to get those independent film projects off the ground. ‘That’s why George Clooney does Nespresso,’ she explains. So far Olsen has cameoed for Miu Miu, but now she’s ready for something more: ‘People want to be a part of something that’s giving back to something else. I would like to be a part of that because it’s something that I would be proud of. But it’s also something that would help me as an actor trying to get films made.’

In this way Olsen is classic New Hollywood — clever, independent, well behaved, working the system. And like every good millennial, she is also strong on activism. ‘It’s horrible to think how the rest of the world is viewing the United States right now. You don’t really know how to fix it as an individual because you can’t. What is cool about what’s happening right now, however, is that while people have always talked about causes that they are interested in, now they are actually actively a part of them.’

  Research for her role in Wind River has only made her more socially aware. ‘I ended up visiting the rape treatment centre in Santa Monica. It’s an amazing facility, for adults and minors. I was like, “What could I actually do?”’ Volunteers run the playroom, so Olsen went through a training course. When she finished filming, she returned to volunteer and now makes it a habit every Tuesday. ‘Going and playing cards with a bunch of really sweet people and just making them feel like a kid when they’re going through a traumatic experience — that to me is something I can walk away and be happy with… You make connections. If you go at the same time every week you see the same people. I see the same people every week when I’m in town. It’s a beautiful community… It’s really an incredible, supportive place. I love being a part of it.’

  It’s no surprise that Wind River led her down other paths. Based on the true stories of the writer and director Taylor Sheridan following the years he lived on a reservation, it shines a light on the loophole in American law that lets those who commit a crime on a reservation (an area of land managed by a Native American tribe, rather than the state government) walk away free if they are not charged within the boundary lines. Given the limited police resources for investigating crimes within these vast jurisdictions, there are numerous undocumented cases of missing Native American girls. No national register exists to account for them. ‘It’s just another example of how we’ve screwed over this group of people from the beginning of this country,’ says Olsen.

  We’re chatting easily now; this is usually the point at which the interviewer attempts to find out if her celebrity is going to divulge any details of who she is dating/fancying/breaking up with. Olsen has been linked to a few leading men in the past, including Tom Hiddleston and singer-songwriter Robbie Arnett. But I can’t quite bring myself to ask. The thing I liked most about Wind River was the absence of a romantic play. With Jeremy Renner — a local hunter whose own missing daughter and broken marriage haunt his every move — taking the title role opposite Olsen, you would expect the actress’s FBI agent to step in as romantic saviour. But she doesn’t. There is no love affair concluding the movie.

  ‘Taylor had to fight people on it,’ says Olsen. ‘Because some people want that to happen. They think that it’s going to make it a better movie or more people would want to see it. Which was one of the reasons I loved the script. It’s just a man and a woman having a partnership trying to figure out how to provide justice for this young girl.’ These are exactly the kinds of roles women want now. ‘The women in his film end up being the strongest. They’re the ones that fight for their life the hardest. He wanted the women to be the survivors.’

  The waiter, who has now begun to suspect that pretty blonde ‘Lizzie’ might be someone more important than a walk-in, is bringing offerings of oozing burrata to the table. It’s becoming clear why this is an Olsen family favourite — the deli round the corner, I’m told, is ‘insane’. Olsen says when she was at film school in New York (she studied at Tisch School of the Arts) she shopped there all the time. Then she remembers Pesantissimo in Primrose Hill, where she lived for a time while filming Avengers: Age of Ultron in 2014, and used as a pit stop off-licence as it had ‘amazing wine’. ‘If I could live in any city, I would want to live in London,’ she says. She was put up there by the Marvel team and hung out with her friends the Taylor-Johnsons, exploring as much of the city as she could by foot. ‘People from London thought I was insane walking from Primrose Hill to Shoreditch along the canal. I ended up having to stop and get blister pads.’

  I can imagine this. Despite her commercial and industry nous, Olsen is not a conventional starlet. She insists she hates the red carpet and finds fashion confounding and difficult — ‘It’s not my comfort zone,’ she shudders. A recent trip to the Paris couture shows was different. ‘I went to a Dior show and ended up getting to wear a look to the premiere in New York. I felt great that night just because I felt like I was in something that I love. Sometimes when I’m not in something that I love I cry on the way to the premiere and I’m posing with my shoulders as far back as they go. Then I look at the photos and I’m like, “It did look nice. Why was I crying?”’ Another revelation for her was this shoot for ES at The Whitby Hotel. ‘The photographer was great, we were in a cool hotel, it was a really great atmosphere. We had a great time. Like genuinely — I ended up getting in a bathtub at the end of it and got my hair wet. It was just fun.’

  She has recently bought a house in the Hollywood Hills, which she is renovating while she rents with a friend. Much of her family lives in LA; her parents, Jarnette, a personal manager, and David, a property developer and mortgage banker, divorced in the mid-Nineties and she has a brother and two half siblings: ‘We have weekly family get-togethers, either my dad cooking at my place or the occasional Valley sushi spot. Sometimes it feels like a lot of things to fit in but it’s good we do it.’ While in New York, though, she is enjoying catching up with Mary-Kate and Ashley: ‘I just had dinner with Ashley when the premiere was happening. She was very sweet to come with me to the after-party.’ She clearly adores them. ‘I just think they’re brilliant women. [On their shops] they’re like, “I like this. I like this world. I like art, I like architecture, I like photography, I like fashion,” and they’ve made it into a company… I’ll go visit them at the office and sit in a meeting if I’m in and out of town. They’ll be talking about piping or buttons [and] they have taught me about art.’

  Like many switched-on young women, Olsen sees herself in the round. The movie career she describes as a ‘part-time job’. On top of that she is also a reluctant fashion muse, fledgling brand ambassador and, most recently, rape crisis volunteer. It might be a lot to handle, but it also means that in these more uncertain times, if one thing goes wrong, there’s plenty more to fall back on. New Hollywood, indeed.

  ‘Wind River’ opens in cinemas on 8 September

        Gallery Links:

Studio Photoshoots > 2017 > Session 030

  Press: Elizabeth Olsen: a superstar for our times was originally published on Elizabeth Olsen Source • Your source for everything Elizabeth Olsen

#Elizabeth Olsen #Lizzy Olsen #Avengers #Scarlet Witch #Wanda Maximoff #Marvel

[thecinerdposts-blog]

As for a lot of British people, Dunkirk is a story I grew up with in its mythic, almost fairy-tale form. It’s been in me, and in my bones, for a very long time. About 20 years ago, in the middle of production on my first film, Following, my producer (and future wife), Emma Thomas, and I went with a friend on his small sailing boat across the Channel to Dunkirk at about the same time of year as the evacuation had taken place. I’d sailed a bit, but mostly inland waterways, so the Channel was a bit of a shock. The weather was very bad. The seas were extremely rough, and the crossing took much longer than it should have. We got to Dunkirk in the middle of the night after 19 hours of sailing. And that was without people dropping bombs on us. We weren’t going into a war zone. I came away with a whole different level of respect, not for the fairy tale, but for the reality of Dunkirk. The more you learn about what really went into it, the more you sail on the Channel, or stand on the beach at Dunkirk and see how flat and wide it is, the more you know about the geography and the physicality of what really took place, the more your admiration grows for the people who took part in the evacuation. But the story has not been told in modern cinema, not since the 1950s, when Leslie Norman made a black-and-white version [starring John Mills and Richard Attenborough]. One reason is that it’s a massive event that needs to be portrayed on a huge scale, which requires a substantial budget. That comes from Hollywood studios. The studios are interested in films about Americans, and there were no Americans involved. So I didn’t want to try and take on this subject until I had enough trust from a studio that they would let  me make it as a British film, but with an American budget. That’s the opportunity that I’ve earned and the one I’ve taken. I threw myself into reading first-hand accounts by people who had been there; a lot had been collected by the Imperial War Museum. Historian Joshua Levine had compiled a book called Forgotten Voices of Dunkirk, and he came on as historical advisor. I spent time talking with him, reading materials that he was able to find for me. Then we had the great honour of actually speaking to veterans of Dunkirk. There are not many left, and they are in their 90s, but some of them graciously gave us their time. They had varied interpretations about what Dunkirk spirit means. We had veterans who thought that it applied to the  little ships arriving to help. Others felt that it specifically applied to the men holding the perimeter, allowing others to escape. We had people for whom it was simply propaganda. It was something not real, cooked up by Churchill. A lot of different interpretations. And that is the approach we have taken in the film: to try to suggest to the audience that they’re seeing aspects of the evacuation, but that there are myriad other stories. With so many people involved – 400,000 people on a beach, give or take – you discover a lot of radically different experiences. You find order, but you also find chaos. You find nobility, but also cowardice. One of the stories that stuck with me and worked its way into the film was a veteran telling me about watching people walk into the sea, just as if they were going to swim home. I asked him, ‘Were they literally trying to swim back to England or swim out to a ship; were they killing themselves?’ He didn’t know, but he knew they were going to die. It’s a chilling thing to hear. I knew I didn’t want to make a film that could be dismissed as old-fashioned, something that wasn’t relevant to today’s audiences. What that ruled out for me immediately was getting bogged down in the politics of the situation. We don’t have generals in rooms pushing things around on maps. We don’t see Churchill. We barely glimpse the enemy. It’s a  survival story. I wanted to go through the experience with  the characters. My pitch to Warner Bros was: we’re going to put the audience into the cockpit of a Spitfire and have them dogfight the Messerschmitts. We’re going to put them on the beach, feeling the sand getting everywhere, confronting the waves. We’re going to put them on small civilian boats bouncing around on the waves on this huge journey heading into a terrifying war zone. It’s virtual reality without the headset. We were very, very clear that rather than using CG recreations, we were going to try to find real ships and planes that matched those from the time as closely as possible. We would find the actual planes, and fly them in dogfights against each other, and get the camera and the actor up in the plane. We were going to do this for real to the extent that we could. You have to go to the experts. We got in touch with a chap called Dan Friedkin who owns six Spitfires and is a fantastic flier. We got him to talk about the characteristics of the planes, how they flew, what G-forces the pilot can really sustain. When film-makers create dogfights using computer-generated planes, they violate the laws of physics in pursuit of visual energy. We wanted to create suspense  by teaching the audience how difficult aerial combat was. How you bank when chasing a plane: in order to try to shoot you have to get your gunsight ahead of the target and anticipate how far it can move, what the wind is going to do to the bullets and the tracer fire. Nothing crashed that wasn’t supposed to. There was a rumour that I bought an antique plane and crashed it. We didn’t do that. We built replicas when destruction was required. Even though this was by far the most complicated set of aerial scenes I’ve done, I had done aerial work before on films such as The Dark Knight Rises [the third of Nolan’s Batman series, starring Christian Bale, 2012]. I knew the pilots, the cameraman, I knew how I would approach it. And I’ve done a lot of land-based action, but boats, that was an entirely new thing for me. And very, very challenging. We wanted to get across the terrifying aspects of the way in which ships were sunk. Over 230 ships were lost during the daily evacuations, including six British Destroyers. There were quite a few moments when I thought, ‘I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.’ I think we had as many as 62 vessels out on the water on one day. I had never done anything remotely like that – I don’t know if anybody has. That was daunting. I spoke to film-makers who’d shot on open water – Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard – and got some great advice. Both Steven and Ron felt that the best camera mode for shooting on a boat is handheld – even though we were shooting IMAX format – because the camera-men could steady themselves against the movement of the boat. That proved to be the case. That’s the way you get it done. When I went to discuss things with Mark Rylance [who plays a civilian bringing his boat over to help with the evacuation], it was vital for him to understand the boat and to feel the tiller. He needed to find how the physics of the situation could inform our understanding of the humanity of his character. The younger actors such as Tom Glynn-Carney and Fionn Whitehead were excited by the idea of what the physical conditions could give them. It was vital for them, to be there on the beach, to be out in the water. They’re really in the elements and experiencing it and moving through it as people would have at the time. It was great to watch Kenneth Branagh [who plays a senior officer supervising the embarkation of larger vessels] find the emotional truth of what it must have been like to be so close to home yet unable to get the troops back there. As a director himself he completely understood the elements we were up against. We were out on this structure called a ‘mole’, a sort of breakwater that extends a kilometre out to sea. So when you’re out shooting in the heavy wind and heavy waves and the nearest loo is a half an hour walk away, he just held it – for Queen and country.  The water was a huge component of what the actors were going to have to go through. They would be in the water, in the Channel – not just for individual shots, but for whole shooting days – so it was very important that they were trained to deal with that safely. Our stunt guys put together a team of instructors. They did weeks of intense physical training where they would run in the waves, swim in the waves, and get used to being in rough, hazardous conditions. I think it was a shock to some of them. Early shooting days were in some of the worst weather, and very few film crews would have carried on shooting. But for us, it looked marvellous with all this amazing foam washing up on the beach. I’m always told that I’m known in the film business for having good luck with the weather. That’s inaccurate. I often have terrible luck with the weather, but my philosophy is to try and keep shooting. Be opportunistic – grab the bad-weather scenes when the weather’s really bad, and always keeping going, no matter what the conditions are, as long as it’s safe. My cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema and I put wetsuits or drysuits on; he had housings made for the cameras so they could go out in the waves: when it came to open-water work, the camera could actually float half in, half out of the water. We were in there, swimming with the actors. The fact that we were able to be out there with them, experiencing what they were dealing with, defined the spirit of those scenes. Being in it together and not sitting in a tent looking at video is vital for this kind of film, if you’re going to keep up morale and if you’re going to put the audience right there, in the action. But however challenging our process became, we were always aware that our trials were nothing compared to what people experienced in 1940. The idea behind Dunkirk that we’re trying to get across is that it’s not about individual heroics. It’s about communal heroism. It’s about the tremendous sense of community that was vital to the operation. That’s what makes the story unique and that’s why I think it has always served as a rallying point for British people. I also think it’s a universal story – about the individual drive for survival. And the fundamental concept of a desperation to get home.

Christopher Nolan’s essay on Dunkirk

#christopher nolan #dunkirk #cinema #film #filmmaker

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Halo Infinite Director Departure Raises Yet Another Red Flag

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343 Industries director Chris Lee has informed Bloomberg that he is no longer working on Halo Infinite and will instead be focusing on other opportunities at Microsoft.

“I have stepped back from Infinite and I am looking at future opportunities,” Lee said. “I believe in the team and am confident they will deliver a great game and now is a good time for me to step away.”

This move follows Lee’s reported decision to pivot from Halo Infinite around the time that 343 and Microsoft confirmed that the game’s release date has been delayed until 2021. Now, it seems that he has walked away from the project entirely (at least for the time being). That leaves Joe Staten in charge of Halo Infinite‘s single-player and Pierre Hintze responsible for the oversight of Infinite‘s multiplayer development.

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Taken by itself, this announcement wouldn’t necessarily mean anything beyond the pure facts of the situation. Chris Lee is, by all accounts, an incredibly talented industry veteran who most people have nothing but praise for, but these things do happen from time to time. When they do, very talented teams of developers pick up the slack and move ahead.

However, this isn’t really a case of an isolated incident. It’s the latest in a long series of events that have fans worried that the red flags surrounding Halo Infinite are starting to pile up.

Halo Infinite's studio head has left the project. That underlines the difficult situation over at 343. I have a feeling we won't see Halo Infinite for a while yet. https://t.co/rCMsIyygYY

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) October 28, 2020

One day there will be good news about Halo Infinite is something I wish I could say with any level of confidence https://t.co/O9fEFn9Zp2

— KZ 🗝️ (@KZXcellent) October 28, 2020

See, Chris Lee is not the first project overseer to walk away from Halo Infinite. He is, to our knowledge, the third. Former Halo Infinite creative director Tim Longo left 343 Industries in 2019 followed by Executive Producer Mary Olson. While 343 downplayed the idea that Olson was Longo’s direct replacement in every respect, Microsoft explained at the time of Longo’s departure that “the overall creative vision and production of the game remains led by Chris Lee, Studio Head of Halo Infinite.” Well, now Lee is gone.

That many high-level departures are typically enough to spell trouble, but Longo and Olson’s departures happened before Halo Infinite was delayed to 2021 despite its high-profile position as the Xbox Series X premiere launch game. While Infinite‘s delay was partially attributed to complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s starting to become clear that the additional development problems 343 and Microsoft alluded to in their delay statement may include the behind-the-scenes turmoil that insiders have reported on in recent months.

Oh, and it’s very much worth mentioning that our first look at Halo Infinite‘s gameplay was met with a resounding “meh” by fans who strongly suspected that we were looking at an incomplete version of the game or, even worse, a game that was shaping up to resemble 343’s vision for Halo Infinite.

On top of all of that, one of the few extensive updates we’ve received in recent weeks regarding Halo Infinite‘s development focused on the game’s now-controversial armor and shading system which could emphasize microtransactions and paid promotions. It’s generally not a good sign when we’re talking about a high-profile project that we’ve barely seen gameplay of that’s already hyping a Monster Energy promotion.

Ultimately, that’s what we’re dealing with. Bad signs, red flags, or whatever you want to call them. We’ve seen them before in other games, and they typically result in a product that takes months or years to fix (if it’s ever fixed at all).

Maybe that’s why more and more people seem to be calling for Halo Infinite to be delayed…again.

At this point, while I'm hankering for a new Halo badly & want to continue Chief's story, I honestly wouldn't mind if Microsoft pushed Infinite into 2022. There's going to be *so* many games to play over the next year, they can take as long as they need to get it right to me 🤷‍♂️

— Shinobi602 (@shinobi602) October 28, 2020

Unfortunate to see Chris Lee leave 343i and now more than ever please get the leadership and direction needed while TAKING ALL THE TIME YOU NEED to make Halo Infinite the best game it can be Halo is the flagship, we all want it to be amazinghttps://t.co/egdughJN2z

— Parris (@vicious696) October 28, 2020

Halo Infinite has lost its second director in 2 years, with Chris Lee stepping away from the game I love the Halo franchise, but Infinite has clearly had a VERY difficult development. I'm fine with Infinite getting a long delay all the way until Holiday 2021 if it needs it https://t.co/hqgnUIgs0r

— Benji-Sales (@BenjiSales) October 28, 2020

As hard as it is to think about Halo Infinite being delayed into 2022 after it was positioned to be one of the biggest games of 2020, the alternatives aren’t much better. Microsoft already reportedly considered releasing Halo Infinite‘s multiplayer and single-player separately, which doesn’t exactly scream confidence in whichever mode gets released first (probably the single-player). While it’s also possible that Halo Infinite could be released in whatever playable state it’s in by a 2021 cutoff date and 343 could just improve the game from there, that strategy hasn’t exactly worked for Fallout 76, Anthem, and Marvel’s Avengers.

There’s a growing sense of fatigue regarding the “good eventually” game, especially when it’s tied to a big budget, full price tag, and famous franchise/developer. Microsoft is trying to launch a next-gen console on the promise of the future of the Xbox brand. They don’t need one of their biggest names burdened with one of the worst development trends of this generation.

We don’t know what shape the playable version of Halo Infinite is in today. What we do know is that if everything was going according to plan with the game’s development, you’d be playing Halo Infinite on November 10. You won’t be. Now, it’s just a matter of when you will be able to play the game and whether or not the game will eventually make you forget the wait, however long it may be.

The post Halo Infinite Director Departure Raises Yet Another Red Flag appeared first on Den of Geek.

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