All general posts relating to the comic book industry.
Source: https://bleedingcool.com/comics/star-wars-rise-of-skywalker-1-preview-reys-sith-showdown/
Yes, six years after the last Star Wars movie disappointed movie goers, Marvel is putting out a comic book adaptation. Why we needed six years for a comic that was just going to rehash old territory is beyond me, but there you go. I suppose this is their way of trying to make sense of what that movie was even supposed to be.
Too little, too late, I’m afraid.
The trailer for the upcoming Fantastic Four movie… which is, what, the fourth take on bringing these characters a quality film?
So, there was the unreleased Roger Corman film from the 90s that only saw bootlegs out in the wild and it is a Roger Corman film – cheaply efficient and efficiently cheap. Then came the Tim Story-directed duology of the 2000s that I thought were okay for the most part… and if nothing else, gave a young Chris Evans some pocket change before he played a more famous Marvel Super Hero. And then there was Fan-4-Stick or whatever that 2015 version was called… that was atrocious in every conceivable metric possible.
And now we’ve got this… which kinda… sorta… looks the part… I do like the retro-futuristic look of the whole thing… but I don’t know… for some reason I’m not really feeling this one. I want to like this. I want to give this a chance. It looks distinct and not at all rehashed from the usual Marvel Studios table scraps that comprise the post-Endgame output… but I’ve got this… I don’t know, call it a “Spider-Sense” if you will… that this might not be as glossy as the exterior seems to be.
I’ve said this before, I’ll say it again until the sun dies out – I lost interest in anything Marvel after Endgame and probably saw one or two things at most. Everything else seems like “been there, done that” and anything that seems remotely different ends up being not. I want to say that I’m looking forward to the next Captain America move – I enjoyed Sam Wilson as a character and want to see that character grow and evolve – but I’m not quite confident that this is going to match the quality of past films. Same deal with Born Again; I enjoyed the old Daredevil show and this looks to be along those same lines, but Born Again was subject to reshoots and overhauls and I’m not quite confident that this will be as good as that earlier work.
So… eh, I don’t know. Hopefully, this Fantastic Four fourmake will be good and all my worrying is for naught… but Marvel hasn’t exactly had the best track record as of late and I’m afraid this won’t change things for the better. Still, wait and see seems to be the best approach.
Fantastic Four: First Steps arrives in theaters July 2025.
There was a Superman TV spot. People were complaining about some guy’s face looking too much like CG. And then they go, “James Guns sucks, bro! Let’s bring back the Snyderverse! They gave us Justice League. Surely, they’ll drop everything to have Zack Snyder come back and continue feeding us our table scraps! Restore the Snyderverse, I say. HASH TAG RESTORE THE SNYDERVERSE.
Yeah… no, thanks. I’m good.
They had their chance. It didn’t pan out. Now it’s someone else’s turn to play in the toybox. Zack Snyder’s doing fine with his pseudo-Star Wars rip-off stuff or whatever you call that Rebel Moon stuff. The DC Universe stuff will be business as usual. I’m actually looking forward to a Superman movie rather than rolling my eyes in contempt. Besides, if restoring the Snyderverse means losing this…
Then I want nothing to do with that shit, man.
The SnyderVerse is dead.
Bury it.
And yes, it did bleed.
The recent news of longtime comics distributor Diamond Comics Distribution going into bankruptcy has obviously sent some shockwaves throughout the comics industry, with the obvious question being how this will invariably affect comic book shops. Naturally, you’re concerned for all those folks who could potentially lose their jobs as a result of this and you want to hope for the best.
I know people who go to shops. My brother regularly goes to the comic shop in town and is good friends with the owners, who have been around for a very long time now. I wonder how they’re going to cope with this news. I hope that this doesn’t affect them too much and they’re able to continue onwards. I want to believe that, but Diamond was such a major part of this comic book machine that there could be further damage done to the industry as a result of this, whether it affects the people who sell the comics or the small-time publishers who rely on Diamond to get their stuff out.
This is going to be the true test for the comic book industry, an industry that has thrived for almost a century and has provided us with countless volumes worth of entertainment. Regardless of your thoughts on their output these days, you want to believe that the people involved will come out of this stronger than ever. You want this industry to thrive and survive because otherwise… well, I’d really hate to contemplate.
Well… I’m somewhat optimistic about this one… but only because of one thing…
Someone wondered how the flop sequel Joker: Folie A Doo-Doo could be fixed. Someone wrote an elaborate article on a website whose name I mention in the same cadence that Jim Carrey’s Riddler screams out “BRAIN DRAIN!” Someone had thought about all the fixes that could have fixed this somewhat ill-conceived movie. I’m sure they’ve given this issue a lot of thought on how this Joker sequel could have been salvaged.
I won’t bother with an overly long post on how to fix Joker 2. I’ll just tell you straight up how to fix the movie.
Don’t make it in the first place.
Joker (2019) didn’t need a sequel. Not everything needs a sequel. Sometimes, a sequel runs the risk of sullying the original and just adds nothing to the overall narrative. The guy who directed Joker didn’t want to make a sequel, but he was told to make a sequel, so he did everything he could to make a movie that was so vile, nobody would like it or pay money to see it in theaters.
That may or may not be the case, but if it is, it’s a brilliant strategy. Hopefully, it pays off and there won’t be a Joker 3.
Struck with a cold and haven’t gotten much done, so video has been delayed yet again. I swear this next review is cursed for many reasons and I blame Ernie Hudson’s kids.
In other news, the new Joker is out and people don’t like it. It apparently bombed at the box office and garnering rather negative reactions. I actually liked Joker for what it was and felt that it didn’t need a sequel. So when they announced a sequel, I was like… “why?”
But then word gets out that it’s not only a sequel nobody wanted, but it’s also going to be a musical. Well, that’s already two strikes against this thing in my book because I don’t care for musicals. Not my thing. So right there, whatever minor bits of curiosity may have lingered beforehand is all but extinguished and I’ve resolved not to see this film. Don’t care if it’s the greatest thing ever. I don’t care for musicals and a musical Joker… well, that makes no sense to me.
And then the reviews come in… apparently, people hated the movie because it does everything within its power to undo everything that was done in the first movie. Whatever you liked about the first movie… well, they did the opposite here. There’s a narrative they want you to follow that is contradicted by the existence of that first movie, which said everything that needed to be said and this exists for no reason other than… something or other?
That’s about it for me. I’m going to bed.
You know, I’ve seen a lot of Marvel movie trailers over the decades (yes, we’re getting there) and this… looks like another one of those. Same kind of editing, same kind of “ominous” music, same twist on a popular-ish song, and a couple jokes tossed in for good measure. And… yay? I guess… I suppose…
This will likely appease the Marvelites who consume this content like crack cocaine, but as for me… eh, I’d wait for home video if they still made those and video stores were still a thing that I can rent these things from, but since they don’t exist and honestly, I haven’t had much interest in anything MCU-ish since Endgame, I don’t think I’ll be missing much.
People up in arms against AI for robbing creative people of work… but given the recent string of Hollywood content, it would’ve been nice if those creative people were actually involved in the making of these things instead of the same hacks who regurgitate the same drivel over and over again, but with slightly different skins to make it seem different and palettable enough to different groups of people – take your pick, that could apply to anybody these day.
Give me something engaging on a regular basis and I’ll champion the fight against AI. But at the moment, from what I’ve seen on the horizon, AI would be an improvement at this point.
I won’t go into the nitty-gritty of things because that involves touching on things that the rest of the internet might have spoiled, but I’d rather let those who haven’t spoiled discover the fun stuff for themselves. But I will say this much; it is very much a Deadpool movie with the usual Deadpool tropes mixed in with some bad cop/bad cop dynamics between Wade and Logan. Even though there’s some hints of MCU stuff that I don’t care for, they’re not the dominant aspects of this film. And thank fuck for that because I want to watch a movie that’s actually content at being a fun ride and not world-building nonsense for the next three series that I could possibly not give enough of a shit to watch.
And before anyone asks, no, I will not be watching. This is the first Marvel thing I’ve seen since Falcon/Winter Soldier. I’ve not touched anything else. I’m not inclined to watch anything else. Naturally, I was concerned that this would be tainted and toned down. It hasn’t; it’s still the same Deadpool goodness because Ryan Reynolds and friends give enough of a shit about this character to do him justice and continue to make him the best possible interpretation of the character in modern media.
This isn’t Marvel Jesus. This isn’t going to make me care about anything involving the other Marvel stuff or their Multiversal phasing stuff. I’m not exactly clamoring for any other potential projects that this might be teasing. And this sure as shit isn’t going to make the MCU great or even good again. It is, however, a largely fun and enjoyable movie that, if you can put up with a little crass humor and lots of gratuitous violence, is not a bad way to kill a couple hours at the movie house.
At the end of the day, I just want to have a good time at the movies. This gave me that. And if I had more movies like this, I’d spend more time and money at the movies. But I don’t have those. So I don’t go. And that’s fine. I’ve got other stuff to keep me entertained.
So yeah, if you liked the first two Deadpools, give this one a whirl. And if not… watch something else, instead.
Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/robert-downey-jr-doctor-doom-marvel-rcna163991
So we had this guy who played Kang The Conqueror for a couple things here and there… and then it was discovered that he was involved in some heinous shit. Obviously, we can’t keep him around, but now we’re totally fucked because we have this whole movie built around this guy and now we’ve gotta find someone to replace him.
The solution? Replace Kang with Dr. Doom… and the guy playing Dr. Doom will be none other than Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr.
Because, sure… why the fuck not?
You want to know the funny thing about this whole deal? I read up on the news online, I assume it’s a bit of a joke, and then when I discover that this is an actual thing they’re doing, I just shrugged and moved on with my life. I had no real, tangible reaction to this piece of information. I was ambivalent. I simply didn’t care. I’m sure there are questions, but honestly… I’m in no hurry to get answers any time soon. I’m just like… “Whatever.”
I’ve said this before. I’ll say it again. My interest in the MCU narrative ended with Endgame. While I enjoyed one or two of these things (the Spider-Man team up movie and the Falcon/Winter Soldier series), I never bothered with the rest of it. I simply didn’t have any interest in anything they had going and also their dwelling into the multiverse for the story ideas feels like they’re just tossing shit to a wall and seeing what sticks.
The Deadpool/Wolverine movie, judging by box office results and audience reactions, seems to be the one thing sticking on that wall, which mean they’ll want to do more of that… except people assume that they want more of this multiverse garbage when the reality is that they just wanted to see this long-awaited team-up between our ol’ pal Wade and his frenemy Logan. And Deadpool works because the people behind Deadpool give enough of a shit about Deadpool to do the character justice. Otherwise, you get shit like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which was awful.
If the MCU made more films like Deadpool – not so much the R-rated stuff or the fourth wall breaking stuff, but mostly just being fun little schlockfests – more people would be into it other than the diehards. But as it is, the only thing that this current MCU is capable of producing is more X-Men Origins: Wolverine. One of those is more than enough.
I haven’t even watched Dark Phoenix yet… but I’d much rather watch that than anything involving the MCU at this point.
That has been my Theodore Conversation.
dtm666 