Captain America: Civil War Teaser Trailer!

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The world is going to hell in a handbasket with all the recent calamities but at least we have some cool movies to look forward to next year (that and picking a new president). After months of anticipation, at last the trailer for Captain America: Civil War is out.

Frankly, I was expecting this new entry of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) to come out next month with all that Star Wars hoopla, but hey I’m more than happy to be viewing this over and over this Thanksgiving while everyone else is glued to their football games!

First impressions: Love it! It hit all the right notes and got me instantly pumped to see Captain America and Iron Man duking it out. One thing I appreciated is that even though there are many superheroes in the trailer it still felt like a Captain America movie not Avengers 2.5. The story is focused on Steve Rogers’ place in the modern world and how he doesn’t quite fit in. Also there are some hints of tragedy and hurt scattered here and there with it centering on the lost friendship between Captain America and Iron Man, with Tony Stark seeming a bit jealous of Steve Rogers’ friendship with Bucky Barnes. It’s interesting they went that route because I saw the two as more at being at odds with each other in the last two Avengers films. But it’s a good angle and sells the point that it’s a House Divided among superheroes.

civil war poster

Speaking of superheroes we got our first quick look at Black Panther and man does he look lethal and rockin’! The only ones that weren’t present and missed were Ant-Man and Spider-Man. I suppose we’ll see them around the time of the Super Bowl. The final shot of Captain America and Winter Soldier taking on Iron Man together is sure to cheer the hearts of anyone who wants to see Tony Stark taken down a peg or two. From the looks of it, Captain America: Civil War is another winner for the MCU.

Don’t know about the rest of you but I’m going back to watching this trailer for Captain America: Civil War again. May 2016 can’t come soon enough. 🙂

José Soto

 

Jessica Jones AKA Great TV

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Like its predecessor Daredevil, Jessica Jones is an excellent, dark, grounded and captivating TV show. Jessica Jones is Marvel Television and Netflix’s second TV show set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and follows the story of the title character (well played by Krysten Ritter) as she goes about her life as a super-powered private investigator.

jess and walkerTake note this isn’t a superhero TV show but a psychological crime drama. Don’t let that keep you from watching it because it’s not your typical crime show. There aren’t any boring procedurals in Jessica Jones, just great character studies and mature themes. As the focus of the show, Jessica Jones keeps you glued to her issues. After she received low-level super strength, she kind of wondered what to do with her life and was talked into trying to become a superhero by her best friend Tricia Walker (Rachael Taylor), who comic book fans will recognize as the lady who will become Hell-Cat.

Flashbacks show that Jessica had her free will taken over by Kilgrave (David Tennant), known in the comic books as the Purple Man. His superpower is to control people kilgraveand what he does in this show is just terrifying and ghastly. What he makes people do as he lives a hedonistic lifestyle was disturbing and demonstrates that Kilgrave is a more effective villain than most MCU villains who rant about destroying the world. Seriously, Kevin Feige and his gang at Marvel Studios should look at these Netflix shows to see how to do a real supervillain!

Jessica was able to break away from Kilgrave, leaving him for dead, but is very haunted by her experiences where he made her do things against her nature including murder. In the present, she’s got a tough but fragile shell and lives a barebones life in the seedier part of Manhattan. Her investigations lead her to discover that Kilgrave is still alive and stalking her. Early in the series, Jessica makes the decision to confront him with her reluctantly accepting the help of an oddball crew. They include Tricia, bar owner Luke Cage (Mike Colter), and former victims of Kilgrave such as recovering addict Malcolm (Eka Darville) and Simpson (Wil Traval), a policeman sent by Kilgrave to kill Tricia.

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While I think Daredevil was a better show one thing Jessica Jones is superior with is with the supporting cast. Most of the characters are very likeable and all are well performed. People that viewers would disregard at first sight like Malcolm as just a junkie or Simpson as a thuggish cop have many layers to them and once we get to know them they become sympathetic. This layering also makes us hate Kilgrave even more, never mind what he did to Jessica. The show does an excellent job of illustrating a paranoid mood as Jessica has to look over her shoulder at everyone since any person she passes by in New York could be under Kilgrave’s evil influence. Who would’ve thought that a forgettable Daredevil villain in the comics would be so formidable? It just proves that the showrunners hit the mark by getting Tennant to play him. His acting is so good you forget that he was once the loveable Doctor in Doctor Who.

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Aside from its paranoia, the show is very gritty at times with borderline R-rated fare that drips with lots of violence, cursing and sexual innuendo. At times it takes on a pseudo-noir motif as Jessica narrates her observations while she does her work. At times the show feels cliché, especially with all the scenes (it was borderline silly) of her swigging down alcohol, and many panning shots jess and cageof the gritty city that try to emulate Taxi Driver, but it usually works. This world felt real and grounded and largely removed from the MCU, though the presence of superheroes is there. Many of the MCU Easter eggs run the gamut of being so subtle you miss them to being upfront and moving along the fact that this little corner of the MCU has its own inter-connected world. By the way, the show makes great use of Luke Cage, who is well fleshed out as a character in his own right and perfectly set up to headline his own TV show. Can’t wait to see it.

Once again Marvel hits it out of the park with Jessica Jones and prove that when they put their collective minds to it, they can produce memorable TV fare.

T. Rod Jones

The Walking Dead: The Next To Die

 

Walking Dead season 6

*EDITOR’S NOTE: Major spoilers ahead

OK, we’re all still digesting the most recent episode of The Walking Dead and over what happened in it. But what happened is actually the norm for The Walking Dead, since major characters get killed off in the TV show (and comic book) all the time, so we should expect death. It doesn’t mean that we have to like it. OK, this is the last warning about spoilers before we get started.

quarry walkers

So, Glenn became the latest fatality in the walker-infested world of The Walking Dead. It shouldn’t come as a surprise given that he’s been dead for some time in the comic books. It’s just that we all expected Negan to come along and bash his head in, not fall into a swarm of hungry walkers. BTW, thank you Nick for being a coward til the end and taking out the one person who saw something in you.

Anyway, who’s the next one to die? Will it be fatalities from the comic books like Carol and Abraham or will it be someone who is still alive like Carl? Leaving out the Alexandrians, who we don’t care about, here are the main heroes from the TV version of The Walking Dead. What are the odds they’ll survive the zombie apocalypse?

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Rick Grimes: The main character in The Walking Dead, the story is told mainly from his point of view. Creator Robert Kirkman stated that the story will end when Rick dies, so he’s likely to last until the final episode. His hand, though, is another story and it’s already being foreshadowed.

darDaryl Dixon: If the show’s creators believe the fans’ declaration: If Daryl Dies, We Riot, then it would be a mistake to kill off the major original character in the show. Then again, what’s been going on with him lately? Most of the time he’s moody, wants to be by himself. Maybe he’ll be written out but not killed so he can come back for the special episodes.

Carol Peletier: The formerly abused carol disguise 2housewife has become the female version of Daryl: a complete badass. Robert Kirkman recently said that is the one character he refuses to kill off in the TV show because he loves how she has developed.

Michonne: This modern-day samurai just seems too tough to be killed off…or is she? Rest easy folks, odds are that she’s not going anywhere. She’s on a Daryl level of popularity ever since she was introduced in the comics.

michonne

Maggie Greene: The only surviving member introduced in season two and Glenn’s wife. She’s going to maggiehave some dark days ahead, lots of fodder for character development. It would be waste to then just kill her, but this is The Walking Dead. Also let’s consider the wild speculation that Glenn somehow survived (yeah, I know that would be far-fetched), suppose it’s true, what would be a greater tragedy than having him go home only to find out she died?

carlCarl Grimes: Rick’s son has lost an eye and half his face in the comic books and he is a candidate for carrying the torch given his young age. But his infant sister who was killed in the comics is still alive. That means one of the Grimes kids has to die, and killing Carl would be a twist. Like with Rick Grimes, at the very least expect him to lose an eye. Having him waltz around with an eyepatch would be easier (and cheaper) to film than a missing hand.

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Sasha: This lady has had a death wish in the second half of season five and who can blame her since her brother and lover died at that time. Now she seems to have snapped out of her funk. All the more reason to kill her off. Whenever someone on the show finds some peace then they’re history.

Abraham Ford: Killed in the comic books fighting Negan’s army, Abraham was always a bit crazy and this season he’s picked up Sasha’s reckless, suicidal verve. Ever since he found out that Eugene lied about having a walker cure, his life has lost meaning. Perfect candidate.

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Eugene Porter: This oddball is too goofy to be killed off. I predict doing so will touch off a firestorm on a Daryl level.

Rosita Espinosa: Abraham’s girlfriend hasn’t had much to do lately and is becoming a redshirt. Perhaps she bites it in the mid-season finale.

rosita tara

Tara Chamblers: She was originally part of the evil Governor’s group, but quickly realized her error and has become a staunch member of Rick’s group. Though her story is pretty interesting, and her friendship with Eugene is nice to watch, but she hasn’t caught on like Daryl or Carol. She may be next.

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Morgan Jones: The first dude Rick met when he woke up from his coma is a fan favorite given his badassery. But let’s be real here, his let’s-all-get-along attitude is costing the group. He’s in danger of being a liability, then don’t forget he’s already dead in the comics. Can anyone say Dead Man Walking?

T. Rod Jones

 

Marvel Phase Three and Beyond

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Marvel Studios has once again captured headlines lately with their announcement for their upcoming film slate. While the news that a sequel to Ant-Man will be made came as a nice surprise, there are now rumors percolating about what films will get produced. It’s intriguing food for thought starting with the revised schedule for their Phase Three Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films.

Phase Three

The third phase of the MCU films starts next year on May 6 with the release of the eagerly awaited Captain America: Civil War, which many are calling Avengers 2.5 because it’s stuffed with so many superhero characters. Next in November 4, the Sorcerer Supreme himself Doctor Strange makes his big-screen debut.

team cap

From there Marvel Studios amps up their schedule by releasing three films per year starting in 2017 with Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2 on May 5, a Spider-Man reboot for July 28 and finally Thor: Ragnarok on November 3. Now the 2018 slate has been changed to accommodate the second Ant-Man film. This means that Black Panther has been moved up to February 6, instead of July 6. That slot now goes to Ant-Man and the Wasp and Avengers: Infinity War, Part I debuts on May 4. Sadly for some fans, the Captain Marvel film originally scheduled for November 12,  2018 will instead come out the following year on March 18. The final two Phase Three films for 2019 will include Avengers: Infinity War, Part II on May 3 and Inhumans on July 12.

More Ants!

Ant-Man turned out to be a bit of a surprised for many who predicted it would be Marvel Studios’ first flop. Instead it made $178 million domestically and even more overseas. While it wasn’t a humongous blockbuster, Ant-Man earned a healthy profit and lots of good will from fans who appreciated its quirky charm.

waspThe fact that there will be a sequel proves that Marvel has a lot of confidence in the property. So what will Ant-Man and the Wasp be about? Here’s a thought, while the first film was basically a heist caper, the sequel could be a rescue story or have a man vs. nature motif. The film could be centered on rescuing the original Wasp who was lost in the quantum realm in a flashback scene in Ant-Man. In fact, some observers of the film picked out a silhouette that resembles the Wasp when the title hero was momentarily trapped in the subatomic universe. Having Ant-Man and the Wasp exploring the quantum realm and finding new worlds will be a fun twist and visually arresting. After that if Marvel Studios decides on another Ant-Man film they can call it Giant-Man as Ant-Man morphs into Giant-Man to follow the comic books in a sense.

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Superman Shafted Again In The Movies

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There were rumors percolating recently that Warner Bros. dictated that Batman be emphasized more in the upcoming movie superhero slugfest Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Last week, the film’s director Zack Snyder confirmed that the film will focus more on Batman. On top of that indignity (for Superman), there are further rumors that a proper Man of Steel sequel focusing solely on Superman won’t happen. Instead, Warner Bros. was so wowed by Ben Affleck as the Caped Crusader in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice that now there will be three Batman films coming out.

Yeah, the Batman fans must be tickled pink about this development but what about Superman? Once again, the Man of Steel, the first superhero gets pushed to the curb in favor of Batman. Sure, Batman is DC Comics’ most popular superhero and the marketing department just love him, but the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) can’t just rely on him to carry the load for the film franchise. One of the reasons why their competitors Marvel Studios has done so well with their cinematic universe is because they doesn’t just rely on one superhero. Their biggest hit isn’t called Iron Man and the Avengers. No, that film, The Avengers, spread the attention around its many heroes. Marvel Studios hasn’t been shy about producing films on more obscure characters and their gambles paid off. Look at Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man.

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In order for the DCEU to thrive, they need to diversify. They also have a rich comic book universe, it’s a shame that it’s largely ignored for Batman and his universe. Here’s another example, what went over so big in a recent DCEU trailer? The Joker and Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad. We barely are aware that it features Deadshot, Captain Boomerang and other DC supervillains. The trailer even had a Batman cameo. Probably DC/Warner concluded that since Green Lantern and Man of Steel didn’t do too well, then they should go back to what worked for them. It’s a shame really because the DC Universe is ripe for exploring on film. At least, the DC TV shows realize this with their hit shows Arrow and The Flash, and it’s more amazing that they can’t use Batman at all.

Will we ever get a true sequel to Man of Steel? Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was originally supposed to be that. Metallo was slated to be the main villain and the film was going to end with a chunk of kryptonite being sent to Wayne Manor. That Batcameo ballooned into having Batman be the co-lead and now supposedly the lead. Snyder’s excuse for this is that the film needed to explore Batman. What is there to explore? We know his origin already (which was shown yet again in the film’s trailer), why not just cut out all references to Superman and be done with it?

snyder bat

Right off the bat, DC and Warner Bros. seem to be panicking and going back to their old crutch of making all things about Batman. If this goes on expect to see Batman shoehorned into other upcoming DCEU films like Aquaman and Green Lantern Corps. He’s already has a guaranteed spot in Justice League. Sure, from a marketing standpoint it makes perfect sense to highlight your most popular characters but don’t be afraid to focus on other assets, if nurtured correctly, they too will be just as popular as Batman. That is the best way to compete against Marvel and it will delight fans to no end.

Waldermann Rivera