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minghellafine · 3 years

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Spiral is now available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD, and digitally. The Saw spin-off stars Chris Rock, Samuel L. Jackson, and Max Minghella in the lead roles and is directed by Saw II-IV director Darren Lynn Bousman in his return to helming the horror series. While it exists in the Saw universe, it’s very much its own thing and provides a fresh experience.

ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke with Spiral star Max Minghella about the film, a possible sequel, his relationship with the Saw franchise, and much more.

Tyler Treese: I really liked Spiral and it’s this great mix of genres as you’ve got the Saw-type horror and the torture scenes, but the first half of the film is very much kind of like a buddy cop movie. Can you speak to that interesting blend of genre that we have?

Max Minghella: I was very excited when I started to realize that that’s the direction the movie was going to go in. I love buddy cop movies. I really miss movies like that. I had been craving it as a movie fan, so I was really relieved by that. And then I thought that the needle thread of the Saw franchise and the identity of that franchise into this other story was so brilliantly handled in very kind of successful, you know what I mean on the page. I can really see how this works and is very much the movie I’d go and see even if I had nothing to do with it.

You couldn’t get a better buddy cop partner than Chris Rock. He just has so much natural charisma. He’s so funny in the first 30 minutes of the film. Can you talk about your chemistry on set and how it was getting to have him as your buddy cop?

Yeah, I mean, it’s an insane privilege and he’s just somebody I love so much in every way. I love him as a actor performer. I loved him as a filmmaker and it was really fun just getting to have meaningful time with somebody you look up to so much and see how they work and pick their brain. I’m sure Chris got very bored of me badgering him with questions all the time, but I had such a good time getting to work with him. We really had fun together.

Before signing onto Spiral, were you a big fan of the Saw franchise, and what was it like coming into such an established series? It just crossed the billion dollar mark. What are the expectations of coming into a series like that?

I think it’s the first franchise thing I’ve done. I love franchises just in general. I love the concept of them. I love how they exist in film culture. I like the challenges of having to keep them alive and what’s about them and it really appeals to me. So that was just exciting, just fundamentally to be a part of a franchise, like you said, and sort of take on that responsibility, I suppose. I also love so much about the DNA of Saw movies, so I love the kind of whodunnit element of them. I love how sort of visceral it is an experience for an audience, especially when you’re watching it. It’s so fun to watch these movies with people. To answer your question about my familiarity with the franchise. I had seen several of them, but the one I’ve always loved, and I think I owned on DVD like way before being involved in this, was Saw II. I love Saw II. I’m a big twist guy, like a big twist fan, and that movie has got a great twist.

Spiral saw the return of Darren Lynn Bousman as the director. How exciting was it to get to work with him? He has helmed so many great Saw films in the past and now he gets to reinvent it here with you and Chris Rock onboard.

Yeah. It was great to have Darren back. He was such a smart choice. To have somebody who was one of the architects of the Saw aesthetic, which is a very specific aesthetic. I don’t think any other movies share this sort of visual technique. So there’s a lovely, I mean, I think the movie is a great blend of the old guard and then the new kids, you know, Chris [Rock] and Sam [Jackson] and Marisol [Nichols], myself, we’re all completely new to the franchise, but then almost everybody else involved has been there for a minute and it’s like a family, you know what I mean? It really does feel very kind of an intimate group of people and very familiar.

You grew up around movies, you’ve gotten to work with so many incredible actors, so I’m sure it’s not super often where you’re like, “Wow, I can’t believe I’m with this guy,” but Samuel L. Jackson. If that’s ever going to happen, it’s probably him. How cool was it getting to work with a legend like him and cross that off your bucket list?

It’s pretty cool and unexpected. This movie was sort of almost always a pinch yourself kind of job, to be honest. There’s very few days on set where I wasn’t like, I can’t believe I’m going to [do this]. Sam Jackson is truly one of the great actors of all time, it’s a pretty ridiculous situation to be in.

One thing I really like about your character is that he has these very valid grievances about police corruption and that’s a true-to-life issue. Spiral spotlights it, but it’s a very real issue and very timely for the society that we’re in. Did having that interesting backstory for the character really help you dive into playing this role?

I love when you have compassion for a villain. I think it’s so much more compelling than when they are impossible to relate to. So that was really important to me that when he said things. It was his own sort of mad logic to him, obviously the way that he goes about practicing his beliefs is completely wrong, but there’s something there sort of relatable I think to what he’s saying. That’s much more interesting always.

We see that in the original series with Jigsaw and Saw always had some social commentary and some interesting morality questions. Can you speak to Spiral also bringing those philosophical elements and how the series has stayed really interesting? It would have been so easy to just be leaning into just the gore element, but instead, you keep that philosophy and having the moral ambiguity.

Like you said, man, it’s so essential to the DNA of these movies. There’s John Kramer and he always had some interesting perspective on things and reasons for doing things. I think it’s essential that that sort of stays in it, even though Spiral is obviously a very different direction. I think for these movies it is its own story and its kind of its own sort of journey in a way, but there are certain things you don’t want to lose and that’s one of them. You want a compelling villain and I think compelling villains aren’t just being idiots with their point of view.

There’s not many people that can say they fought Chris Rock in a fistfight. How fun was that final fight sequence in the film, and you got the punch Chris Rock! How cool is that?

Again, man, it was all so much fun. Everything was so much fun. I just felt like a kid on the playground. It was crazy. I mean all of it’s like the stuff you sort of dream about doing as a kid. I think there’s a line in the movie where, “I started dreaming about this since I was 12 years old,” and I felt that was pretty resonant for me because I really have. I grew up with a Beverly Hills Cop poster above my bed since as long as I’ve been a conscious person. I really like movies like this where the genre movies have real stakes, but have a sense of humor and aren’t pretentious. It’s very specific to what I want to go and see.

Before we get the big reveal of yourself as the villain, we see the villain in a pig mask a lot. Was it actually you wearing the mask in those scenes?

That’s funny, man. You’re the second person to ask me that question. Yes, not always. I mean it depends on what we’re doing. But absolutely. As long as it’s not some big dangerous stunt.

There are some gruesome and really clever traps in Spiral. Did any of those stick out as a particular favorite for you and what was it like getting to see how they’re actually, with the movie magic and all that, how they’re actually concocted?

It’s dope, so cool. It’s really fun. The subway trap is my favorite. I feel it was really brilliant way into the movie, so cinematic, and that set was crazy sort of built that station. That was so cool. I felt like going to Universal’s studio tour thing. That was how I felt.

Saw fans are very passionate. How’s the reception been? You talked about this being your first franchise, how cool was it to enter that fandom?

I’ve got to say, I would be lying to you if I said I wasn’t anxious before the film was released. Obviously I felt a huge amount of responsibility to the fans of these movies and didn’t want them to feel let down by the performance. I’ve been so like grateful and moved by how kind of nice that community is. I mean, nice is maybe a weak word to use, but they’re really supportive. They love these movies. They’ve been really supportive of the movie and supportive of us, the new actors, and I’m very relieved and it means a lot.

With the way the film ends, there’s obviously some unfinished business between yourself and Chris Rock’s character. Would you be interested in returning for a sequel?

For sure, if there was an appetite for us to come back. I think we both love to do another one. But we did this without any expectations of anything beyond. I think it’s a very unusual ending and also very unique and exciting one. I haven’t seen something that sort of ends with such a pronounced cliffhanger. So I’m certainly curious to know what’s gonna happen.

For your other projects, you’ve got Babylon coming up, which has just the most incredible star-studded cast. It even has Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

I know. That’s cool, right?

It’s really cool. I believe filming starts on that soon. How thrilled are you to just get to work with so many talented actors on one set?

Yeah, man. Amazing. I’m a huge fan of Damien Chazelle and he’s sort of one of my sort of heroes. So I’m really looking forward to getting to be on set with him and see how he works. All of this is sort of like an education, you’re really just trying to work with people you can learn from and hopefully, we’ll make it better. I can’t think of a group of people to be around that’s more talented.

We spoke about passionate fans earlier. The Handmaid’s Tale has so many passionate watchers and Season 4 had a really shocking ending. What are you looking forward to the most in Season 5?

Season 4 is, by some pretty wide margin, my favorite season we’ve shot. I really loved the season. It’s funny because it’s an ensemble show, and as a result,I don’t know what everyone else is doing. I’m not there on set when everyone else is shooting that stuff. I play a pretty small part in the show, so when it comes out, I get to watch it like an audience member and go along for the ride. I just had such an amazing time watching it this year. I was so proud of everybody in the cast and crew. It was tough circumstances, as you can imagine, shooting during a pandemic and especially Elisabeth Moss just was incredible this year, really just took care of everyone and for it to come out as strong as it was, was really amazing. I never thought I’d be so excited to go into Season 5 of a TV show, but I get more and more excited every year as we get further into it and it just keeps staying so strong. It’s amazing. I can’t believe how lucky I am to be on a show that is that good.

It’s kind of rare to see a show building on its quality over time. Usually it peaks in Season 2 or 3, but like you said, Season 4 is the best one yet. It was very exciting as a fan to see how it’s going to continue.

Thank you. It’s amazing and that people are still watching a show and sticking with us. We are all so conscious. It’s sort of pathetic actually, whenever The Handmaid’s Tale cast talk about anything, we’re just all so conscious of how singular this experience is and how we can’t take it for granted. I think stuff like this comes along very, very rarely, and when you’re lucky enough to be a part of something that you like so much and other people seem to like.

Over the past five years, we’ve seen you find success as a screenwriter and a director as well. Working behind the camera and looking at the scenes from that different perspective, does that help your acting as well?

That’s a good question. I dunno. I don’t know if I can do anything about my acting talents, but it comes from a very simple place, man, because I just love movies so much. Just the fact that I don’t really know about anything else. Like if you asked me about where any country is on a map, I would have no idea, but I’m okay with movies. Like I kind of know movies and, and so I get impatient. I’m a bit of a workaholic and I just want to do whatever I can. So it would be on set. So we get to engage creatively and I can do it a little bit. It’s really different. Well, what I think is interesting about it is often have a day where I have to have a call maybe as a producer and then a call as a writer, then a call as a director, then a call as an actor, and each conversation I’m treated quite differently or my job is so different. Switching those hats is I think quite good and keeps you in check and keeps your feet on the ground and keeps you hungry and all that stuff. So I feel very lucky I get to do different things.

When you were growing up, one of your goals was to be a music video director. Is that something that you still want to wind up doing down the line?

I got to make a movie that I think exorcised a lot of those demons. So I have to be honest, I have less of a burning desire to sort of work in that space because I felt like I got to sort of express that part of me a little bit. That said, I love music videos. It’s one of my favorite mediums. The tricky thing, and I’m sure most people would tell you this, is that music videos have very, very limited budgets. When I was a kid, this was the year of like Francis Lawrence and Hype Williams where people were getting like $4 or $5 million to make these two-minute clips. Now when I’m sent music video stuff, it’s like the budgets are very, very limited. So you really have to be passionate about it because you’re basically going to have to spend money to make it. So to answer your question I would love to do some music videos, but I think there has to be things that I was really, really married to.

In the past decade and some change we’ve seen superhero films become all the rage. Would you be interested in those types of projects and are there any comic characters that appeal to your acting sensibilities?

I kind of like all kinds of movies. I don’t have a genr that I’m not into. Yeah, I’m totally open to that. I think as long as I felt useful ther., I mean, that’s totally how I approach everything. It’s not so much about the glamor of an opportunity so much as whether I think I could actually contribute something. If I can’t, I don’t think it’s helpful for me to do it, then nobody wins. But if there was a show that I felt like, oh, I could do this and maybe not sink the ship then for sure.

#max minghella #spiral #the handmaid's tale #spiral: from the book of saw #babylon #interviews #*

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vs-redemption · 3 years

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for the character ask game: Luck, Magna, Finral, Gauche and Vanessa

From Cindy: Hey anon! I’m sorry this took so long to post! I just had to really think about some of these! It was super fun to write though, so thank you so much!

*Sorry this is so long!*

Luck Voltia

First impression

I had a tough time getting over the fact that his English VA was the same as Midoriya from BNHA at first, but thankfully that went away pretty fast. I pretty much loved Luck immediately though. I heard him trying to fight people with that crazy look on his face and was sold. I also lost my mind a bit when they started calling him the “cheery berserker.” Like, please give me a nickname like this please.

Impression now

I still love Luck a lot! My initial reasoning still stands, but I’ve also enjoyed that we’ve had a few peeks into his past and inner workings of his mind to understand not only WHY he acts the way he does but also gain an understanding that he has complex emotions and isn’t just a crazy fighting machine.

Favorite moment

All Luck moments are great, but I always laugh when I think about the time Mereoleona blasted into the Black Bulls hideout to kidnap people for training. Everyone else looked horrified to be dragged away by her fire claw arms, but Luck just has this super happy excited look on his face! He’s so cute.

Idea for a story

What about Luck discovering he loves a hobby other than fighting? Like singing or drawing? Or an AU where he’s in a boy band or something ahaha

Unpopular opinion

I do love his friendship with Magna, but I do feel like it’s a bit unbalanced at times and maybe toxic for Magna. I’ve said this before, but Magna is pretty sensitive and seems to get genuinely upset when Luck manages to outperform him, especially when Luck managed to get into the magic knights and he didn’t. Luck is also kinda blunt about things sometimes, and even if he doesn’t really mean any harm by it, it makes me feel bad for Magna.

Favorite relationship

Despite what I just said, of course I enjoy Luck and Magna’s relationship. Luck inspires Magna to get stronger, and Magna is patient enough to endure Luck’s antics while also serving as an example of what human relationships should look like since poor Luck has such a weird, unhealthy relationship/attachment to his mom.

Favorite headcanon

It’s hard to imagine Luck in a romantic relationship since he’s just a small ball of crazy energy, but I’d like to think he’d be super warm and cuddly with someone he loves.

Magna Swing

First impression

I had a hard time knowing how I felt about Magna at first. I never disliked him but I went back and forth about him a lot and I’m not sure why. I’m naturally drawn to characters associated with fire, so I liked his magic right away. I suppose it took me a while to get used to his personality though. I think his appearance threw me off a bit too.

Impression now

I’m cool with Magna! He acts loud and tough all the time, but inside he’s actually really sweet. He’s a hard worker, which I respect, and he deeply cares about his friends and teammates in the black bulls.

Favorite moment

I like when he introduced that new vanishing fireball attack (I think against Asta in the royal knight exam). That was so cool that he adapted his power and learned from the mistakes from previous fights. I also just love any time he freaks out and starts batting fireballs at Luck. It’s funny. Or any time he screams about his crazy cyclone.

Idea for a story

What if someone wrote a fic where Magna joins the Crimson Lions instead of the Black Bulls? He could train his fire magic with the Vermillion family. That might be neat.

Unpopular opinion

Magna isn’t really my type, looks wise, but I definitely did a double take during the elf fights when his sunglasses were off and his hair was all disheveled.

Favorite relationship

I really like Magna’s relationship with Yami. Magna really respects the captain, and it’s nice to see them go out and do their gambling together even though it usually ends up with them returning empty handed and naked. haha

Favorite headcanon

Magna seems pretty shy about relationship stuff. He looks and acts like a punk, but I bet he’d be a perfect gentleman to his significant other. I can imagine him defending their honor or just taking care of any assholes who try to bully them.

Finral Roulacase

First impression

Oh Finral! It’s hard to remember clearly, but I think I felt disappointed with him at first. He was just kind of this guy that was obsessed with getting a date and used by Yami for making portals. I didn’t like how lazy and unmotivated he seemed.

Impression now

I am a firm believer that Finral is a precious bean and I love him so much! Now that I know where his insecurities come from, I can understand and sympathize with his nervousness and low self-confidence. I absolutely love how he’s been working harder and learning to use his magic in more useful ways to become a more valuable member of the team though. He’s starting to stand up for himself and become not only a better magic knight, but a better person in general too. (Although his flirting never bugged me that much)

Favorite moment

I don’t like that Finral got hurt so badly, but the moment where Langris was attacking him and every member of the black bulls rushed to stop him was really powerful. It showed that he was a loved member of the squad, plus the whole fact that he was finally making a stand against his brother was a big deal for him.

Idea for a story

I’d like to read anything about Finral with someone, either a friend or partner, who gives him lots of affection and verbal praise so the poor guy can build up his confidence a little. He deserves that. Smother him with love and affection! Do it!

Unpopular opinion

I don’t really care for the whole “competing to marry Lady Finesse” thing. I want Finral to find happiness and be able to have a comfortable and respected role within his family, but I’m not too concerned about if he ends up with her.

Favorite relationship

I’ve been thinking about this for a few minutes and I honestly can’t come up with one, which is sad. Maybe I’m forgetting someone but it doesn’t seem like Finral has any close relationships/friendships. I know he’s friends with everyone in the Black Bulls but nobody stands out as being especially close to him.

Favorite headcanon

Finral probably has a lot of guilty pleasure hobbies that help him manage his anxiety. For example baking, knitting, reading romance novels, or listening to cheesy love songs.

Vanessa Enoteca

First impression

I feel like I was just curious and confused about most of the Black Bulls when they were first introduced because they all seemed like… lazy or unmotivated, so I didn’t understand why they were even in the magic knights or how they passed the exam. Turns out Yami just hands out Black Bull robes like Halloween candy. lolol

Impression now

I like the growth her character has gone through during the series. She seemed like a lazy drunk at first, but when she is motivated she is REALLY motivated. Her loyalty to the Black Bulls is so absolute that it seems like she’d sacrifice ANYTHING or pay any price for her friends.

Favorite moment

When she goes back to the witch queen and offers to give up her freedom to try and save Asta’s arms. It is such a selfless thing to do and it just shows how much Vanessa loves her teammates.

Idea for a story

Uh… a soulmate AU that involves her red thread magic?

Unpopular opinion

I thought it was kind of random that she apparently has a crush on Yami. Like, its fine… I also have a crush on Yami, but I didn’t think it was necessary. Her admiration for him could just be platonic and that would be just as meaningful.

Favorite relationship

Either her relationship with Finral or her relationship with Yami probably. Even though I’m not a huge fan of the green in Finral’s hair, I think it’s cute that he came to Vanessa for advice and that she wants to help him reinvent himself.

Favorite headcanon

Why did I just think of Vanessa and Gordon running an apothecary together? They can just brew potions and poisons together and it would be great. I don’t know.

Gauche Adlai

First impression

Was I supposed to have any other impression than that he was a super creepy sister lover? haha

Impression now

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get over the sister thing. That actually upsets me because everything else about Gauche is so cool to me. His magic is really awesome, and I love how unique and creative it is. And honestly, I don’t even care that he’s obsessed with his sister. I get that she’s the only family he really had and that he’s protective, but it doesn’t have to be that weird. It really doesn’t.

Favorite moment

I really liked when he used his magic to make a bunch of doubles of Asta, and every other time he caved and actually worked together with other members of the Black bulls. I also like whenever he blasts Asta with a mirror out of nowhere because Marie said something about liking him. Poor Asta has no idea why he’s getting attacked.

Idea for a story

Oh! How about Gauche taking over the church where his sister lives and becoming the protector of all the children? Or he could run a “scared straight” program where he intimidates delinquents into becoming better citizens.

Unpopular opinion

I’m not sure but I think most of his lines about Marie are actually hilarious. Like when he wouldn’t attack Sally’s monster thing because it looked like Marie. That was amusing. It’s just that when his nose starts bleeding and stuff, that makes it go from funny to awkward and creepy.

Favorite relationship

I’ll go with his relationship with the nun. He is such an asshole to her, but she throws it back without hesitation.

Favorite headcanon

I have no idea, but can we start shipping him with that scales dude (Damnatio Kira). I just thought of that and it’s making me happy to imagine it.

#Chat with cindy #black clover #luck voltia #finral roulacase #magna swing #vanessa enoteca #Gauche Adlai

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houseguest · 4 years

Text

FE3H ATLA au

Okay, so this is going to be entirely self indulgent and probably really wordy but I really love atla and just started re-watching it for the umpteenth time so here we go! (BIG SPOILERS FOR FE3H AND ATLA!!! also if anyone wants to know more or if there are any specific questions about the plot changes or my interpretation of this au then please feel free to ask)

So first off, I just want to say that I’m basing everyone’s bending on where they were born, where their house name was established, their story-line and/or whether they have a crest, so some of their bending types may not match their personality or “style” but I feel like it’s a little more realistic

I’m gonna start with Byleth, the Avatar themself!

Jeralt is a non-bender so this was a surprise to him, he was a little overwhelmed... he had a little experience with Airbending because he used to work at the Church but the other elements were a lost cause to him, he doesn’t get the whole “spirituality” thing

Byleth is not a master of all the elements by the time they get to the church, but they do know some very specialized moves they learned from wandering teachers and benders that were part of the mercenary group

They didn’t necessarily “start” as any particular bender since they aren’t really part of the other nations/territories, but Sothis is the Avatar spirit (this world’s version of Raava)

Their bending style is very rough, and usually involve other weapons, so they are very skilled in non-bender fighting techniques and hardly uses their bending during mercenary work so most people don’t even know they are the Avatar

On to the Fire Empire!

Edelgard is a Firebender naturally, but due to the experiments, she became an artificial combustion-bender (with eye markings on hands not forehead, just to hide them) The stress of this new power turned her hair white

Hubert is a non-bender, but is trained in all manor of Firebending fighting styles and techniques. He fights with long-distance weapons like throwing knives and kusarigama (chain scythe)

Dorothea is a non-bender and still wants to be a singer, BUT she is a chi blocker too, and learned the technique in order to defend herself from stalkers and aggressive fans

Ferdinand is a Firebender and tries to compete with Edelgard in Agni Kai all the time. He’s actually a really good bender, but has trouble adjusting to other bending styles because he doesn’t want to stray from his family’s noble bending techniques

Bernadetta is a Firebender and she hates it. She is terrified of fire, and usually sticks strictly to bows. Her backstory is the same, but now we have the added trauma of her father being a Firebender too...

Caspar is a non-bender that is good at close-combat. He finds bending really cool and loves learning the movements, but is very dedicated to showing everyone how powerful non-benders can be

Petra is also a non-bender, but she was taught extremely specialized moves from her country, she’s a lot like the Kyoshi warriors in the atla series, but she is also an experienced chi-blocker and teaches Dorothea a lot of moves

Linhardt is, sadly, a Firebender. He doesn’t really like it, because he sees it as very violent and he hates blood and I would also assume burning flesh. He loves studying bending variations though! He’s one of the first to figure out lightning redirection

The Water Kingdom!

Dimitri is a Waterbender but he has a very aggressive, Firebender-like fighting style when let loose due to practicing in that way with Edelgard as kids. He tries to suppress it with calmer movements. He is good at finding water in tough environments and knows how to take it from the air

Dedue is a non-bender and specializes in brawling and close-combat. Bending is just a normal part of his day, so he doesn’t really care much about it and actually knows a lot of moves to counter other’s bending

Felix is a Waterbender and was taught much of what he knows from Glenn. After his brother’s death, he became closed off from everyone and trained his Waterbending all the time to catch up to his late brother. He is the best Ice-bender among them

Mercedes is, surprisingly, a Firebender. Since she was born in empire territory but fled to the kingdom, she had a hard time finding someone to teach her. She resorted to having lessons from Waterbenders, which developed a very unique Firebending style

Ashe is a non-bender. He always wanted to be a knight, but worried they wouldn’t accept him due to being a non-bender and his criminal past. He was even more passionate when he discovered an official kingdom group of non-bender warriors established by one of previous Avatars, Loog

Annette is a Waterbender and is extremely clumsy with bending ice. She is determined to perfect her bending, and attended the same bending school as Mercedes, so she learned some Firebender moves too

Sylvain is a Waterbender, but is just terrible at it. He usually sticks to weapons like spears, but still uses it sometimes for tricks. He thinks people only care about how he is a bender, so he hates bending in general. Miklan was a non-bender and was replaced as heir because of that

Ingrid is an Earthbender. Since house Galatea was split from house Daphnel which is in the Earth Alliance, Ingrid inherited Earthbending after years of non-benders in the family. She is very good at keeping Sylvain’s flirtations at bay with her powerful attacks. The betrothal necklace Glenn gave her is very special to her

The Earth Alliance!

Claude, despite being the leader of the Earth Alliance, is an Airbender. This makes many people suspicious, but he dismisses it as much as possible, saying that one of his parents was a wandering Air Nomad or sometimes saying they were a member of the Air Churches

Lorenz is an Earthbender despite how strange that sounds. He is very formal about it, and argues why an Airbender is the leader of the Earth Alliance in order to raise his position. He later becomes a Metal-bender

Hilda is an Earthbender along with her brother Holst. She doesn’t like to Earthbend though because she thinks it’s too much work and too dirty. She is very good at it though, super skilled

Raphael is a non-bender that uses a lot of close-combat weapons. He doesn’t care too much about bending in general, but he thinks Earthbenders are pretty cool, mostly just because a lot are strong

Lysithea is a natural Earthbender, but due to the experiments she became an artificial Lava-bender. Because only certain Earthbenders can Lava-bend, Lysithea’s body was not made to bend it, often burning her skin without even touching the lava. The stress and experiments shortened her lifespan and whitened her hair

Ignatz is a non-bender and is a talented bowman. He finds bending to be beautiful and he loves to paint benders doing their thing. He doesn’t have much experience with benders, so he is very interested in what they do

Marianne is a Waterbender; a descendant of Maurice who was an infamous Waterbender that discovered and mastered Blood-bending. She can blood-bend as well, but never does as she sees the ability to do so as a curse. She hides her ancestry because of this

Leonie is a non-bender and looks up to powerful non-benders like Jeralt. She takes every opportunity she can to one up benders with her non-bending skills; she thinks a lot of benders feel entitled just because they can bend so she wants to prove that non-benders are just as powerful

The Air Churches!

Rhea is the high priestess of the Air Churches, and is a master Airbender. She is the daughter of the Avatar spirit, Sothis. Sothis was a spirit so she conceived immortal half-spirits. Nemesis (who is like Vaatu here) had killed Sothis’s physical form so Sothis kept jumping to different people, thus beginning the Avatar cycle.

Rhea encouraged bending to be the highest social standing in Fodlan as she wanted to create an Avatar to carry on Sothis, so many houses tried forceful infusions of bending in order to gain status. There are only two living examples of this forceful infusion: Edelgard and Lysithea

Seteth and Flayn are both Airbenders and are also immortal half-spirits. They both take to hiding and reinventing themselves after every one hundred years or so to not gain suspicion

The only other benders in the Church are Catherine, who is an Earthbender, and Hanneman who is a Firebender. Catherine is the inventor of Metal-bending, and very well known and praised for discovering it

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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How Batman: Soul of the Dragon Pays Homage to 70s Kung Fu and Bruce Lee

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Batman: Soul of the Dragon sets Gotham’s caped crusader in a vintage martial arts homage. Directed by Sam Liu, who also directed the animated movie version of one of the greatest Batman graphic novels ever published, Batman: The Killing Joke, this is the 42nd project in the ongoing DC Universe Movies series.

However, Soul of the Dragon is an original tale, not based on a precedent comic. Like the eye popping anime-style film Batman Ninja, this is a completely stand-alone story. Batman: Soul of the Dragon is yet another chapter in the many creation tales for Batman. It tells of his martial indoctrination and joining him on this adventure are three of the best martial artists within the DC multiverse: Lady Shiva (Kelly Hu), Ben Turner a.k.a. Bronze Tiger (Michael Jai White), and Richard Dragon (Mark Dacascos).

“It’s a 70s martial arts action-adventure drama with a great sense of humor,” says Dacascos. Like so many Hollywood martial arts stories, Batman: Soul of the Dragon is told in two time periods: the present-day problem and in flashbacks to the original martial arts lessons that offer solutions. It’s a storytelling motif that can be traced back to the pioneering David Carradine’s Kung Fu TV show and Bruce Lee’s iconic Enter the Dragon.

In many ways, Batman: Soul of the Dragon is a tribute to Enter the Dragon, when the Kung Fu and blaxploitation genres were at their height. Richard Dragon is an homage to Bruce Lee’s character ‘Lee’ in Enter the Dragon (just like in so many Jackie Chan films, the name of Lee’s character was the same as his real name). In some scenes, he dons a similar black catsuit as Lee wore when infiltrating Han’s subterranean lair but stops short from yelling ‘Wataaah!’ when fighting.

Enter the Dragon was a game changer for martial arts movies, but it was also in the wake of the popularity of spy films of those days, specifically James Bond. Enter the Dragon is also a spy film, and it came out at a pivotal time for the Bond franchise, the same year that Roger Moore took over 007 in Live and Let Die. The spy film genre was immensely popular during the Cold War of the ‘60s, but by the ‘70s, it was looking to reinvent itself to remain popular. Enter the Dragon had the potential to launch a spy franchise for Bruce Lee, but his untimely and shocking death cut that short. Tragically, he died just prior to the release of the film. In some ways, Richard Dragon makes us ponder what a sequel to Enter the Dragon might have been like.

With his groovy afro and jive talking banter, Ben Turner steals a page from the character of Williams (Jim Kelly) from Enter the Dragon too. Batman is faintly akin to Roper (John Saxon), a token white guy amidst a diverse cast. Even the funky soundtrack by Joachim Horsley echoes the music of Enter the Dragon’s composer Lalo Shiffrin.

“In the 70s I was very impressionable,” reflects Dacascos. “The music brings you right back to that time. I love it. I love Enter the Dragon.”

It’s ironic that Batman would honor Bruce Lee in this way. For many, the Batman TV show of the mid-60s was their first exposure to the Little Dragon. Lee’s earliest Hollywood role was Kato, the chauffeur of The Green Hornet, which became a spin-off series of Batman, running for a single season on NBC in 1966-67.

Who is Richard Dragon?

Batman: Soul of the Dragon is a complete reimagining of Richard Dragon. In the original comic storyline, Dragon was Richard Drakunovski, a Caucasian character. He first appeared in the novel, Dragon’s Fists: Kung-Fu Master Richard Dragon by Jim Dennis, which was published the year after Enter the Dragon premiered (Jim Dennis was a pseudonym, the combination of the two authors’ names Dennis O’Neil and Jim Berry). The character was later adapted to comics by DC.

In the original DC version, Dragon was a classmate of Ben Turner, both of whom trained under O-Sensei (played by the venerable James Hong in Batman: Soul of the Dragon). Lady Shiva was also part of this Kung Fu lineage. O-Sensei’s goddaughter Carolyn Woosan was Lady Shiva’s sister. After Woosan was killed, Lady Shiva was tricked into thinking Dragon was at fault and hunted him to take revenge. Eventually, the trick was foiled so Shiva and Dragon became allies, united against a common foe.

In the comics, the world of Batman doesn’t cross with Dragon’s until much later. Dragon goes on to become a trainer of many DC heroes, notably the first Batgirl, Barbara Gordon. In another story, he helps Batman rehabilitate after sustaining injuries from Bane.

In a later alternate narrative arc, Dragon’s title is usurped by his villainous student, Richard Diaz Jr. This is akin to the Richard Dragon depicted in CW’s Arrow and portrayed by Kirk Acevedo. Bronze Tiger also appears in the Arrowverse portrayed by Michael Jai White, so Batman: Soul of the Dragon marks his reprisal of the role in the animated DC universe (As a side note, David Giuntoli voices Batman for Batman: Soul of the Dragon; Guintoli is married to Elizabeth Tulloch, who plays Lois Lane in the Arrowverse, including the forthcoming Superman and Lois).

However, neither Drakunovski nor Diaz figure into this latest incarnation of Richard Dragon in Batman: Soul of the Dragon. Here, he’s more like a Bruce Lee clone, only cooler. Dacascos didn’t follow the comics or the Arrowverse depiction.

“Yeah, I did not know that at all,” he confesses. “The script was so good that everything I felt that I needed to portray him was already on the page….All of my information for the character I found in the brilliant script that Jeremy Adams wrote and the information that was given to me by our producers and our director Sam Liu.”

Nevertheless, Dragon was a dream role for Dacascos. As a longtime fan of Batman, his favorite live action portrayal was Michael Keaton.

“I love his interpretation,” he says with a laugh. “There’s a sense of humor that he has and he stands out.”

As soon as his manager and agents sent him the script, he was hooked.

“I saw the description of DC Comics, Batman, Richard Dragon. And then I just jumped right into the script and after just a couple of pages, I knew I loved it. And the more I read, the more passionate I was about it. Before I even finished the script, I’d already emailed my representatives back and said, ‘Yes, please, please, please. I want to do this.’” Dacascos was tickled to be cast as his Kung Fu brother. “I’ve been privileged to play a character that is friends with Batman,” gushes Dacascos.

Beyond being a bat-buddy, what really appealed to Dacascos was Dragon’s strong moral compass.

“He’s not ignorant to the fact that evil is there, always has been, is, and will be,” explains Dacascos. “But with his training and his apparent good heart, he is able to maintain that battle with the negative, with the evil and take it on, maintaining his open heart and his sense of humor. I think his sense of humor is a part of his armor. He’s able to deflect with whimsy of the situation. He is a very loyal student, he is a very loyal friend, and I think his force – what drives him – is his love.”

From Stunt Work to Voice Work

By casting Dacascos, White, and Hu, Batman: Soul of the Dragon goes that extra step by placing genuine martial artists into animated roles. Throughout his teen years, Dacascos was a genuine martial arts champion.

“The thing is,” says Dacascos humbly, “my parents are both martial arts teachers.”

That’s an understatement. His father is Grandmaster Al Dacascos, a pioneering master in America who founded his own style of Wun Hop Kuen Do. His stepmother is Malia Bernal, a noted champion and coach of many other champions like Karen Shepherd. “My brother and I were basically forced into our first martial arts tournament at age six.”

Dacascos began his acting career in martial arts films, several of which were groundbreaking. His earliest lead role was in Only the Strong which was the first film to showcase the Brazilian martial art Capoeira. Brotherhood of the Wolf was a unique French period horror Kung Fu mash up that completely broke the mold for the martial arts genre. Having such an extensive background in the martial arts informed Dacascos on how to approach the fight scenes.

“As a martial artist, all I have to do is just think about it and I’m feeling it again,” he says. “So that part felt like going back home. When we were doing the action sequences, I just gave myself space to move around and then take the direction from Sam Liu and went for it…It’s all in your head and in your heart, and of course in your breath.”

Dacascos loved how the fight scenes in Batman: Soul of the Dragon came out, so much so that he’s contemplating bringing it to live action in his own way.

“I thought what would be really fun for me to do is actually in real life physicalize the forms, that form that Richard Dragon does,” he says. “So I’m going to maybe make it a little challenge for myself and learn those moves in real life…I would love to be Richard Dragon in real life. He’s really cool.”

In many ways, Batman: Soul of the Dragon feels more like a creation story for Richard Dragon than a typical Batman story. Batman is almost a secondary character. With Marvel making such strides in diversity with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings anticipated for summer 2021, DC needs to up its inclusion game. Could this be a stepping stone for Richard Dragon to become his own franchise?

“I hope so,” confesses Dacascos. “I hope that Batman: Soul of the Dragon continues and we do a sequel or series.”

While he is hopeful that there’s a future for Dragon, it’s the spirit of Batman: Soul of the Dragon that he finds most motivating. Like the title says, it’s got a lot of soul. “The thing is, it’s so much more than that because of the lessons that the students learn in the martial arts sequences taught by the wonderful James Hong who plays O-Sensei. The lines that Jeremy Adams wrote are so profound, and like any great teachers, they transcend the martial arts. It’s so much more philosophical and deeper. So, the story has the martial arts action, but it has heart, and it’s sexy, and it still has a great sense of humor.”

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Batman: Soul of the Dragon is a direct-to-video film produced by DC Entertainment and Warner Brothers Animation premiering on digital platforms on January 12, 2021.

The post How Batman: Soul of the Dragon Pays Homage to 70s Kung Fu and Bruce Lee appeared first on Den of Geek.

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comicsnsuch · 4 years

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Tales from the Dark Multiverse

Hi! Thanks for finding this tumblr. The plan is to share and write about comic books, comic book art, other things that interest me and such, thus the name of the tumblr. Maybe you share some of the same interests, or maybe you’ll discover something new.

I’m going to try to post as frequently as possible, but that frequency will vary depending on what real life is like week to week. On slow weeks, there will be more stuff, on busy weeks less. You get it. Hopefully if you check in now and then you’ll find some new content.

I work (worked?) in a comic book shop, but as I have been recently reminded, due to the COVID-19/Coronavirus epidemic, I am non-essential. Thanks State Government! Always good to have a self esteem boost!

Anyway… I love comic books, reading them, talking about them, (thinking about) making them and so on. Always have, always will. I wanted to have an outlet for sharing that while I can’t be in the shop doing it face to face with customers and random strangers.

I’ll be writing short reviews for what I’ve been reading, new stuff, old stuff, posting pics, etc.

Feel free to comment, but please keep it friendly. Assholery will not be tolerated.

To start with I just finished reading all of DC Comics Tales of the Dark Multiverse one shots.

I made this in MS Paint!

These started coming out in 2019 and the last one was released in early 2020. The idea behind each is Tempus Fuginaut, a sort of Watcher type character for the DCU (who I think debuted, or at least I fist remember seeing in the Sideways ongoing, a Dark Nights Metal spin off) observing the multiverse and introducing a story that takes an important moment in DC history and asks “what would have happened if things had gone differently?” DC’s version of What If? in a nutshell.

That’s Tempus Fuginauts big ol’ head in case you were wondering

As the “Dark” in Tales of the Dark Multiverse might imply, these are not happy stories.

The first one shot that was released was Tales of the Dark Multiverse Batman Knightfall by Scott Snyder and Kyle Higgens with art by Javi Fernandez.

This was probably my least favorite of the five issues. Since the “No Justice” mini series event I’m over Scott Snyder. I feel he has so many ideas rattling around in his head that he begins one story, gets too excited about the next one and leaves you underwhelmed with the current arc but dying to read the next. (That being said I of course checked out Batman Last Knight on Earth, having read his and Capullo’s entire New 52 Batman run I didn’t want to miss their “final” word on Batman, but have not read his just wrapped run on Justice League which I hear was quite good).

I read this one right when it was released a few months ago, so my memory of it might not be the best.

This one centers around the Knightfall event where Bane breaks Batman’s back and Jean Paul Valley/Azrael takes on the role of Batman. In this reality Bruce never recovers and Jean Paul remains Batman becoming Saint Batman, a Bats Azrael mash up. Javi Fernandez does a great job on the art and Snyder loves chopping people up.

Gross.

Definitely worth the read if you’re interested in it or are a fan of Batman or just the Knightfall era. If you grab this series in collected format it’s not so bad that I recommend skipping it, just not my favorite from this batch of books.

Next up is Tales of the Dark Multiverse Death of Superman by Jeff Loveness with art by Brad Walker and Andrew Hennessey. I really enjoyed this one, it was a good quick read and had a nice arc to it. One of the better issues from this series if you’re asking me.

Right after Superman dies defeating Doomsday in the Death of Superman story arc, the rest of the Justice League shows up, literally as the blood is drying.Ten seconds too late. Lois Lane blames Supes’ death on the heroes for not being there to aid him.

She makes her way to the Fortress of Solitude and thanks to the Eradicator gets herself all the powers of Superman. She then goes about dishing out justice, with extreme prejudice, to the villains the heroes normally let the revolving doors of the DC justice system handle. This involves a couple of great scenes with Batman and Lex Luthor. Loveness nails the dialogue and the character arc he puts Lois on is great to read.

Walker and Hennesey do it again!

There’s more to this story than I’ve put here, but I don’t want to say too much and ruin your enjoyment of it if/when you read it.

Special shout out to the art team of Brad Walker and Andrew Hennessey. I feel like they don’t get enough love. They killed it on the Demon Hell is Earth mini, and from what I can tell are crushing it on Detective Comics. Dudes can draw. Spread the word!

Then we move onto Tales of the Dark Multiverse Blackest Night by Tim Seeley and Kyle Hotz.

This one was a bit wordy, but a lot of fun! I would put this one in the middle of the pack.

Seeley brings together an interesting bunch of characters including Sinestro, Dove, Lobo and the New Gods! The plot is a little complex, but basically after the Color Corps lose the battle against Nekron in Blackest Night, Sinestro is looking for a way to undo the damage done and becomes a pawn in Scott Free’s plot to do the same.

Give Seeley a Lobo book or a Hawk and Dove book, or a Mister Miracle book!. He gives each character a unique voice which makes their joint travels through the plot that much more fun to read.

Kyle Hotz’s art in this issue reminds of a 90’s Image Comic in the best possible way. Lots of detail and cool poses. I also see a lot of Bernie Wrightson in there with Hotz’s heavy use of black and the sinewy musculature of the characters. The book is worth the price of admission to see his renditions of Dove and Mister Miracle.

kewl!

I’m glad to see Hotz working more or just seeing more of Hotz’s work. I don’t know if he fell out of the industry after drawing the original The Hood mini for Marvel with Brian K. Vaughan, working with Eric “The Goon” Powell on Billy the Kid’s Old Timey Odditys, doing art on Carnage Mind Bomb and more I’m sure ( I just can’t remember it all), or I just wasn’t paying attention to what he was working on. If it’s the later, shame on me, if it’s the former, welcome back Mr. Hotz, you’re crushing it and I look forward to seeing more from you. Check out more Kyle Hotz work by following him on Instagram @kylehotzcomics.

Let’s not neglect the oft overlooked inkers! I’m not sure who inked what, but on a guess, Dexter Vines and Walden Wong brought a smooth, cleanness to the proceedings with lots of nicely tapered lines. Again just guessing here, because I don’t know for sure, but Danny Miki used a finer line bringing a scratchy-ness the others didn’t but also amazing detail and clarity on some of the portraiture in the later half of the book.

Who’s next? Why it’s Tales of the Dark Multiverse Infinite Crisis!

This one may have been my favorite. When the original Infinite Crisis series came out it was a period where, due to personal lack of enjoyment, I wasn’t reading much of DC’s output, but I did read the Countdown to Infinite Crisis one shot this issue takes as it’s jumping off point. After having read this issue, it makes me want to go back and read Infinite Crisis. I would say that’s the sign of a good issue.

In this alternate reality Blue Beetle, Ted Kord, kills Maxwell Lord instead of vice versa, making himself the head of Checkmate. He then goes about trying to prevent the coming crisis. It’s kind of a tale about absolute power corrupting absolutely, it’s also an underdog tale about getting in over your head.

Sorry if these images aren’t the best, I’m new at this!

James Tynion IV does a great job catching you up on any old DC continuity plot points you may have forgotten or never knew about in the first place.If you’re reading Tynion’s current run on Batman, or his work on Detective Comics and Justice League Dark, you know he can handle a complex plot like this and does a great job condensing it all down to a single issue. Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan handle the art and they do a great job. Always happy to see Lopresti’s name on a book I want to read.

Bonus points: You can never have too many Ted Kord, Blue Beetle comics, especially when Booster Gold pops up, even if only momentarily.

If this series leaves you wanting more Blue and Gold action may I direct you to Booster Gold (2nd series) #32 thru about 38ish for some quality comics.

Final one, Tales from the Dark Multiverse the Judas Contract!

I’m not as old as my writing may imply so I had to read the Judas Contract in collected format about 20 years after it was originally released and after having seen it on many a fanzine’s (Wizard) best of list. When I finally got to read it I wasn’t super familiar with the Titans of the era and already knew the big twist in the story, so it just washed over me without any great effect. None of the shock that someone who was reading it fresh in the 80’s might have experienced.

I ended up liking this twisted take on the Judas Contract much more than when I read the original. “Sacrilege!” I know, I know, but like I said there was no surprise when I first read it, while this one zigged instead of zagging multiple times and kept upping the ante in scale.

Kyle Higgins and Matt Groom do a great job reinventing a classic that I’m sure many people had high expectations for. This was a fun faced paced tale. I enjoyed the hero moments Dick Grayson and Wally West were given. Like the Knightfall one shot Higgins co-wrote with Snyder there’s no shortage of dismemberment and disfiguration, which is neither a plus or minus in this situation, just thought it was worth noting.

Tom Raney handles the art chores here and he does a fine job. Some of the figures seem a little squat, and their heads are too big in certain panels. Could I do better? No, so who am I to say anything? I just noticed it, here and there, it took me out of the flow of the story every now and then. That’s all. Big fan of his work on Stormwatch and Outsiders with Judd Winick. I also hear he’s super nice, so if you’re ever at a convention where Tom Raney is, seek him out!

They seem squat, right?

It’s worth mentioning these books are all done in DC’s prestige format and are extra long at about 48 pages each. All covers are by the fantastic Lee Weeks. A nice way to spend the afternoon.

There’s the first post. A little longer than I thought it would be. If you made it this far, I hope it was clear and you understood what I was saying and I hope you liked it and want to return for more.

Until next time!

#batman #justiceleague #teentitans #titans #greenlantern #superman #darkmultiverse #whatif #dccomics #dcu #dcuniverse #comics #comicbooks #review #comicsnsuch #spiderman #avengers

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yinzhengs · 5 years

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xia talks about 绅探 | detective l

— where i’ve been watching detective l: eng sub (YT) || raws (maplestage)

— so i’ve finally made my way thru all 8 eps that have been released thus far. i know some people have been asking for my opinion, so here’s a post that’s meant to hopefully sum up everything i’ve been feeling about this show, personally. any spoilers in my review are very minor!

if you’re not familiar with the show, it’s a sherlock holmes inspired mystery/crime show set in the shanghai french concession during the republican period, starring bai yu, you jingru, and ji chen. at the moment, the show’s at a 7.3/10 on douban, and it was trending at #5 for web-series, so it’s definitely enjoying popularity.

disclaimer: this is just my personal opinion — no matter how i feel about the show, i heavily encourage everyone to check it out for themselves before coming to a conclusion!

+ setting

you know, if there’s one thing i do dig about this show (in theory), it’s the setting. while i’m not a big fan of the set, for reasons i’ll go into below, i think the time period lends itself to some interesting setups and unique cases. as mentioned, it takes place in the republican period in shanghai’s french concession. if i had to guess, it takes place in the 30′s — but my chinese history is shaky, and this is entirely based on some throwaway details mentioned in later cases. suffice it to say that it's a pretty cool setting, and while i was skeptical at first, i did find myself getting into it.

+ characters

another thing i like about the show is the character concepts — in theory, if not always in practice. we have a kind of triumvirate in the main trio.

first, we have luo fei, the sherlock of the series and arguably its main character, who serves as a consulting detective for the shanghai police department. while he’s occasionally (mostly accidentally) an asshole, he’s generally likable and a far cry from the more eccentric/socially inept portrayals of sherlock holmes in modern adaptations. we start seeing a hint of his backstory in recent episodes, and cases soon start getting tied into his feud with an elusive “captain,” likely the show’s moriarty.

next, we have qin xiaoman, a rookie officer newly assigned to the dept, who has a fiesty temper and a fierce passion for making sure justice is served. in an enjoyable twist, she’s generally the one that does the heavy lifting: chasing perps down, aiming down sights, slamming suspects to the ground — she also soon learns to make deductions of her own, as well.

finally, we have........................benjamin (本杰明). his name / its transliteration makes me laugh a little bit whenever i see it, so generally i just refer to the poor guy as ben. anyway, he’s a reserved forensic examiner who also serves as the department’s forensic analyst — he pretty much lives in the morgue, and is more comfortable with the dead than with the living. (also, he has a pretty cute bromance with luo fei...) his backstory’s interesting, and i like his character a lot because it plays perfectly off of the other two’s preexisting dynamic — here’s hoping that he gets more screentime and development!

(ot3? ot3.)

+ cases

there are mixed opinions about the cases, but my personal take is that they’re pretty enjoyable to watch. while they’re not super hard to figure out / generally don’t have a whole lot of killer twists, they’re also not terribly unrealistic. they can get a little convoluted, but such is the eternal curse of mystery shows, i suppose. a lot of the smaller puzzles that luo fei solves are also contingent on some Pretty Chinese elements, which i found very cute (麻雀/麻将, 简谱, to name two). so yeah, they do a pretty okay job of taking classic mystery cases and making them fit in the setting given. more importantly, the process by which they unravel the cases is generally fun to watch, which is really the crucial part of any good mystery/crime show.

that being said, as someone who’s watched quite a few crime shows, i’m entirely not convinced that the writing for the cases is sufficient to keep me watching — even though they’re fun, i haven’t seen much so far that makes me feel like the show’s doing anything different from the usual formula. of course, that’s fine — crime shows don’t need to reinvent the wheel, they just need to make themselves worth watching, one way or another (normally thru character chemistry/acting, etc).

- some familiar sights/sounds...

why did they use the cinemasins stock sound effect multiple times

anyway, that aside, there are obvious nods to sherlock (bbc) — the main theme, luo fei’s initial appearance, the deduction scene in the car...

well, is it plagiarism? i guess not (or well, sina doesn’t think so), but what detective l’s doing here is less reinventing the wheel and more... repainting tires, if you catch my drift.

also, if you’re someone who pays a lot of attention to film ost’s, you’ll be assaulted with a LOT of familiar sounding melodies, be warned. this isn’t necessarily something that detracts from the drama, but it’s definitely something that’s thrown me for a loop / broken my immersion multiple times.

? tone

here’s where i start getting a little hesitant about the show, one of my main gripes: i’m really not sure what kind of tone the show is aiming for. while it’s clearly not a show that takes itself too seriously, and certainly not a dark/hard-boiled noir, occasionally there are moments included where characters rail at, for example, the imperfection/injustice of their supposedly impartial justice system — and while i’m not saying that the show can’t go there, it came off to me as just very thin attempts to increase the show’s depth while also not elaborating on those issues at all. and that’s what’s bothered me the most: the illusion of depth.

i’ll be the first to admit, though, that this is probably because i’m watching this directly after OS, which definitely tackled those issues from the start and had a radically different tone — i just feel like detective l, at least so far, hasn’t settled into one yet, and so i felt like there were some definite moments of tone incongruity / moments when i thought the show would continue with issues it’d raised ... but it didn’t.

- cinematography / lighting

take this with a disclaimer: i think the lighting and design in this show is gorgeous... for stills.

for a moving film? not so much.

i’ve said earlier that i felt like some of the lines felt scripted — but if anything enhances that artificiality, it’s definitely some of the set design. it’s clearly a studio set, and i can’t really begrudge them that part, but some of the lighting is so clearly artificial that it’s been starting to get to me — characters inside a normal room (lit by an innocuously dim overhead lamp) shouldn’t have three separate colors reflecting off their faces like a hobbyist artist’s color study sketches (though it does do a good job of highlighting bai yu’s jawline unnecessarily, in like, every other scene).

they’re clearly trying to create a mood through coloring / lighting, but ... often, i find, it’s at the cost of realism and could definitely be toned down a bit. (i find that over-the-top coloring is pretty common in cdramas, though, so this is probably also very subjective.)

(also, as with most cdramas.. they could probably do with less cgi.)

- acting / directing

alright, i’ll be honest: i’m not a fan of the acting in this.

in my personal opinion, something about the leads’ acting comes off as overly dramatized (esp. in xiaoman’s case) or slightly forced/artificial (in bai yu’s case). this could just be me not really being used to these two actors, but there were multiple times when i was surprised at how overdramatic/unrealistic some lines were delivered. same goes for minor characters, as well — something about the entire show just strikes me as extremely scripted, to the point where it breaks my immersion a lot. this might just be me, though, because i’ve def. heard some praises of the line delivery in this that i couldn’t wrap my mind around: take my words with a grain of salt, i suppose.

(also, of course, i’ve been watching this directly after coming from white deer plain — which has some really down-to-earth acting and a setting/tone that’s worlds apart from detective l. maybe i’m drawing too many direct comparisons: white deer plain definitely has some amazing acting, and it’s a high bar to set, esp for a drama filled with more younger actors.)

directing-wise... i definitely wish i could ask why they made some of the choices they did. while the subs haven’t reached that point yet, there are definitely some cliche tropes that they start throwing in around ep. 6 that heavily detracted from my enjoyment of the show, esp. with the show’s (perhaps over-the-top) use of slow motion at times + (imo) forcing chemistry before it’s had time to develop.

as a result though, i really can’t find myself getting attached to either of the main two (i like ben, probably because he hasn’t had enough screentime for me to be turned off yet, though) — i think that the acting choices for qin xiaoman definitely made her more unlikable for me despite me being a fan of her character in... theory. similarly, luo fei often feels too thin as a character — i’m constantly searching for depth there that i’m not sure i’m finding. so far, while these two are foils, they really feel like nothing more. maybe it’s too early to tell (but hey, i’m a third of the way through, aren’t i?), but i’m definitely finding myself wishing at almost every turn that there was more to the acting there — though they’re definitely being stingy with releasing characters’ backstories / hints to their backstories, which could help contextualize their behavior a little more.

overall: would i recommend it?

my very eloquent answer is... it depends. if you’re looking for a fun mystery romp that doesn’t always take itself too seriously with a unique setting and some interesting cases, then by all means: detective l might be up your alley!

that being said, i think it has a lot of flaws — notably, veteran crime show fans might not find enough flesh on the show’s bones to justify watching it for the cases alone — but if you can overlook them, it’s a fun show to watch: just don’t go in looking for stunning acting or dark moral quandaries.

#bai yu #白宇 #绅探 #cdrama #detective l #can we talk about how ben got relegated to third wheel in these posters tho lmfao #xia reviews #tragic really

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letterboxd · 5 years

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Play.

“When something is cute, it puts the audience at ease, and that builds the horror more.”

We talk to the team behind a new reboot of the 80s horror classic Child’s Play.

The new Child’s Play reboot is unique among reboots in that the series it is rebooting remains an ongoing concern. The original Child’s Play came out in 1988 and spawned no fewer than six sequels. Although the last two skipped theaters to be released straight to home entertainment platforms, the series has maintained an admirable level of quality and consistency thanks to the continued presence of original screenwriter Don Mancini, who wrote all seven movies and directed the last three.

He’s currently putting together a Chucky television show that continues the often innovative mythology of the features. But in one of those only-in-Hollywood situations, two separate companies currently own the rights to make Child’s Play films, and Mancini has nothing to do with the new film, which puts a modern spin on the Chucky story.

When the reboot was announced, Mancini threw a little shade on the film, apparently (and understandably) concerned that it would muddy the waters around his upcoming TV show.

Jennifer Tilly, who voiced Chucky’s girlfriend Tiffany in the gonzo fourth movie, Bride of Chucky, and co-starred as herself in the meta fifth movie, Seed of Chucky, also expressed her displeasure with the remake.

Mancini appears to have declined an executive producer credit on the new film, which was shepherded into existence by the top studio horror producers of the moment: Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg, who were also behind the insanely successful It and its upcoming sequel.

You wouldn’t know it from the original film’s poster, which seems positively ashamed of the film it was selling, but the conceit at the heart of the 1988 film existed as a direct response to heavily marketed dolls of the era such as Teddy Ruxpin and the Cabbage Patch Kids. The new film updates Chucky’s origin so that it similarly reflects a heavily marketed contemporary product: smart toys.

While the original Brad Dourif-voiced Chucky was, sorry, is a talking doll who became possessed by the soul of a serial killer, the new Chucky is an artificially-intelligent robot friend who turns murderous when his programming is tampered with. And he’s voiced by Mark Hamill.

Aubrey Plaza (Ingrid Goes West) stars in the film as Karen, a single mom who takes home a returned Chucky from the big-box store where she works and gifts it to her son Andy, played by Gabriel Bateman (who previously encountered a sinister doll in Annabelle).

Norwegian filmmaker Lars Klevberg directed the new Child’s Play, which was written by Tyler Burton Smith. Klevberg’s American feature debut, Polaroid (an expansion of his own 2015 Norwegian short), has yet to be released in the States due to the Weinstein Company’s ongoing problems.

Letterboxd caught up with Plaza, Bateman, Klevberg and Smith at this year’s Wondercon.

Aubrey Plaza as Karen and Gabriel Bateman as Andy.

What was your reaction when you were offered this film? Aubrey Plaza (Karen): I was so honored that they thought I could pull that character off and took a chance on me and, I dunno… Chucky is an iconic character in the history of film so I feel really lucky to be a part of it. I’m really excited about that.

I play a woman named Karen Barclay who is a single mom. Her son is named Andy and she’s kind of a young mom doing the best she can and struggling a bit but trying to provide for her son. She ends up giving Andy a toy for his birthday that starts to try to kill everybody, so… but Karen thinks that her son is kind of losing his mind. So she’s going through a lot.

And Chucky was on set while you were filming? AP: Oh yes, we did a lot of things practically, so the doll was there at all times.

What do you think fans of the original should expect from the new Child’s Play? AP: I think they should expect a total re-imagining of this character. I think the whole idea behind it is: how could Chucky be relevant right now? And the idea of making Chucky a smart doll is kind of brilliant and it’s a cool way to bring Chucky back into the theaters, you know? And show a whole new generation of people how terrifying that doll can be.

Is it tough making something that is cute also scary? Tyler Burton Smith (screenwriter): I think in some ways when something is cute or funny, it puts the audience at ease in a way, because they feel like it’s safe and I think in some ways that builds the horror more. When you feel safe with a character or with a product or with a thing, seeing that transform into something dark is a lot easier. Because you’re put at ease and then you’re fighting against that. So I think that’s kind of a fun dynamic shift in a way.

‘Child’s Play’ director Lars Klevberg (left) with cinematographer Brendan Uegama.

This is an R-rated horror with kids in peril—is it tricky to know how far to go with that? Lars Klevberg (director): Well, there are different levels, when you’re making a movie, of how far you wanna push it. When you’re dealing with a Child’s Play movie, when you introduce Chucky as a toy, of course there will be kids involved. We bumped up the age a little bit on this one, which I think was a smart move. Andy’s no longer eight, he’s thirteen. But we’re dealing with a movie that takes an object that everybody loves—a doll, a toy—which is in many ways when you’re young, it’s kind of your safe spot. And you turn that around and what you love and trust in your fantasy world when you’re young turns against you, so suddenly your fantasy world becomes very very real and that’s interesting.

Screenwriter Tyler Burton Smith.

This is a separate project to the original Chucky franchise, which is still going. How did having the original creator of Chucky vocalize his opposition to this film affect you, if at all? TBS: We love the original Child’s Play. We love Don Mancini. I grew up on Child’s Play, it’s just an awesome movie and we wanna make the best version of that possible. It’s unfortunate that he’s not more involved in this movie. It would’ve been amazing to work with him on this, but we love Child’s Play as a whole, we love him and just wanna make the best version of a Child’s Play film possible.

LK: With something like this, it’s an iconic IP, of course you think about it, but you get the script and you read the script and you connect to the story and the characters and for me as a director that’s where it starts. And you have to be able to separate that and just focus on what’s there on the page, which we did. Tyler has a big brain, and he was able to get in a lot of those things that made the first one successful. I kind of jumped on and went back and watched all the movies and I was amazed by how the atmosphere was still there.

What do you think the key differences are in this version? TBS: A big part of it is the doll in the original film was just a stationary doll that you played with and it had these lines that it would say, but otherwise it was just a doll. The idea of updating that and asking what this toy would be now, or five years from now in the future, the idea of a different kind of product that is more technologically advanced was definitely kind of at the heart of it, but definitely keeping a lot of the elements that made the original great.

When I figured out the direction they wanted to go I thought it was a great balance of being a tribute to the original and doing something new with the franchise at the same time. It wasn’t just an excuse to remake a movie, it felt like a lot of people who loved the original who wanted to do an awesome reinvention of that concept. I was a bit nervous at first, but once we found the direction for it, I was really excited. I think we found a cool fresh take on that film.

Gabriel Bateman as Andy in ‘Child’s Play’ (2019).

You dealt with practical Chucky dolls on set—did you ever get concerned they might turn on you? Gabriel Bateman (Andy): No, not really. I don’t know how much I can say but the animatronic dolls don’t really have all that much motion. But I mean, when I’m actually filming and the cameras are rolling, I feel afraid, because I’m trying to be the character, but as soon as the cameras cut, it’s the same.

You’ve been in a lot of horror, but you’re totally a kid. Have you ever seen any of the horror stuff that you’ve been in? GB: I don’t think there’s ever been something that I didn’t watch that I was in. I think I’ve watched everything.

Were you excited about the idea of being in a remake of Child’s Play? GB: I kind of figured out that it was Child’s Play from the [audition] side, so I watched it pretty early on, but I was really excited. A lot of my family were fans of the original trilogy before, so I was always familiar with it. So yeah, I was definitely excited.

What do you think Child’s Play fans will make of the film? GB: We’re not trying to take away from the original in any way. It’s just a re-imagination of Chucky as a character, so I just hope people can enjoy it as its own film, without comparing to the original.

‘Child's Play’ will be in theaters on June 20.

#child's play #chucky #chucky doll #horror #don mancini #brad dourif #aubrey plaza #letterboxd

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headlesssamurai · 5 years

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I whis I could like MGS but the characters are so dumb and the narration is just terrible. It's like a dumb anime in videogame form. I don't understand why Kojima is getting all the praise.

I get that, yo. Not to smoke the same pipe as so many others, but in my case it was the cool John Carpenter references and techno-thriller spy film stuff that made me like the stealth action gameplay. I am totally in agreement that it’s over-the-top cheeseball brigade all the way to the bank, won’t deny that. I love it though. But I ain’t nearly self-righteous enough to believe my personal enjoyment invalidates another person’s outlook.

I mean, besides, I could totally see why someone would be like “This is dumb and it’s for dumb people”, like that seems a sensible reaction to a lot of the weird wackiness in the Metal Gear Solid series. I think a lot of folks like Kojima as a creator because he’s always been consistent in his artistic vision, mixing the tacit melodrama of his games with inane gags and weird humor. He doesn’t back down from his stylistic decisions, and for the folks that were grabbed by that sort of style at a young age, they appreciate that he keeps the fire burning so to speak.

He’s never sacrificed his artistic style for the sake of sales, you know, like the way Disney is trying to reinvent Star Wars or Bethesda is trying to break into the survival market (or Konami shamelessly ripping his series from him to do the same thing). He’s always been true to his fanbase. And if it’s not for you, hey, it’s not for you. No big thing. Don’t know how other Metal Gear fans would react, but to me I appreciate your honesty and that you’re willing to voice your opinions with civility.

Ain’t like we’re all the same, right? Everybody’s got their own interests, for their own reasons. Variety definitely exists for a reason. For instance, sort of the way you describe what you don’t like about Metal Gear Solid is quite similar to my own reasons for never really liking mascot games (not even as a kid), or Final Fantasy, it’s all a little too weird for me, or kiddy. I mean, I like Metroid since forever but Samus became a sort of mascot afterword, like when she joined the cast of Smash Bros., and I liked her before that, when she was sort of a cool unique mysterious space warrior, and before they transformed her into fucking Beach Edition Barbie. Samus, the real Samus isn’t blonde people! She’s got green hair she dyes red to fit in with the other humans (I’m assuming it was green because of her Chozo upbringing, like they mutated her to survive better on their homeworld or whatever; my personal years old theory).

Anyhow, sorry for the rant. I just miss classic Samus so much. But for real thanks for sharing your opinion, yo. I think more gamers should be civil like you and express themselves without being jerks, I mean, what better way to ameliorate some of the tension that’s been floating round? We all like different stuff, and I’d bet a billion gold-pressed latinum literally all of it is awesome in its own way.

youtube

侍 headless

#anonymeisters #honest people #ask #metal gear solid #hideo kojima #video games #stealth action #gaming #metroid rants #samus aran #future space bounty hunter lady #cool people #gamers #dean winchester #jensen ackles #and videogamedunkey

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studentsofshield · 6 years

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Marvel's Captain Marvel: A Legacy of Failed Relaunches

This piece is about the history of the Captain Marvel name in superhero comic books. First we have to start with the originator, then how it was shut down, then we can get to how it was stolen and how it's been handled since. I will not be getting in to Miracleman/Marvelman, since that is a whole other layer of convoluted.

Fawcett Publications was a publisher of magazines in the 1920s and 30s. They wanted to break into the comic book business after seeing the insane success of Superman starting in 1938. So in 1940 writer Bill Parker and artist CC Beck came up with a superhero for this purpose. The character was to be called Captain Thunder and debut in Flash Comics #1. However, All-American Periodicals beat them to the punch with their own Flash Comics #1 with a cover date of January 1940, debuting the Flash, Hawkman, and other characters. So Fawcett switched the title to Thrill Comics. Which they couldn't use either when Standard/Nedor launched Thrilling Comics #1 with a cover date of February 1940. I guess even the "ing" was too close for trademark comfort. January 1940 also saw the first issue of Fiction House's Jungle Comics, which had a minor backup feature starring Captain Terry Thunder. So when their character was finally unveiled to the public, he was Captain Marvel and appearing in WHIZ Comics #2.

The parallels to Superman were there off the bat and intentional. The first cover features Captain Marvel throwing a car, in reference to the iconic Action Comics #1, but one-upping it. Their powers, costumes, and adventures were somewhat similar. Captain Marvel arguably improved on the Superman formula. Instead of the grown, nerdy Clark Kent, Captain Marvel's secret identity was the child Billy Batson. Rather than looking up to Superman, kids could put their selves in Billy Batson's shoes. The art of CC Beck and others was also more cartoony and the stories more outlandish and fun. While Superman was dealing with corrupt politicians and domestic abusers, Captain Marvel was fighting the moon and hanging out with anthropomorphic tigers.

Captain Marvel replicated the success of Superman, and for a while even outsold the poster boy of comic books. The character's success led to Fawcett creating a whole line of comics and superheroes like Bulletman, Spy Smasher, Minute-Man, Ibis the Invincible and so on in the titles Nickel Comics, Wow Comics, Master Comics, etc. Captain Marvel started multiplying himself with spinoff characters Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel (before DC created Supergirl). The publisher experienced great success through the 1940s.

This success bothered some people, namely competitor National (today's DC Comics). They had success earlier shutting down Fox Feature Syndicate's character Wonder Man for being too close to Superman. They even did the same thing to Fawcett with their character Master Man. Starting in 1941 National took Fawcett to court over Captain Marvel. The lawsuit and all its subsequent appeals lasted all the way to 1951. Meanwhile Superman was ripping off elements of Captain Marvel along the way, like starting to actually fly, Lex Luthor becoming a bald mad scientist (like Dr. Sivana), and introducing the adventures of Superboy akin to Captain Marvel Jr. The long legal struggle and the waning superhero popularity of the 1950s led to Fawcett giving up on the case and shutting down their entire comics line in 1953.

Of course, having won, DC took the opportunity to pull over Fawcett's talent and put them to work on Superman. DC then ended up licensing Fawcett's characters in the 1970s. Captain Marvel has been fully integrated to the DC Universe through the years, for better or worse.

There is just one ironic hiccup though. While Captain Marvel lay dormant in the 1960s, the trademark lapsed. Another comic publisher by the name of Timely Comics had went through a few eras and name changes to Atlas Comics and then to Marvel Comics. Marvel was becoming a major force in the early 1960s thanks to Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko. Publisher Martin Goodman demanded that they snatch up the trademark to Captain Marvel. Fitting I suppose given the name of the company.

So in December 1967 Marvel's version of Captain Marvel debuted in Marvel Super-Heroes 12. Rather than a Superman-like character, this version was Mar-Vell, an alien warrior who was tasked to spy on Earth but then decided to protect humanity. The stories were light science fiction fare.

This Captain Marvel would not become a sales juggernaut like Fawcett's. Marvel has to maintain their right to the trademark at least every two years though. So this has lead to dozens of relaunches and different characters under the Captain Marvel name.

This is their legacy of failure.

After two appearances in Marvel Super-Heroes (12-13) Captain Marvel received his own self-titled comic in May 1968. From the first appearance through the fourth issue of the series, Gene Colan drew the character and Roy Thomas wrote him. Then not even a year in new creative team Arnold Drake and Don Heck hop on. Other creators like Gary Friedrich, Dick Ayers, and Archie Goodwin rotate through. The original green and white costume has a simplistic design that has become retroactively classic, but is really not too special.

With issue 17 in October 1969, Roy Thomas comes back and is joined this time by Gil Kane. The pair introduce a new costume and the unique dynamic of Captain Marvel playing switcheroo with perennial sidekick Rick Jones. The quality of the book vastly improves, but it only gets the chance to show it off for three issues.

After a six month hiatus, Captain Marvel resumes with issue 20 and the same creative team from before. This time they only get to pump out two issues. The book will now be bimonthly for the most part from here on out.

The character would feature prominently in the classic Kree/Skrull War storyline in Avengers, also written by Roy Thomas. This kept him relevant through 1971 even without a book.

And Mar-Vell is back again two years later in 1972 (recall the trademark rules). This time we have three uninspired issues written by three different writers. The only notable piece here is that they're drawn by Wayne Boring. Who was one of the definitive Superman artists of the 1940s and 50s in comic books and strips. In 1967 DC kicked him out, as they had done with most of their iconic Golden Age artists. Super fan and historian Roy Thomas hired him to do a few jobs for Marvel in the 70s. It's cool to see, but his style honestly was out of date by this point. The irony of these past two relaunches is that both returning issues use the cover text "the hero who wouldn't die!" The irony will become evident in a bit.

By this point DC has licensed the original Fawcett Captain Marvel. Due to Marvel's trademark usage, DC has to title the comic Shazam (the catchphrase Billy Batson uses to transform into the hero). Shazam runs from 1973 through 1978 and then the character moves to anthology backups. Superman even introduces the Big Red Cheese on the cover of the first issue. Within the pages of the comic, the character is still allowed to be called Captain Marvel. This alleged confusion has caused anxiety over the years for DC and with the New 52 reboot in 2011 they tried to officially change the icon's name to Shazam.

With issue 25 in 1973 Captain Marvel finally becomes a must-read comic when a young Jim Starlin jumps on board as artist. He had previously written and drawn fill-in issues of Iron Man that introduced the characters Thanos and Drax the Destroyer. He brought those characters with him and began writing as well, giving fans the iconic Thanos War arc. Starlin sticks around for less than a year. His final issue is 34, where Mar-Vell fights Nitro and the infamous cover text describes him as "the man who killed Captain Marvel." It's originally just supposed to be a sensational lie as is the tradition.

With Starlin gone, Captain Marvel still continues to issue 62 in 1979. Al Milgrom and Pat Broderick draw most of this run. Steve Englehart, Scott Edelman, and Doug Moench handle the writing. Nothing truly memorable or relevant happened, though by this point there were Mar-Vell fans who surely enjoyed it.

Supporting character Carol Danvers also got superpowers and got a spinoff title that ran two years. Mostly written by Chris Claremont. Ms. Marvel would have her own too-late creative reinvention in issue 20 thanks to artist Dave Cockrum. This book was arguably better than the book it spun out of at this point. Carol Danvers will become important again in this saga, but for the time being Claremont pulls her way to be an occasional presence in his vast X-Men run.

Captain Marvel was cancelled prematurely, so Marvel launched a new volume of Marvel Spotlight to pump out inventory issues. Captain Marvel appeared in Marvel Spotlight 1-4, and 8. Of curiosity is that Steve Ditko and Frank Miller drew the last two issues.

Outside of a few appearances, Mar-Vell doesn't make a major appearance between September 1980 and April 1982. When Jim Starlin was offered to write and draw the first installment of the Marvel Graphic Novel series and kill off a major character. One can presume he wasn't allowed to choose Spider-Man. He went with Captain Marvel, following up from his final issue on the series and revealing that the fight with Nitro gave him cancer. He died surrounded by all his fellow heroes and the book is a genuine emotional classic. It solidifies Mar-Vell as a legend, even if his original series never truly got him to deserve that reputation.

Mar-Vell would be featured in a reprint series titled The Life of Captain Marvel in 1985 focusing on the Starlin run. A three issue flashback series to his green and white era was published in 1997.

They need to maintain the trademark though, right? Enter Monica Rambeau in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16 the same year. Her connection to Mar-Vell was nonexistent, but she took on the Captain Marvel name regardless. Creator Roger Stern carried her over to his legendary Avengers run and she even lead the team for a period. Monica has had tons of memorable appearances since, such as the brilliant Nextwave: Agents of HATE.

Monica would receive solo one-shots in 1989 and 1994. Both by the creative team of Dwayne McDuffie and M.D. Bright.

The third Marvel character to go by Captain Marvel was Genis-Vell. Originally introduced in Silver Surfer Annual #6 as Legacy, Genis is Mar-Vell's bastard child. Genis gets his father's Nega Bands and even is linked to Rick Jones. He got his own series written by Fabian Nicieza in late 1995 that was cancelled prematurely after six issues. In Avengers Unplugged #5 Genis officially takes the Captain Marvel name from Monica, who then suffers through several code names over the years.

After disappearing for about two years, Genis pops up again prominently in the Avengers Forever maxiseries. This launched a 2000 series written by Peter David and drawn by ChrissCross. The series was a critical darling and cult hit, but sales weren't perfect.

To try and boost sales, the book was relaunched in 2002 as part of the U-Decide Campaign. Which was a (marketing ploy) bet between David, Bill Jemas, and Joe Quesada. Fans helped to decide which of three books would survive. It helps that the other two books (Marville and Ultimate Adventures) were absolute trash, but Captain Marvel handily won. It lasted another 25 issues to bring the entire run to 60 issues. During the run, the fourth Captain Marvel Phyla-Vell is introduced as Genis' sister/clone. She uses the name briefly and then becomes Quasar and then Martyr in other stories. Genis eventually goes crazy, then dies.

In 2008 as part of the Secret Invasion crossover, Mar-Vell seems to come back to life in a self-titled miniseries. However, it's revealed that this character is a Skrull with fake memories.

The Skrull fake dies, but is able to pass on his wishes to the Kree hero Noh-Varr. Who was previously known as Marvel Boy, but then becomes Captain Marvel during the Dark Reign era. After discovering he's being manipulated, he abandons the Dark Avengers and takes on the Protector identity.

While the Avengers stock is rising in the 2000s thanks to Brian Michael Bendis, Carol Danvers is back as Ms. Marvel and her mission is to become the prominent hero she thinks she can be. To really promote her, in 2012 Marvel gives her the Captain Marvel name, redesigns her costume, and launches a new title. Kelly Sue DeConnick will shepard the character for the next few years. This series only lasts 17 issues.

By 2012 Marvel has now entered their relaunch trigger happy era. So in 2014 Captain Marvel is relaunched while keeping the same writer. This volume is even shorter at 15 issues.

As a tie-in to the alternate reality event Secret Wars in 2015, Carol Danvers gets her own miniseries still by KSD.

Coming out of Secret Wars, Captain Marvel gets another volume. This one lasts only 10 issues. Marvel brings in TV writers Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas. They leave halfway through and are replaced by Christos and Ruth Gage. The character is significantly entangled in the divisive crossover event Civil War II around this era.

In 2017 another relaunch is due and Carol gets the slight title change to The Mighty Captain Marvel. Prose writer Margaret Stohl is the writer. This series lasts nine issues before being renumbered/retitled as part of Marvel's Legacy initiative. Still with Stohl, renumbered for only five issues.

A soon to be released one-shot tie-in to Infinity Countdown promises Carol adventuring with Monica and possibly Mar-Vell. Marvel has been subtly teasing Mar-Vell's genuine return again recently.

With a Captain Marvel movie starring Carol Danvers just around the corner, Marvel obviously needs to relaunch again (SIGH). July 2018 will bring The Life of Captain Marvel #1. Still written by Stohl, the series promises to retell Carol Danver's origin. So maybe they'll decide to relaunch it again after the origin arc is over.

It's unclear whether DC would have been able to quickly grab the trademark back in the possibly free periods of 1984, 1987, 1992, 1998, and 2006. I don't know if the publication of collected editions fulfills the trademark requirements. If so, Masterworks and other collections could tick off some of those possible open spots.

To summarize, here are all of Marvel's Captain Marvel titles and relaunches:

Mar-Vell Marvel Super-Heroes 12-13 (December 1967-March 1968) Captain Marvel Vol 1 1-19 (May 1968-December 1969) Captain Marvel Vol 1 20-21 (June-August 1970) Captain Marvel Vol 1 22-62 (September 1972-May 1979) Marvel Spotlight 1-4, 8 (July 1979-September 1980) Death of Captain Marvel (April 1982) Life of Captain Marvel Vol 1 1-5 (August-December 1985) Untold Legend of Captain Marvel 1-3 (April-June 1997)

Monica Rambeau: Captain Marvel Vol 2 1 (November 1989) Captain Marvel Vol 2 1/2 (February 1994)

Genis-Vell: Captain Marvel Vol 3 1-6 (December 1995-May 1996) Captain Marvel Vol 4 0-35 (November 1999-October 2002) Captain Marvel Vol 5 1-25 (December 2002-September 2004)

Skrull Fake: Captain Marvel Vol 6 1-5 (January-June 2008)

Carol Danvers: Captain Marvel Vol 7 1-17 (September 2012-January 2014) Captain Marvel Vol 8 1-15 (May 2014-July 2015) Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps 1-4 (August-November 2015) Captain Marvel Vol 9 1-10 (March 2016-January 2017) Mighty Captain Marvel 0-9 (February-November 2017) Captain Marvel Vol 1 125-129 (December 2017-April 2018) Life of Captain Marvel Vol 2 1-? (September 2018-?)

*Dates used are cover dates.

#captain marvel #carol danvers #shazam #mar-vell #kree #genis-vell #monica rambeau #photon #pulsar #marvel #marvel comics #comics #comicbooks #comic books #dc #dc comics

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letsdressupindia · 2 years

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Fashion in 2022: Anime Collection

With the jingles of New year and newfound motivation to work on those resolutions, 2022 is a year of reinventing and revamping ourselves. And what better way to do that than clothes. One of the most famous styles of clothing that have started surfacing on social media is anime-inspired clothing. Like many others, anime has introduced a unique blend of color and class with its designs and characters. From inspiring characters to their breathtaking outfits. It sure has our heart on those oversized hoodies. While there are a number of reasons why kids love anime, anime-inspired clothing has been doing its rounds with the adult population too.

With the clothing industry getting more competitive and challenging, cool, funky hoodies are something that remains a fashion statement across all countries and genders. Due to its universal designs that can adapt to all ages, it sure makes up for all kinds of occasions, and even adapt to your personality. While anime has been popular among the 2000s kids, the new anime-inspired clothing sure brings nostalgia among the current generation. Among these are 3 anime series; The Death Note, Dragon Ball Z, and Naruto: Shippuden. With these in your closet, make a statement wherever you head.

One of the earliest memories of childhood was watching Goku defend earth along with his Z warriors. We don’t know what made Goku different, whether it was his serious persona or the charm of golden hair boy? It sure made our eyes glisten whenever we used to see him on television. While many of us still drool over Goku’s personality, owning a hoodie with Goku’s in the middle is sure to make you look as charming as any of the characters of Dragon Ball Z. From bright colors to Goku’s iconic hairstyle. Grab this anime-inspired clothing and get all the heads turned when you walk anywhere. There are many ways you can style up this hoodie, with a variety of colors to choose from, you can pair this with a simple pair of blue jeans or take it up a notch and style it with a muffler, and a big coat to give your favorite character some party feel.

While Goku might remain our hero since childhood. One of the series that is even popular today is “ The Death Note”. A completely different style of writing, unlike Dragon Ball Z, it is not really for ‘kids’. While Death Note explores a darker theme of a high school student getting his hands on an evil supernatural book ( I betcha already knew that). It also has a symbolic reference in terms of the mental health of today’s generation. With this anime-inspired clothing by your side, we don’t know about the notebook but surely other people would want to write down your numbers for this clothing. Whether you are a person who is obsessed with black or a Death Note fanatic, this clothing is sure to satisfy both your requirements. Even if you like more cheerful colors you can find them in colors like yellow, feel the power of when light meets dark.

When talking about anime-inspired clothing, how can one not talk about the most iconic and evergreen series? We like to save the best for the last, “ Naruto: Shippuden” has been doing its rounds ever since the last episode which made many fans sad over the end of the decade long series. While Naruto has charmed his way from his pre-teen years to his teenage years. Owning clothing with his character is a must in your closet. From Naruto Uzumaki Hoodie to his Shippuden hoodie, get your hands on these and feel the power of the ninja. Whether you grew up watching Naruto or recently started following it, these hoodies are promised to be a statement piece in any of your functions. From college fests to a casual outing, these will surely make you feel comfortable as well as fashionable.

So are you really a fan of anime if you don’t have anime-inspired clothing? Worry no more, this winter season get your hands on anime-inspired hoodies which are not just a statement piece but are sure to keep you warm and fuzzy in the cold weather conditions. Ask your friends to buy these hoodies and wear them up like a true gang.

#anime #naruto #death note #letsdressup #clothing #fashion

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nacksgameshack · 6 years

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A Look at the AtGames Sega Genesis Flashback HD

For many out there, the term AtGames, will leave quite a bitter taste in your mouth, and you know who you are. To put it blunt and over the top as possible, AtGames are considered by many as the one of the worst things ever to come on God’s green Earth.

I’m sure even some people will spit on it and then light it up with a lighter they got from the dollar store if they’re feeling an extra bit melodramatic, or of course just want to use their products to roast some crispy and delicious marshmallows, yum indeed, problem is, I don’t really ever eat marshmallows since they more or less just give me severe headaches, and most of the time I just prefer to sit back with a nice cold beverage like a Pepsi, this boy doesn't drink for sure, and just enjoy life as it was intended, without of course lighting a console on fire, I would not recommend something like that, if anything, I’d rather just light up some twigs and throw them at the neighbors to give them a scare. Anyways, for those who don’t know who or what an AtGames is, like seriously what is an AtGames? Well it’s not really a what more as it’s a who, in this case, it’s a company, that is mainly known for distributing licensed aftermarket plug and play consoles in North America and I guess Europe too, that may I add pretty much always dwindle down to either early Sega (Master System or Genesis) consoles and old-school Atari, with of course these being emulated, now many of these releases are more than just simple plug and plays, and some of them might I add are quite unique in fact, in a similar fashion to the huge flood of Master System rereleases that are still seen even today in Brazil from Tectoy, with AtGames, you’re going to notice that there are alot of different models and all of them like many aftermarket consoles have their own flaws that usually, especially in AtGames’s case end up being huge turn offs for a consumer, yet each model does have pluses in their own little way I guess you could argue. Regardless I’m not trying to say AtGames is a terrible company, or a great one either, most of the problems people will say about their older Genesis plug and plays and portables (yes, you heard me right they have a few portable variations of what is pretty much a mini Sega Nomad with SD card support) is the audio, and quite honestly the reputation for their poor audio, is definitely something that isn’t over-exaggerated, if you’re an audio nerd, someone who deeply cares about the accuracy of how your audio is being emulated, let me just say I do not recommend getting any of their older model consoles, or even portable for that matter, especially to note with the portable, is that if you keep it just a tad bit too high, you even have a chance of blowing out the speaker.

Now, just for some clarity, the Console that I’m going to be reviewing today, hands-on first experience I guess, is actually quite a new piece of hardware, it is a 2017 model of the latest console released by AtGames, The Sega Genesis (or Mega-Drive) Flashback HD, which yes does feature HDMI support! This console, just from the trailer is boasted to be a huge if not entire overhaul of AtGames trying to clear their bad reputation and create something that many gamers will cherish and hold onto, or atleast have fun playing without the audio blasting your ear canals and making them bleed, but a promise really doesn't mean anything unless there is real action and improvement involved along the way.

But let’s start from the basics, first off, you will notice that unlike the other variations of the Genesis consoles, this one is actually built to resemble an actual Genesis model, and fortunately even the best looking Genesis model in my opinion anyway, the Model 1. The console itself just from the looks department does sport many similarities with it being based on the Model 1��s shell design, yet also is much tinier and better compared in size to the model 3 Genesis than the model 1 or 2. One thing to be noted about this console is that, it is often compared to the NES Mini and SNES mini, and a reason for this, is because, well not only does it boast to have numerous built in games, 81 in fact, which well we’ll discuss that amount a little later, but it also does appear as said earlier, as a miniature Model 1 design, similar in fashion to the Mini Nintendo consoles, the Flashbacks also happen to have been originally released a wee bit after the NES Mini’s debut on the market. I personally haven’t touched a NES Mini or SNES Mini, so I wont do any real comparisons, rather for now, I’ll just focus on the Flashback itself and what it brings to the table of the home consumer market.

Now I've talked a little bit about the design of the console, and before I go into actually playing the thing, let me just say, when I bought this product, I wasn't expecting much from it, my expectations were quite low, from being a consumer who has gone through two AtGames Genesis consoles, I wasn't exactly disappointed with them, as for what it was, the price was a decent price, yet I did go ahead and just took them back anyways, as I just went ahead and preferred to just keep the money instead of just keeping the console, silly I suppose, but as someone who has experienced and can see why so many people are not a fan of these consoles, my expectations, as I stated were a bit on the lower side, I wasn't expecting the Flashback to compare to anything like the official Sega Genesis, but I will say that just from the super nice packaging and actually quite decent build quality of the console, already I’m quite impressed with what I have, it’s honestly kind of cool having anything miniature right? Especially something that has BLAST PROCESSING! The Console doesn't feature volume control nor does it feature a headphone jack like the real Model 1, but it’s only expected for corners to be cut, nor are such things on the original hardware even really viable to me personally as a consumer. Alls I really want is something that plays nice, and that’s what we all really want, but of course I will say this right off the bat, a huge plus of this console already is just how it looks and how it feels. The two wired and wireless (yeah, that’s alot of controllers, tell me about it *phew) controllers that you get when you purchase the console all feel great, and interestingly enough, the wireless controllers actually have two extra buttons in the middle for rewinding the game you’re playing for roughly six seconds, giving yourself a second chance at a game, or just looking at some slick moves you pulled, and also bringing up a menu that goes back to the interface of the Flashback, which yes, the Flashback does feature an interface, but I’ll talk about that a little later, the only real downside of the controllers I can say is that I’ve heard the 3-pad Genesis controllers are not compatible with the system, not just the interface, but the system entirely, that may have been fixed in a newer firmware update, but as far as I’m aware, for what I have, they do not work, only 6-button pads work on the console, which in retrospective, is not a total lost as you can still at the very least of course play games on the console with the controllers they give you, or one of your old 6-pad controllers, even though, they honestly feel just as good as the older 6-pad controllers. Overall I’d say the build quality, presentation, and design of the Flashback from a physical point of view looks quite stellar for a aftermarket console.

Alot of times, the main attraction of these aftermarket consoles is that they’re generally much cheaper than real hardware, with of course cons because of that, and alot of times, they even feature built in games, or rather some simply not only feature built in games, but they even upscale them without having to spend ridiculous amounts of money just to upscale your original hardware. Currently, as what I've seen Flashbacks usually go for around $70 USD currently, and you have to think, not only does this console promise a multitude of games, it features four controllers, a Model 1 reinvented design with some changes of course for good or worse, and even an HDMI output, something that the original Genesis would not normally support. So is this console really worth such a high price? Or is this really just a waste of money? Well before I say anymore about that, let me talk about what you’re getting yourself into behind just the little shell and controllers that are nice and pretty. The Genesis Flashback features a large amount of games, promised to be 81 built-in, which at a further glance should be noted, that not every game on here is a Genesis game, as some games in fact happen to be (another new addition to the Flashback besides pretty HD quality, time travel powers, and other things) Master System and Game Gear titles, of course the two sharing the same hardware, and the Power Base Converters existence being a thing, it only makes sense for them to add such games to the library, now there are not many of course, only a few like Fantasy Zone and Sonic Chaos, but atleast for me anyway, they’re actually quite a really nice addition that I actually really enjoy and am glad to see there, the console does feature a few other non Genesis games, that are just strange old homebrew titles, but luckily there’s only a few so it wont clutter the library, or really affect it too heavily, as in my opinion, for what you get, it does feature quite a nice library of games, from the obvious Sonic the Hedgehog titles, to some Alex Kidd games, and even the Mortal Kombat series. The Flashback also has quite a decent support of RPG games built in if that’s your goto, and what’s very cool about the console itself, is that you can actually play cartridge games on the console, as it does feature a cartridge slot, only making it even more like it’s big brother, the Model 1. In order to access any of these actual games though, you are taken to the interface of the Flashback, and while to many people it’s not really cited as anything stellar, it does what it should, and there is a bit of input lag once in awhile, and the layout requires the trigger pads, rather than the d-pad for browsing, which yes, is quite strange, it still at the end of the day does look quite pretty as you do get to see alot of nice old cover art from classic Genesis and even a few Master System titles. Now the games themselves, as far as I’ve seen and played, they all run quite well and the sound is pretty much on point atleast in terms of emulation. There is a bit of noticeable staggering or choppiness in some games like Sonic the Hedgehog, but when you’re busy enjoying the game, it shouldn't bother you too much. The games have sometimes frozen on me, but with a clear reset, they work again, and with the new addition of save states and rewinding, it does avoid soft locks quite a bit. There is quite a huge negative about the Flashback though when it comes to cartridge games, is that some games will not work at all, unless of course you modded your Flashback to play such games. Simply put, games like Sonic 3 and Knuckles will not work with Sonic 3 attached, as the console will pick up both cartridges and show both on the screen as to either choose from Sonic 3 or Knuckles, which yes, totally removes the lock on features you could get from any Genesis Sonic title that is normally compatible. Now previously mentioned with modding and taking a dangerous risk with your Flashback, you can manually add games with a micro SD, and some games that wont normally run off a cartridge can run, if it’s loaded from the system, there have even been some people who have installed retroarch on the system and enabled it to not only play Sega CD titles, with a micro SD of course, but also 32X titles like Knuckles Chaotix and the god awful Spiderman Web of Fire, actually you know what that seems awfully mean to shred on that game, I tell you what I need to give that game a try again and just see how well it fits into my modern day brain, maybe even review if I actually have motivation for such an awfu- I mean uh Sega 32x game.

With all of this mentioned, does the Flashback hold up to it’s 70 dollar price? Well besides some compatibility and minor graphical issues, I’m perfectly happy with the thing, as someone who can’t afford to collect Genesis games, this is quite a nice alternative for me, and I’d say it is for anyone in the same boat. Now for the adventurous and vanilla types, or rather just even collectors, it is of course better to just go ahead with a real Sega Genesis, as that is of course going to have the best compatibility as it is the real hardware and no emulation problems will be found. They’re also sold in a multitude of models and support addons, so if you’re into collecting that, then go for it, but say if you just want a budget hd console that can play Sega Genesis games as they were intended, well while I can’t say this does it entirely 100 percent accurate, I can say, that for the most part, all the games on this console play perfectly fine, and it is a much cheaper alternative than to just buying a real Genesis, as it also doesn't feature a region lock, unlike the real Genesis and Mega-Drive hardware. With all considered of the console, despite the flaws, I would say that this console is something that you should keep your eyes out for, if you are looking to play Genesis games on your HDTV for an affordable cost, and if you want it to come with a bunch of games of course aswell, and as I said earlier, it does feature quite a bit of controllers and two controllers ports, so if you ever have someone come over, the Flashback already has got you covered. I’d say just go for the thing, hell I got mine used on Ebay for about 50 dollars, which was probably a stupid idea in hindsight, and it definitely did lower my expectations even further then it just being an AtGames product, but with that said, despite it being used, despite it being an AtGames product, it still stands out as quite a very good aftermarket mini console, that is very much worth your time if you want something affordable, and also compact that plays Sega Genesis titles.

#atgames #sega genesis #plug in play #retro #review #master system #nackdemweasels #console #console review #blast processing #genesis review #sega genesis review

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aion-rsa · 2 years

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My Hero Academia: Ryan Stegman On His Original Artwork and Melding the East With the West

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This article is presented by Funimation

It’s never been a more exciting time for both comic fans and comic creators. There’s a growing trend that celebrates the merging of worlds and blurring of lines, both when it comes to the characters within comic books, but also the people who work behind the scenes. Collaboration has been embraced in major ways and suddenly creators are able to provide their own slant on classic characters and reinvent them for a fresh set of eyes.

Ryan Stegman is a talented comic book artist who’s become an important part of Marvel over the past decade through working on series like Venom, Superior Spider-Man, She-Hulk, and X-23. Stegman has built a clear visual style through his work that’s allowed him to take on increasingly ambitious projects and more beloved comic book icons. Recently, Stegman has also re-teamed with his Venom collaborator, Donny Yates, for their own original creator-owned series, Vanish, through Kids Love Chains Press. The gritty take on the superhero genre can be read online and is set to hit shelves in a more complete form in a few months.

Stegman has an illustrious history with Marvel, but he’s an artist who’s been influenced by manga throughout his entire life and has always been eager to tackle that world. The success of Kohei Horikoshi’s My Hero Academia continues to soar and it’s a rare example of a manga and anime series where Western superhero influences are front and center. Stegman has been able to combine his talents with the growing world of My Hero Academia to create a thrilling piece of artwork that captures the climax of the new My Hero Academia movie, World Heroes’ Mission, yet reinterpreted through Stegman’s own iconic style.

Ryan Stegman’s new artwork celebrates the release of My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission and in honor of the exciting collaboration he’s opened up on his creative process and his history with My Hero Academia. Stegman reveals how he began by working on a cover for the manga’s French publisher, what Marvel characters he thinks of when drawing Deku, the prospect of illustrating a My Hero Academia one-shot, and what prolific anime studios he’d like to see bring his own comic creations to life one day.

DEN OF GEEK: To begin with, how did you first get involved with this collaboration?

RYAN STEGMAN: I had done a cover for the French publisher, Ki-oon, who publishes My Hero Academia in France. I was told—now I don’t know if it’s true—that the creator of My Hero Academia [Kohei Horikoshi] actually likes my work, which was a huge honor. He really does seem like he has some American influences. So I did that piece, which went well, and then I was contacted out of the blue by Funimation to produce some more My Hero Academia art. I was all too happy to do it because both of my kids are obsessed with My Hero Academia, so it’s the one thing that I can do that makes them think that I’m cool.

My son—whose ten—is a huge manga fan. I’ve read several volumes of the book, but he’s like current. He’s read them all. He and I watched the first few seasons of the show—I’m not completely caught up, but I’ve seen a bunch of it and really love it.

You mentioned you and your son’s connection to the anime, but why do you think audiences have responded to the anime’s characters in such positive ways and what is it about the series that initially drew you into its unique cast?

RS: Well I think it’s interesting in the sense that superheroes have never been more popular thanks to Marvel movies and everything that’s come out. I can’t really think of many other manga that have leaned hard into the superhero angle. There are plenty of characters with powers and stuff like that, but My Hero Academia crafts this entire superhero universe in this one book. It’s like Jack Kirby creating the whole Marvel universe, except that all of these characters fit into the same place and you don’t have to buy like fifteen books to understand what’s going on. I think that’s a big part of it. It’s like with Invincible, Robert Kirkman’s American comic book series, which forges this jumping-off point with Invincible, but then there’s this whole other universe that develops around it. In a way, it’s like you’re reading a team book, but it’s just focused on one character.

You’ve done a lot of work with Marvel in the past and it seems like a lot of people see similarities between My Hero Academia and these more established superheroes. Do you see connections between these two worlds at all, and were any Marvel characters on your mind at all when creating this artwork for the movie?

RS: I definitely think a lot about Spider-Man when I draw Deku. I’m a big Spider-Man fan, as my past work might indicate, and so it’s easy to relate to Deku through that Peter Parker perspective. He’s always getting beat up and he can’t give up even when the worst things in the world are happening to him. So I definitely think of Spider-Man the most there and it’s a helpful entry point for the character.

Does artwork like this go through a lot of revisions? Did it look any different in its introductory stages and what’s your process on putting something like this together?

RS: So we make sure to properly plan it out since it needs to go through several channels. So I do a layout, where I want as many notes as possible so that there aren’t a ton later on in the process. Initially I had a few different ideas that I considered, like using Deku’s Black Whip Quirk in the initial image, which ended up changing into his electricity power. Really though, besides that there wasn’t much in terms of changes. It was a very smooth process.

There are so many powerful scenes from out of this movie, so how did you decide to draw the particular action sequence that’s focused on in this artwork? Were you given a lot of freedom with what you could tackle?

RS: They kind of gave me info on Flect Turn, the villain, and that they wanted the scene to focus on him and Deku. There were several iterations of what we could do for this, but just two characters fighting each other is my favorite image to create. It’s always this dance where the characters need to look like they’re fighting, but that neither one can appear like they’re winning, too. It’s an old comic trope that I’m obsessed with. So once we decided on the two characters for the artwork, I watched the film’s trailer and there was a note to contain it to the certain room that’s present in the trailer. Once I knew the characters and the location, I took it from there.

That’s so interesting because it really is the type of image that’s common in comic books on a big splash panel, yet also the sort of stylized freeze-frame approach that’s present at the end of anime episodes. It really captures both of those worlds at once.

RS: I’m hugely influenced by manga to begin with. I think that the action in a lot of my work is more influenced by manga than it is by American comics. It’s not a leap for me to create an image like that.

On that note, the animation in this movie is so staggering at times and Studio Bones really outdo themselves here. Are there any stylistic touches or animation techniques in this movie, or elsewhere in the series, that have inspired decisions that you have made in your work?

RS: One of my number one influences is Katsuhiro Otomo from Akira. That’s kind of like where I learned how to draw action. There are some American artists that can pull this off too, but manga is all about elements like the speed lines and the tension in the figure, so that a still image actually looks like it’s moving. So that’s something that’s greatly influenced my work. And even in the anime, they work off “on twos”—I think—which make use of a lot of still images, but they still look like they’re moving within the anime. So it’s something that I’ve learned from them.

Studio Bones has also just become one of the best. One of my dreams is to have something that I’ve made get turned into an anime by a studio like that. I always try to keep that in mind when I’m working. “Would this look cool if Studio Bones got their hands on it?”

That’s so cool. There’s been such an interesting shift where the public has become much more knowledgeable on what animation studios are involved with productions. People will get excited or frustrated when it’s announced that this particular studio is adapting this manga, or when studios switch between seasons. There’s a lot more interest on that side of things.

RS: Gainax, they’re another one that for the longest time I was like, “Anything that they touch I will watch.”

No, it’s so cool to see audiences rallying behind an animation studio as much as they would a director or a writer. Your voice really shines through with this artwork, but would you be interested in pushing this partnership further and doing something like a full-on one-shot in this style?

RS: Oh, of course. Like I said, my kids are so into this. I also have a niece that loves My Hero Academia. I’ve always said that my target audience that I want to win over is that ten-to-eighteen year-old group. That’s when I first got obsessed with this medium. I can’t get that out of my head and so those are always the people that I want to connect with. I often think about how it’s possible to bring over those manga fans to the American side of things, so if that opportunity became available I’d jump at it. I’d do anything for My Hero Academia. I just love it.

And the response is also just so great. I noticed on Twitter after the first time that I drew that cover for Ki-oon that people were like, “Oh my God, look what this Venom artist did for My Hero Academia!?” Almost like they were mystified that an American comic book artist was interested in manga, but this is the stuff that I grew up on. I just happen to draw it in an American style because I’m an American.

Absolutely. It’s really great to see creators drawing other artists’ characters and how there’s such intense passion to connect worlds and play with other people’s toys. Also, the bone and spinal quality that you’ve incorporated into Flect Turn’s equipment is so striking. Talk a little on that detail and some of the other inspirations for that exoskeleton aesthetic.

RS: I was basically referring to the reference materials and I just can’t help but texture everything to death. So I see those elements of Flect Turn, think they look like bones, and then texture them like a skeleton. I’m definitely an artist who doesn’t think that less is more. More is more. I like a lot of lines and my influences were always so detailed with their work. So I guess what you’re responding to there is just my texture work.

It has a real Cronenberg quality to it!

Ryan Stegman x My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission Giveaway

RS: Yeah, right? It’s a little creepy, isn’t it?

I guess off of that, do you find that you have a preference towards heroes or villains when it comes to your artwork?

RS: It’s kind of interesting since I never know how I’m going to feel about a character until I’ve actually drawn them. When I first drew Spider-Man, I got it. I drew up drawing Spider-Man and it was just easy for me. But every so often you’ll draw a character and have no idea how much fun it will be. For example, I did an Inhumans series and I just fell in love with the character of Medusa. She kind of tows the line between hero and villain. It was the same thing with Venom. I was never a huge Venom fan when I was growing up—I mean I liked him—but as soon as I started drawing him there was just a connection there.

Oh! And I drew some Superior Spider-Man, which features Doctor Octopus inhabiting Peter Parker’s body—it’s a whole thing—and that was just so much fun because I was drawing Peter Parker, but with villainous expressions. He’d be all over the top and it was a fun experiment. But it really just depends on when you get a new character to play with and how you respond to it all.

Similarly, if you could mix My Hero Academia together with any other existing superhero characters, what kind of feud would you be the most fascinated to draw?

RS: I think the easiest answer would be the X-Men because there’s the school aspect to it all. The younger X-Men characters could fight with the younger My Hero Academia characters and it just feels like an easy one to play around with. They’re already so similar!

If you had to draw some Old Man Logan style artwork for a character out of My Hero Academia, who do you think would be the most interesting to focus on?

RS: To age them up and make them old? Bakugo could be interesting. It may be a lame answer, but Deku would be a fun route to go just because it’s Deku and you could power him up even more and show how much he’s grown. Maybe make his look closer to All Might even.

Lastly, are there any other anime series that you’re interested in and would like to take a crack at now that you’ve got My Hero Academia under your belt?

RS: My Hero Academia is kind of the perfect series for me since it’s already such a good fit with the work that I do. I’d have a lot of fun tackling any manga or anime series. In the past I’ve done some Dragon Ball stuff for fun. That’s a good question though….Some of my favorites, like Samurai Champloo, I’m not sure if I would excel in that area. They’re not like huge muscle characters, you know, but I still might end up enjoying something like that. I’m going to stick with My Hero Academia for now, but I’ll give anything a shot if I’m offered the opportunity.

My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission is exclusively in cinemas now in the UK, and you can buy tickets here! More about Ryan Stegman and Donny Cates’ upcoming Vanish series can be read about at KLCPress.com

The post My Hero Academia: Ryan Stegman On His Original Artwork and Melding the East With the West appeared first on Den of Geek.

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hippomanblog · 6 years

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My Fire Emblem Rankings

I’ve had a few questions about my legitimate Fire Emblem opinions and thoughts, so I figured I’d write this up while I’m waiting for some things to process. This is all just personal opinion, no shade is meant to be being thrown, and this probably won’t interest you too much. But, hey, here it is. I’ll list the Fire Emblems going from favorite to least favorite, and explain a little bit about why I feel that way. Note that I won’t be including 1-5. I’m considering the remakes the “definitive” versions of 1/2/3, and I haven’t actually played the Jugdral games. I’m also not counting Heroes because it’s kinda hard to “judge”, but I do like it a lot and play on a pretty regular basis. THIS POST WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR EACH GAME!

#1. Awakening

Awakening is a game that gets a few things wrong but most things right. What don’t I like about it? I preferred the art style of the Tellius games. The maps aren’t very creative. Pair Up is a thematically cool mechanic that really doesn’t hold up to scrutiny and trivializes many encounters. The story is simple, with the exception of a couple twists, and Validar is a dull villain. I like pretty much everything else. Awakening managed to be accessible to new fans and still provide a nice challenge for series veterans. There’s a diverse selection of characters who are all pretty viable, meaning you can use your favorites. Most characters have a lot of personality and depth to their lines, like with how they turned Frederick from a typical stoic Jagen-type into this goofy obsessive pyromaniac without making him a complete joke character. The SpotPass characters are also a lovely addition if you adore the series like I do, and there’s just so much to do in this game, so it feels like a celebration of the franchise as a whole. If I’m trying to get someone into Fire Emblem, I will tell them to play Awakening. Favorite Character: Gregor or Owain. Least Favorite Character: Yarne #2. New Mystery Of The Emblem

This is bias, yes, but I love New Mystery. I was really excited for this game, because I was pretty new to the fanbase when it was announced, and couldn’t wait for an English release. I waited, and waited, and waited, and... Once I finished playing my JP copy I just lamented that we didn’t get to play this game here. I think that while Awakening reinvents Fire Emblem, New Mystery is sort of the pinnacle of “classic” FE. The game is just fun, the maps are diverse and challenging, and the combination of reclass and the sheer amount of playable characters gives it immense replay value. The plot is nothing to really write home about, but after the vast wasteland of Shadow Dragon Plot, I really liked what was there. It’s nothing that’ll blow your mind, but there are some nice moments. I know a lot of people hate Kris, but I don’t mind them. I won’t go to bat for them being any kind of great character or vital addition to the story, but as a sounding board to give other Archanea characters a little personality, and a way to customize your own unit and give them all sorts of terrible hats, they work just fine. I also like the idea of Marth as a bit of a shell-shocked, reluctant king who relies on his friends to rise to greatness. It prevents him from being “too perfect”, like RD Ike. But I can see where people have problems with this. I wish this were a more accessible entry in the series, because I think it has a little bit of something for every Fire Emblem fan. Favorite Character: Honestly? I like Caeda and Ogma, they’re cool people. Least Favorite Character: matthis is creepy and I hate him 3. Blazing Sword

Like a lot of people, Blazing Sword was my first exposure to the series (through an LP on Youtube for me), and it does a great job. You could honestly probably swap these first three around in any order, to be frank. The balance in this one is a little wonky, and it goes on a little too long. But I like what it does with its extra time. You get some clever gaidens that mix up the formula, have room to use lots of units, and the sprite animations are just wonderful to watch. The three lords all bring something to the table, even though you’re honestly probably just going to play Hector Mode once you’ve unlocked it. Lyn has a story about claiming your birthright and using nobility to help people, Hector’s brash and boorish nature is offset as he learns how to be a better person on his journey (That scene with Matthew on the Dread Isle is great.), and Eliwood...exists. With maps ranging from cramped and objective based to sprawling battlefields, there’s a lot of variety in gameplay and room for different units to shine. It’s also got some of the best supports in the series. It’s a must-play for any Fire Emblem fan. Favorite: Hector is a good boy and a friend. Legault is also a surprisingly involved side-character with some great lines and dialogue with almost every Morph in the final map! Least Favorite: Jaffar, because it’s hard to tell if I hate him more for killing Leila or ramming his face into the paladin in Battle Before Dawn and getting slaughtered so many times.

4. Path Of Radiance

I guess only the top 3 are getting thumbnails, sorry. PoR sticks with me because it tries a lot of new things and most of them work out. The bonus experience is a good system, I think this game does support unlocks better than any other, Laguz units are fun to use, and the conversion to pseudo-3D maps feels smooth and never gets in the way of gameplay. There are issues, though. I’m not a fan of the way the full-body portraits look in the cutscenes of this game, biorhythm is silly, and that Bridge Map sure does Exist. The reason this isn’t breaking Top 3, though, is that I just never really got attached to the cast. Characters are a big part of Fire Emblem for me, and while there are some great ones in PoR, there are also several that feel very forgettable. The plot is also a little...iffy, because it’s all FANTASY RACISM and it feels like it’s trying to punch above its pay grade sometimes. Like, be honest, did you give a shit that you had to kill Jill’s dad? That character who showed up maybe once? The maps also tend to blend together, with a few notable exceptions (because they’re annoying, mostly). In Minor Nitpick Town, the 3D cutscenes are hilariously goofy and the Trial characters have really awful unlock conditions. Still, PoR is a very solid entry and I’d give it a hearty recommendation. Favorite: Ranulf, probably. Least Favorite: makalov shouldn’t have been recruitable

5. Sacred Stones I balked a little at putting this one this low, like “Really? This is FIFTH?” But I guess that’s just a testament to how much I enjoy all these games. Like with the top three, you could probably swap this with PoR. Sacred Stones gets a lot of shit for being “too easy”, and I don’t think that’s necessarily wrong, but I also don’t think it’s that big a deal. This game takes risks, but they’re good risks that frequently pay off. This was the ideal game for the Trainee classes to come in, because you can actually feasibly use them! The monsters add variation to the types of enemies you encounter! Split promotions are interesting tactical decisions that give the player more control over their personal experience! There’s just...not a ton of substance to SS, though. The monsters, at heart, aren’t really interesting to fight. The game’s plot often feels like it’s on fast forward, and it ends before any real tension builds. The villains are, with the exception of Lyon, who’s great, mostly just cardboard cutouts of bad guy stereotypes. The postgame is mostly just grindy and once you’ve beaten the Tower or Ruins once, you’ll probably say “okay, I’m done!” Well, you aren’t, not if you want 100%! Get back in there and kill more Dracozombies to unlock your underleveled Druid! If you really crave that “challenge” as an essential part of your FE experience, although I think SS is often made out to be easier than it really is, you can probably skip it. But for most fans, it’s not to be passed up. Favorite: L’Arachel, of course. Least Favorite: I usually forget Syrene is in the game until she appears. 6. Fates: Conquest Yes, I’m dividing Fates into three games. Sue me. Conquest feels like the best of the Fates routes, because it’s creative. In... a lot of ways. The maps are creative. While some just amount to gimmicks, several are, in my opinion, series standouts. Chapter 9 is a Defense map that actually feels like a Defense map. You’ve got anti-siege weapons, you’re scrambling to keep the Hoshidans from flooding in, and when Takumi drains the water the whole dynamic of the map suddenly changes. It rules. To me, that map encompasses all the best parts of Conquest. It’s too bad it’s still in Fates, though. Let’s get it out of the way: Plot Bad. But, unique to Conquest, I think, is a plot so utterly ridiculous and convoluted that it actually becomes actively enjoyable. This is a story where your cousin puts on a different colored costume to COMPLETELY FOOL your adoptive dad, who she reveals is actually a jelly monster, but cannot tell anyone else because of a terrible curse inflicted by the King Of The Jelly Monsters, so you organize an invasion of an entire country to unmask Jelly Dad by making him sit on the Super Special Chair that will reveal his gelatinous form. I love it, to be honest. Otherwise my issues are mostly just the standard Fates Problems. The game tries to take what worked in Awakening and amp it up to 11, which ruins most of it. The child characters are unmemorable and the plot explanation is bafflingly nonsensical (BABY DIMENSIONS), the characters often feel like they’re just gimmicks that smash into eachother and then get married for some reason, and the game tries to be so many things at once that most of them feel half-assed or over-complicated. Jelly King Dad though. Favorite: Arthur cracks me up. Least Favorite: Peri Peri Peri peri peri p e r i p e r i 7. Echoes: Shadows Of Valentia

Confession time. I still haven’t finished this one all the way. I’ve seen the ending, though. Let’s get the problems out of the way first. The gameplay is not very fun. The map design delights in sticking you in poisonous swamps, slow and dreary deserts, or Nuibaba’s Abode, which I would personally say is the worst map in the series. While some of Awakening and Birthright’s maps feel lazy, most maps in this game feel like they were designed either just to frustrate you or with a series of random dice rolls that somehow plant a single Cavalier at the ass-end of nowhere and extend the map for three turns with zero rhyme or reason. Class balance is all over the place and you basically just want all the Dread Fighters possible, with a Cleric to summon more Dread Fighters. The dungeon crawling doesn’t add much, most of the game mechanics go woefully underexplained, and the voiced supports feel minimalist and shallow. But when Echoes works? It really, really works. I don’t like playing it, but watching someone play Echoes is a treat. The game is bursting with personality thanks to some phenomenal voice acting, which leaves the story with some unforgettable moments, both comic (the boey scream) and dramatic (Berkut Loses His Shit). Even though the characters don’t have a lot of explicit backstory, their voices and conversations are so expressive that it’s easy to sort of form your own ideas about their personalities and lives. The art is some of the best in the series, and each portrait is expressive and well done. It’s clear that this remake had a lot of care put into it, and it produced some of the series best lords and a wonderful new villain in the sinister Berkut. 8. Radiant Dawn

A lot of good things from Path Of Radiance carry over to Radiant Dawn. Namely, the stuff I mentioned earlier, I won’t go into it all again. All of that is good, but the new additions and changes often don’t work. The multiple viewpoints has a few cool moments, like facing down Ike and friends in 3-13 (with the greatest faceless NPC of all time on your side), but often just contributes to making the game way too long and making the characters often appear outright stupid or contradictory for the sake of moving the plot along. Remember when Micaiah, who spared one of the most vile people in FE history in Part 1, dumped flaming oil on a 13 year old girl and her guards in Part 3? Remember when Ranulf just walks up and tells you who the Black Knight is, ending a mystery that had been developed since the previous game with the dialogue equivalent of showing you a spoiler on the internet? Remember blood pacts? The massive split in characters also makes some of them completely worthless. Never forget the sad case of Vika, who suddenly disappears and doesn’t return until almost the final chapter, still at her Part 1 level. Yikes. I do enjoy the Finale maps a lot, however, and the final boss encounter is fairly memorable, though it does carry its own problem with Ike being basically hero worshipped by the entire cast, to the point where only he can strike down Ashera. I like Ike, but RD kind of feels like it’s forcing him down your throat sometimes. Favorite: Out of the new characters, Nolan, probably? Least Favorite: surprise it’s still makalov 9. Shadow Dragon I’m sure this is bottoming out a lot of people’s lists, but let me make my case. 1. Reclass is cool and they introduced it in this.

2. Hardin’s turban.

3. The Prologue, where IS got to make new stuff, is a lot of fun and has personality.

Okay, so Shadow Dragon is disappointing. It’s a remake that did not change enough, and if the FE games were yogurt flavors, Shadow Dragon would be the batch they just forgot to put flavoring in. Everything, down to the graphics, is covered in this thin veneer of blandness, and it’s sort of a muddy march to the finale, so you can finally take down a villain who literally gets about four lines in the whole game. The Gaiden chapters also feel like a rude prank. If you want to get at the fun maps with the interesting characters with good dialogue, you have to slaughter all of your friends on purpose! At least it’s in Shadow Dragon so you probably won’t like most of them anyway! Favorite: The guy who calls Gordin “Gaggles”. Least Favorite: surprise it’s still makalovmatthis 10. Binding Blade I admit that this is bizarre placement. I just...don’t like Binding Blade. It’s mostly due to stat distribution in gameplay, honestly. The skill/luck formula in this one results in a lot of boss fights that are just two 40% characters whiffing on eachother for ages. Several of the maps are giant slogs, especially 14, but I don’t remember any in particular that I really enjoyed. The plot is okay, but not memorable. Idunn is a bit of a letdown encounter. Hector deserved better. To summarize, I guess I just don’t think this is a game that does anything that Blazing Sword didn’t do better. So I’m gonna play that one instead. Favorite: Bors because of a terrible stupid inside joke I have with a friend. Least Favorite: I don’t remember anyone I cared enough to dislike, really. Let’s go with Cath for having the worst recruitment for a Worse Chad. 11. Fates: Birthright Remember all those cool things Conquest did? What if they didn’t? Birthright! While the story is still bad, it’s not nearly as funny-bad, although I do have to give props to the scene where Flora sets herself on fire and Jakob spends about a solid minute screaming out how pointless this is, echoing the player’s thoughts perfectly. The maps are mostly just stat-checks and open fields, and the answer to your problems often isn’t “make a better plan”, it’s “go grind a bit and then just roll through it”, especially on some late-game maps. Iago’s comes to mind, with the whole Entrap into Berzerker combo? Screw that. Favorite: Azama is a treasure. On the NPC (in this route) side, Elise is a beacon of rationality and kindness. I sure hope nothing happens to h-Oh. Least Favorite: I remember literally nothing about the personalities of Hana and Hinata so them, I guess.

12. Fates: Revelations Do you remember when I said Shadow Dragon was like unflavored yogurt? What if all the flavorings got mixed into one batch? And then you add chocolate and cherries and sprinkles and nuts and caramel and parsley and cinnamon and more cherries and shaved ice and spaghetti and then you tell it to explain the plot of Fates. That’ll be 20 dollars. Revelations actively harms the other two routes of the game by being the obvious “true route”, where nobody has to get hurt (except the best characters, r.i.p. Scarlet and Izana) and everything turns out just fine, negating any sort of moral ambiguity present! Anankos is a non-entity and a dull villain, and to add insult to injury, you don’t get to learn shit about him unless you buy the other DLC for this DLC that also decides to crib from Awakening and mess with some of the characters from that one. Almost every map has a bizarre gimmick that’s just weirdly cumbersome, and the amount of plot twists the game shoves at you in an attempt to explain EVERYTHING is just exhausting. You can play as any character in the Fates package (almost, double r.i.p. Izana) but the balance is tossed out the window to the point where once Niles and Odin come crawling in, they’re nigh-unusable in their joining chapter. It doesn’t feel like any part of it really comes together. Favorite: not this Least Favorite: Thinking about what else I could have bought with those 20 dollars. Well, that took about two hours, but this is my list. If you have any questions, I’m open. Sorry if I dissed your favorite, but if it helps, know that I can see why someone would enjoy any game in the series, even my least favorites. Also, know that I’m an idiot on the internet and that my opinion doesn’t have to impact what you enjoy! Just love the games you love, I’ll stick with mine, and we’re cool! I’m going to stop typing now.

#fire emblem #hippoman #ranking #opinion #awakening #favorites #spoilers

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lildaveselectronics · 6 years

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[Street Fighter V] Extra Battle: Viable Ryu

If you were lucky enough to get the Extra Boss Battle before July 1, 2018 you got a chance to fight Ryu dubbed "The Master" it cost 1000FM to fight him and just like with Fortnite Thanos was for a limited time this is something I want to see more of in the future with different games and even more possible limited time crossover events that keeps interest and can change, add, or improve gameplay keeping things fresh, fun and unpredictable for the gamer. I think both are cool ideas and watching MDZ Jimmy fight what he calls him Viable Ryu was funny and entertaining check it out. This was pretty cool I had just made a post about the new DLC character G and the speculation on who he is and some of the boss battles of SFV so it was cool to see the Ryu The Master "A True Martial Artist" in his traditional Gi. G and Ryu's rival Sagat are the last 2 planned DLC characters planned coming out later this year, and with ideas like this they can keep the game fresh for years to come.

Bonus:

VesperArcade has been putting up a lot of quality strategy and advice videos for many of the top games this year including the fighting game genre. With the release of the character called G getting closer wanted to revisit one of the best years for fighting games.

Extra Bonus:

With Street Fighter celebrating its 30th Anniversary and speculation on who G is, Mortal Kombat coincidentally just came off of celebrating its 25th Anniversary and many anticipating a new Mortal Kombat game (Mortal Kombat 11) and whether the game would take place before or after Armageddon. SMGxPrincess, Dynasty, BruskPoet, History Behind the Warrior and Super have some of the best informative, fun insights, and gameplay with Mugen creators Borg117 & Bleed having some of the best new gameplay ideas, and Mortal Kombat Addict has his own Krypt Secrets with some of the best Mugen Mortal Kombat games. Mortal Kombat has a huge following and a strong enough background to keep the game going with all the secrets and characters already in the game but it would still be cool to see something new. Many wanted a crossover game with Street Fighter or even Killer Instinct but on its own it is still one of the top fighting games of the genre.

Kreate-a-Fighter was one of the best features from Mortal Kombat Armageddon between that and the Epic Gears and Shaders from Injustice 2 they are the perfect combination.

Update:

Dynasty has just posted New Mortal Kombat details in the form of a movie instead of the anticipated Mortal Kombat 11 game. Here they introduce a new character and a new story not necessarily what we know of Mortal Kombat. More of a spin off or a custom Mugen game, even though I was hoping for some kind of answer what happens after Armageddon I welcome any new idea and if done well it can work even though not canon (like the Japanese/Chinese relationship with Liu Kang & Kung Lao - ninja/shaolin monk brother relationship but without stereotyping it can happen right? I'm sure they will explain it like they picked which martial art or style they wanted when they were young). Mortal Kombat Rebirth pitch wasn't exactly canon either but looked good enough that we wanted to see it anyway. They did Mortal Kombat Legacy 1 & 2 instead but Mortal Kombat Rebirth I think would have worked.

New ideas sometimes keeps interest just like in the Kreate-a-Fighter post where Dynasty, Brusk Poet, SMGxPrincess and other fans game post ideas that gamers actually want as well as Borg117, Bleed, and Mortal Kombat Addict reinventing Mortal Kombat with gameplay that adds new experiences. Check out the new Mortal Kombat Movie details and see what you think as well as the Mortal Kombat Rebirth pitch and the version they actually went with Mortal Kombat Legacy 1 & 2, and check some great ideas for the new MK game in the Kreate-a-Fighter post and SMGxPrincess post below.

New Mortal Kombat Movie Details? Character Cast & Story Plot Revealed w/ No Sub-Zero & Scorpion?!

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SMGxPrincess usually has on point information and knows what she is talking about when it comes to the industry haven’t heard anything yet so I decided to put up the best ideas and information from SMGxPrincess and Dynasty. She posted information about a Shaolin Monks 2 as the next game personally I want the new Mortal Kombat 11 so hopefully both are true or it is combination of the 2.

MORTAL KOMBAT: REBIRTH (1080 HD)

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(This trailer actually works just tap play it had Reptile as the thumbnail but it works.)

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Trailer

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[HD] Mortal Kombat: Legacy II | Trailer

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Mortal Kombat is a one of a kind fighting game that keeps expanding and offers fans and gamers a like new ways to enjoy the franchise. For fans of the MK series check out some of the latest movies and games out and coming out each bringing its own unique direction that can also stand on its own and bring something new and entertaining.

IS BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL THE ANSWER TO CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON?

Blade of the Immortal has gotten overall a great reception with critics and fans alike scoring in the range of 85% of 81 critics they have consistently gotten the approval needed to solidify its space as a classic and gem that everyone needs to know about. It was based on a manga of the same name by Hiroaki Samura and is the 100th film from its director Takashi Miike.

IMMORTAL Unchained - First Gameplay Trailer (New RPG 2018) PS4/Xbox One/PC

Immortal Unchained: First 45 Minutes (Gameplay)

CRACKDOWN 3 gameplay 4k (e3 2017) Xbox One X

Crackdown 3 Trailer - E3 2018

RED FACTION GUERRILLA RE-MARS-TERED AND SAINTS ROW IS BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE!

Volition earlier in the year was bought by THQ Nordic reuniting them with old Volition titles from the past like Summoner and Red Faction. If you are not familiar with the Red Faction series you are in luck Red Faction Guerrilla is being remastered and if that’s not enough Saints Row 1 and 2 are now backwards compatible on the Xbox One. MrSaintsGodzilla21 has posted 2 videos so you can see how well these two have been upgraded as well as detailed explanation.

Agents of Mayhem had mixed reviews when it came out but it was a different perspective that even though is chaotic it is different enough you won’t confuse it with a Saints Row game kind of how Saints Row the Third separated itself from being a GTA clone. Check out Agents of Mayhem on Playstation Underground and hightlights for Agents of Mayhem and 10 years of Saints Row.

Anon | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix

Jamie Foxx has been confirmed to play Spawn in this new reboot by the comic creator and artist Todd McFarlane in association with Blumhouse Productions which made news last year with its movie Get Out. It is said that they are taking more of a horror approach, as well as Spawn not really speaking. That works good with Jason or Michael Myers but some dialog would be good I hope they rethink that. I would like to see what the official word is from Todd McFarlane himself but Spawn not saying anything doesn’t sound right to me.

Since Spawn has been anticipated by fans of the comic, movies and video games here is the History of Spawn by Variant very entertaining and knowledgeable to watch and History of the Warrior talks about the real reason Spawn wasn’t in Injustice 2 well thought out and entertaining.

WILL 2 JOKERS BE THE BRIGHT IDEA THAT WILL DO DC COMICS JUSTICE?

If you had to choose the next Joker movie to be based around the one from Batman or Suicide Squad which would you pick? Personally as a fan of Suicide Squad and wanting to see something new I think it was good news that Jared Leto was getting an opportunity to play that version of the Joker to see where the story goes as this version looks different and even acts different. But for the sake of argument Joaquinn Phoenix playing the original Joker and having this version also a standalone movie seems like the best of both worlds.

MCU Could Tackle Horror Genre According to Kevin Feige

Marvel is thinking about getting in on the horror movie action and thinking about a few characters like Man-Thing and Blade. Blade one of the more popular characters in the Marvel Comics Universe already has a trilogy out on DVD and Blu-ray but getting a revamp wouldn’t hurt and I would like to see the direction they would. There is currently a Blade television show called Blade The Series you can watch now on the CW staring Kirk Jones (Sticky Fingaz from the group Onyx)

Joaquin Phoenix has just been officially announced as the Joker for the Origin film they are making, for any fans of Batman or the Joker check the new game Batman: The Enemy Within as well some of the older Batman games like Batman: Return to Arkham.

WB Officially Announces Joker Origin Movie With Joaquin Phoenix

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Telltale’s Batman: The Enemy Within Episode 1: ‘The Enigma’ Review

Batman: Return to Arkham includes what is considered to be 2 of the best games ever made now remastered for the new generation of players on the Playstation 4 and Xbox One. The game comes with 2 classics Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City. With the power of the Unreal Engine 4 giving it that graphical upgrade it looks better then before. Even though it has received mixed reviews it is still worth the pick up whether you are a new to the series or played it on the previous systems.

Update:

Adding information about Season 2 of The Punisher from IGN, also one of the better movies of 2017 Murder On The Oriental Express, 25 facts about Jigsaw from the Saw series and Team Spoiler.

#Games

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