Category Comic Books

Apr 6 2018

Top Ten Ready Player One Easter Eggs & References

To try to list all the Easter eggs and references in Steven Spielberg’s latest classic Ready Player One is an impossible task. No matter what other websites and videos claim no one has discovered all the minute and obscure references in Ready Player One. Until the film comes out on Blu-ray and digital streaming/download we’re going to settle for the top 10 Ready Player One Easter eggs and references. Oh yeah, spoilers down below!

10. Superhero Cameos: Being this is a Warner Bros. film, it was a given that the noticeable superheros and villains that are seen are from DC. These include several versions of Batman, the Joker, Harley Quinn, and Deathstroke. Others such as Spawn and Marvel superheroes are mentioned, though some have pointed out that Marvel heroes make blink-and-you-miss-it appearances.

Overwatch Tracer and Chun Li

9. Video Game Cameos: Nearly every shot in the film was stuffed to the brim with video game characters, whether they’re famous or obscure. Most were just quick cameo appearances and the standouts includes Tracer from Overwatch, Lara Croft, Blanka, Sonic the Hedgehog, Chun-Li, Ryu, Goro, the Spartans from Halo, Goro and we’ll be here all day trying to go on!

serenity

8. Classic Spaceships: Ready Player One has many brief appearances from iconic spaceships from film and cinema. The standout was the Serenity from Firefly, others include rad ships from Battlestar Galactica, the Enterprise, the Valley Forge from Silent Running, and somewhere in the film there is allegedly an X-Wing fighter. The greatest film spaceship the Millennium Falcon is mentioned and the roar of a TIE fighter can be heard in one scene. Anyone else who spotted anything else please drop a comment.

7. Gundam vs MechaGodzilla: A big highlight in Ready Player One’s epic final battle was the throwdown between the bad guy MechaGodzilla avatar and good guy Gundam from Mobile Suit Gundam. MechaGodzilla tore the scene up as he should have, while Gundam was the robotic cavalry that helped save the day. Seeing the behemoths tearing into each other was a terrific tip of the hat to the great kaiju and giant robot battles in Japanese kaiju films that we geeks love!

6. Rexie and King Kong As Racing Obstacles: Director Steven Spielberg went out of his way not to include references to his own great works. However, his film works are so vast and influential that it would have been a crime if there wasn’t any kind of shoutout. The choice of including Rexie, the Tyrannosaurus Rex from the Jurassic Park films was inspired as the dinosaur ripped apart the racing cars. The now-famous opening car race in Ready Player One featured unique racing obstacles like Rexie and one of the greatest movie monsters of all time: the mighty King Kong.

zemeckis cube

5. The Zemeckis Cube: There are so many droolworthy gadgets and weapons scattered and used in Ready Player One. Some of them were critical and saved the hides of Parzival and friends like the Madball. The best one of these gadgets, however, was the Zemeckis Cube, which was clearly inspired by director Bob Zemeckis and his masterpiece Back to the Future and the real-life Rubik’s Cube. The gadget certainly came in handy as it allowed the film’s heroes to turn back time by sixty seconds and escape the IOI evil thugs. Are there any other gadgets or weapons that you think are worth mentioning? Leave a comment!

4. Chucky: The killer doll from the Child’s Play films could be considered a gadget or a weapon with the way he is used. He is used by Parzival and Art3mis as a deadly distraction for the IOI soldiers trying to prevent them from reaching the final challenge. The way the doll just cuts through the soldiers like a mad cartoon character is hysterical! “It’s f#@**ing Chucky!” is one of the immortal lines from this film and quite funny, too.

the shining revisited

3. Revisiting The Shining: The second challenge in the virtual quest in Ready Player One was a visit to the terrifying Overlook Hotel as seen in Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of The Shining. Sure, novelist Stephen King hates this film adaptation but The Shining is one of the greatest horror films and it is well used in Ready Player One. It is amazing how Steven Spielberg was able to recreate the look and feel of The Shining and integrate it with his own film as Parzival and his allies confront the ghostly horrors in the hotel.

2. The DeLorean: The film was bumper-to-bumper with iconic movie cars like the Batmobile, the Mach V from Speed Racer, the Bigfoot muscle car, the Akira motorcycle, and so on. The one car that blows the rest of them away is the DeLorean as seen from Back to the Future. It was pure joy seeing that famous car racing across the silver screen again and brought back many fond memories from Back to the Future. The only drawback is that it did not fly. Oh, well. Maybe next time.

1. The Iron Giant: Of all the many Easter eggs and references featured in Ready Player One, the one that literally stands above them all is the Iron Giant. After The Iron Giant flopped in theaters back in ’99, it seemed as if the gentle metal Goliath would never be seen again. Thankfully, the animated film has become a cult classic and it was only a matter of time before the Iron Giant returned to film. Thankfully it was in Ready Player One that he made his triumphant return. Hopefully his prominence in Ready Player One will draw more attention to The Iron Giant and will lead to more appearances somewhere.

Any of you have your own top 10 Easter eggs and references from Ready Player One? Jot them down below!

Mar 12 2018

The Pitfalls Of Wakanda’s Revelation In Black Panther

black panther at wakanda

By now all the hardcore Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) fans have seen the phenomenal hit Black Panther. Anyone who has not seen it yet should note there will be slight spoilers here. With that stated, one outstanding highlight of that film has been the depiction of Black Panther/T’Challa’s home country Wakanda, an African-centric, futuristic marvel. Seeing the advanced technological society was quite inspiring and offered an optimistic vision of where we might be headed. However, the fictional African nation faces significant problems when dealing with the outside world.

Wakanda became the most technologically advanced country because of its rich vibranium deposits. The technology shown in Black Panther places the country a few decades ahead of contemporary countries. The citizens enjoy advanced mag-levs, nanite-laden clothing and hardware, plus energy-based weapons. The isolationist nation could have conquered the entire world and this is the main point of the film’s villain Killmonger, who wants to use Wakandan technology as a form of retribution for the West’s subjugation of oppressed blacks worldwide. During the course of the film, Black Panther decides to  open up Wakanda to the outside world and share his country’s gifts with everyone.

That is a noble thought. If things go as planned Wakanda will be able to bring up the rest of the world to its level. But by opening up Wakanda, T’Challa opened up a can of worms. How will the world react to the idea that a super-advanced civilization existed right under everyone’s noses? Of course, there would be elation but it is likely that humanity could react with suspicion and envy. Many would question why Wakanda remained isolated for so long since they could have prevented or intervened in many worldwide catastrophes like major wars, famines, pandemics and so on. The revelation would spark a new arms race that would be comparable to nations trying to develop their own nuclear weapons. Some nations may even try to invade Wakanda. It does not matter if the African nation is so advanced. One disadvantage it has is its size compared to the outside world. The best defense going forth would be alliances with many nations. Also, consider that the world of the MCU is already more advanced than ours and can compete with Wakanda. Just look at Tony Stark with his continual advancements of his Iron Man armor, which also sparked an arms race as seen in Iron Man 2. Then there are the many remains of alien tech left over from the Chitauri invasion during The Avengers, which is something that Spider-Man: Homecoming and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. explored.

From a storytelling perspective Wakanda and its breathtaking society may wind up becoming de-powered in the future. The reason is that the technology shown in Black Panther is nearly on par with that seen in futuristic films like Star Wars and Star Trek. If the entire world in the MCU were to advance to Wakanda’s level it would become less relatable to viewers. Part of the appeal of the MCU films and other superhero stories is that they tend to take place in modern society. There are many ways around this dilemma, but the ramifications of Black Panther’s decision are terrific story material worth exploring in future Black Panther tales.

Lewis T. Grove

Mar 1 2018

Ready Or Not, Here Comes Avengers: Infinity War, Earlier Than Expected

It’s a month early for April Fool’s, so this is real. Marvel Studios announced earlier today in a humorous tweet with Robert Downey, Jr. that Avengers: Infinity War will be released on April 27 instead of May 4. This certainly is a shock and a pleasant one for fans of the successful Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) who can now enjoy seeing the epic confrontation between the Avengers and Thanos. But the big question is why did Marvel Studios move up Avengers: Infinity War a week early?

Naturally, they won’t come out and tell us what the real reason is, but we can speculate. The theories are numerous as other sites and video channels are adding their two cents, but here are the best and most likely reasons:

  • Marvel Studios wants to release the film simultaneously on that day worldwide. Ordinarily the studio releases their MCU films a week early overseas before North America. By doing a simultaneous release, spoilers are cut down, as well as pirate copies for impatient viewers.
  • Black Panther is a monster hit and Marvel Studios wants to capitalize on the unexpected success of the film by releasing a film earlier that features Black Panther and Wakanda. Think of it like this, “Hey people, you liked Black Panther? Well here’s some more of him right away.” The reasoning is that momentum from Black Panther will spill over into the next MCU followup.
  • Avengers: Infinity War is expected to be the biggest film of the year and Marvel Studios wants to to do everything in its power to ensure this. They may have been mulling this ever since the release date of Deadpool 2 was moved from June to May 18, just two weeks after Avengers: Infinity War. There is a good chance that if the MCU film has legs and excellent word-of-mouth that it could continue to dominate the box office on May 18, but why take the chance?
  • The changed release date might give Solo: A Star Wars Story some breathing room so that it will not directly compete with a fellow franchise from the same company. Then again, Solo still has to compete against Deadpool 2.
  • The worse-case scenario is that Avengers: Infinity War may not live up to the hype (see: Avengers: Age of Ultron) and Marvel Studios wants to get the most bang for the buck before indifferent or bad word-of-mouth dulls its impact on the box office. Hopefully, that is not the reason.

Whatever the case may be, let’s just be happy that we’re going to get the most anticipated film of the year a bit early.  The summer movie season officially begins in late April this year thanks to Avengers: Infinity War. Maybe this will set a trend.

Feb 22 2018

The State Of Two Cinematic Universes: MCU & DCEU

This past week the news involving the two big superhero film universes perfectly illustrated their states. For the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) it seems clear that they can do no wrong. This is based solely on the astronomic success of its latest film Black Panther. Meanwhile, over at the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), the woes continues with the latest news that Joss Whedon is no longer involved with a proposed Batgirl film.

So why are the states of both cinematic universes so vastly different? Both have popular superheroes and their films have tremendous talent creating the films. But why is the MCU so popular while the DCEU is looking more and more like the JV squad? Well, it’s not easy to pinpoint the success and failures of both universes but there are some factors. Let’s go over them.

MCU

One advantage Marvel Studios and the MCU had over Warner Bros. and DC was simply a head start. The MCU began in earnest ten years ago with Iron Man. That film featured a well known, but not very popular, superhero. Marvel Studios did not have the luxury of having their early films star Marvel Comics’ headliners like Spider-Man and the X-Men. With this handicap, Marvel Studios was forced to focus on the character of Iron Man and it worked. But that was not all, at the end of the film, there was the famous Nick Fury tease that signaled the existence in the film of a larger universe. This excited fans and set the groundwork for a viable cinematic universe.

Each film in the MCU has organic (usually) references to other Marvel properties that helped create excitement for future films even if the current one was a disappointment. It also helped that each film in the MCU is distinctly different (for the most part) from the other. They ranged from standard science-based superhero yarns (the Iron Man films, The Incredible Hulk), political thrillers (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), period pieces (Captain America: The First Avenger), Star Wars-like space adventures (Guardians of the Galaxy), quirky, comical heist capers (Ant-Man), supernatural tales (Doctor Strange), stories set in fantastic locations (the Thor films), cultural milestones (Black Panther), and good ol’ superhero epics (the Avengers films). By being so versatile the MCU never seems to run out steam or stories to tell. Granted, the films have their faults like subpar villains, which are just dark versions of the main heroes, but the focus on character and stories made the MCU so successful.

Black Panther and MCU

There is also one other important factor that the MCU has and that is Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel Studios and the filmmaking version of Phil Jackson. He masterfully and carefully guided each film to tremendous success. His vision for the MCU and ability to carry it out is a big reason for the upbeat state of the MCU. Will they falter? Of course, in fact, the MCU has had some genuine stinkers like Iron Man 2, but it has been able to quickly recover. Right now, Marvel is on a hot streak that has been going on for several years now and the future looks terrific with upcoming and hotly awaited films like Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain Marvel and of course a sequel to Black Panther. Hopefully this streak will last for years to come.

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Feb 3 2018

Sorry Folks, No X-Men Or FF In The MCU For A While

XMEN in MCU

Many of us were disappointed when we learned last week that there are not any immediate plans to integrate the X-Men or the Fantastic Four into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). In an interview with Vulture, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige stated that it is too soon to stick the newly acquired properties into the MCU and that Marvel Studios is busy with their current slate of heroes.

As disappointing as that is, it should not come as a surprise. First of all, despite all the news in December 2017 about Disney buying most of 21st Century Fox’s intellectual assets, it is not a done deal yet. It will take at least a year for the deal to be finalized and approved by the government and, of course, there can be roadblocks, which would disrupt immediate plans for the Marvel mutants and the First Family of comic books. Coming right out and making that statement was the safest thing for Feige to admit. The statement is a good way of letting fans know to not get their hopes up that the X-Men or the Fantastic Four will somehow turn up in the next two Avengers films.

To shoehorn these new characters into carefully planned films and TV shows would be too disruptive and ruin the narrative flow. They have to be naturally introduced into the MCU because that universe is not set up for mutants and their baggage, although it will be easier with the Fantastic Four. The X-Men property is built on the premise that mutants are widely feared and disliked by normal humans. This would not gel with the MCU where for the most part, superhumans are better received. In the comic books, although both mutants and superheroes co-exist, the way they are treated does not make sense. If normal people distrust mutants because of their powers, shouldn’t they feel the same way about superheroes? Comic book events like Civil War addressed this but the dichotomy still exists. Besides the entire humans-fearing-superhumans motif has been addressed in the MCU with Inhumans as seen on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Inhumans. Last we heard both TV shows are nominally part of the MCU.

Look at the bright side, the time being given to integrate the properties allows Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios to have some breathing room. They can take their time to figure out how to integrate mutants and the Fantastic Four and just as important, who to cast in the roles. Despite what some may hope, it is likely that Marvel Studios will recast the iconic roles. This is a great opportunity for the Fantastic Four who’ve had terrible casting in the Fox films, but for the X-Men this can be traumatic for fans. Also, after the slated Fox X-Men films and TV shows run their course, it would be a good idea to give the properties a decent rest so when they make their comeback, the level of interest will be intense.

All we need is some patience and hope that at the very least some cryptic references about the X-Men and the Fantastic Four can be made in next year’s MCU films and beyond.

Lewis T. Grove